The Torture Chamber

Two weeks ago I woke up in excrutiating pain - in the butt. No laughing matter - it hurt to stand, it hurt to walk, it was impossible to run, and it mostly hurt to sit. I knew what the culprit was - the nasty piriformis muscle. It's a tiny little thing that hides under the glutes and when tightened up can press on the sciatic nerve. I knew what it was because I've had this problem before.

I knew it wouldn't go away on its own, so I called around to different massage therapists to try for an immediate appointment. My one stipulation was that the therapist had to be female because I knew this was going to be a bare-butt treatment. It's all very shrouded and all, but I just wanted a woman.

Fortunately I was able to get an appointment with Tamara. Health professionals are all starting to look like children to me - a sure sign of old age setting in. I told her the problem; she got me comfortable, and then proceeded to make me as uncomfortable as she could.

At one point she said, 'my goodness, you really have a high tolerance for pain,' to which I replied - 'oh no I don't, but since I'm paying by the minute I want this to work quickly - no pain breaks.'

After 45 minutes of trying to reach the trigger point with her fingers, her elbow, and probably her knee, the muscle still wouldn't let go. Tamara told me I had had enough for one day and I would have to come back for another treatment. That was Thursday. Friday morning my butt felt like ground chuck and I'm sure it was swollen to twice its size and probably black, although hubby assured me there were no visible bruises. No change on Saturday, but by Sunday it started to feel better. I could actually feel that the muscle had loosened up. I could bend over and touch my toes without pain and the stretches were no longer killing me.

Today I went for another treatment. Half an hour this time, and both of us knew within 10 minutes that the muscle was pliable again. YeeHAW!! What a relief!

I'm going to see Tamara every 4 weeks for a maintenance treatment. With all the running I do, my leg muscles take a lot of abuse and I need to keep this machine of mine finely tuned. *hysterical laughter*