Physiotherapy and Sports Massage

Finally bit the bullet and made an appointment at the Physiotherapy Centre (PTC) at Harbourfront (Harbourfront Tower 2, #04-01, T: 62717303). Had been having very bad upper back tightness for a number of months, which threatened to cramp up during the Sundown marathon. The region around the upper back, scapula and shoulders basically felt like a mass of knotted muscle. The physiotherapist was Chay Ling. We got into a conversation about whether I needed physiotherapy or a sports massage. It was an interesting exchange sort of just sussing out the difference. In any case, settled for a quick physio assessment followed by upper body sports massage where relevant.

She started by palpating and applying gentle pressure on the cervical vertebral spines, moving down one at a time. That felt very relaxing and began to relieve some tension in the shoulders. She then moved on to doing deep tissue massage on my upper back. Boy! Was the back a real mess! I had been feeling tight for a while but hadn't realised what a knotted mess it had become. It took here a long while to work through the individual muscle groups, slowly kneading out the stubborn knots. There was a particularly large and mean one on the left side just medial and inferior to the scapula. Took a long while (an a painful one) to get that out. At the end of it, set me back by $xx, well worth it.

This morning, took a fast run. Back and shoulders had not felt this good for a looonnnggg time! This will become part of my regular 'maintenance' checks, alongside my chiropractic visits.