Vicky, an executive assistant, used to spend hours on the telephone, cradling the receiver on her shoulder while she took messages.  She wanted to share her experience:

“I was getting headaches and generally feeling very stressed, with constant aches in my neck and chronic pain in my shoulders.  A friend suggested massage, though it seemed a little self-indulgent to me.

“The therapist said that years of repetitive strain were locked in my shoulders, and at first the massage was a little uncomfortable, particularly if she kneaded me strongly.  After sessions every two weeks, the tension gradually left my muscles and the headaches lessened.  I learned what real physical and mental relaxation felt like, and my company gave me a phone headset that leaves my hands and shoulders free.  Now, three months later, I see my therapist every four weeks for maintenance and I no longer get headaches!”

Most extended health care benefit insurance providers cover therapeutic massage though amounts vary from company to company.  Employers offer them to you to be as much a part of your compensation as your pay cheque, so it is surprising how many people fail to use them particularly when it is usually their careers that create the havoc in their bodies.  So make a new year’s resolution and regularly treat your body nicely this year!

Cheers!