During my years at Willow Massage Centre, I have kept a reflective diary. This has helped me to learn more about the way I work, what type of work people prefer the best and also to give me the occasional giggle.
No two treatments are the same, and by reflecting on this it will allow us to grow with the work that we do. In this diary, I have written stories of treatments that remind me why I do this work, stories of why it is a difficult job to do and some stories of days I clearly should have stayed in bed. As Willow has been open for five years now I feel like this would be a good time to share some of them. All stories will be written anonymously.
Severed Hand Syndrome
A friend of the family referred a client to Willow, her main complaint being severed hand syndrome. After suffering for years with Carpel Tunnel she bit the bullet and went for the corrective surgery. Unfortunately, this was a total failure and she ended up with severed hand syndrome. This means that the brain thinks that her hand has been amputated. The result is a numb, painful forearm and hand all day, everyday. There is little movement, strength or flexibility in the wrist or hand. It requires a full wrist brace.
However, as she had been holding her arm to protect it a frozen shoulder had set in.
Doctors, physios and surgeons had been unable to solve either problem. During the treatment I was working around her shoulder and came to a point for the arms release with the Emmett Technique, the client gave a little jump and said she could feel that all the way down her arm. So I asked if we could swap to this technique instead? She agreed.
As I was working with this the client said she was aware of a tingling sensation all the way to her finger tips. Amazing! (I say that as she had little to no sensation in the arm, so any sensation is fantastic!)
Before the treatment the client was unable to do anything with her hand. So I brought a glass of water to her and asked her to use the hand we had been working on. She took the glass of water, and drank using that hand, and burst into tears. So happy!
To add a bit of personal achievement to this my mum had popped in to help me sort some stuff whilst I was doing this treatment. It was great for her to see and hear the reactions from this client. I loved her seeing the work that I do and the impact it can have on people.
