Meet Paddi
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After a hip injury, Paddi experienced pain in her left hip that took over a year and a half to subside, without receiving treatment. This pain interrupted almost all of her physical activity and made it difficult for her to sleep. Some time later, when her right hip became painful, she sought massage therapy care in hopes to find pain relief more quickly and to be able to continue with her regular daily activities. Massage therapy has helped Paddi consistently reduce her pain.
“Gradually, the pain subsided from an 8 on a 10 point scale to a 2,” Paddi said.
When massage therapy services were shut down during the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, Paddi found her conditions worsening, and felt she had nowhere to turn for relief. Her pain had increased and she found her mobility more limited than it was before.
“The constant pain, stiffness and lack of mobility resulted in no longer having the ability to walk, except for limping around my house, sitting was extremely painful and sleep was fleeting and of poor quality,” Paddi said. “Short term relief came with standing, but that’s not very practical!”
As soon as Registered Massage Therapists were able to reopen, Paddi immediately sought massage therapy care again. She considered the return to massage therapy a blessing, and hoped that with massage therapy treatment she would be able to return to her activities and be able to sleep for more than two hours at a time.
After returning to massage therapy treatment, Paddi found that her pain quickly subsided to much lower levels and she was soon able to return to her regular daily activities. She feels confident that as she continues with treatment, her pain will eventually completely subside.
“Over the period of treatment I am much more mobile, in much less constant pain and am sleeping better,” Paddi said. “In short, my quality of life is improved.”
She felt safe seeking massage therapy treatment because she knew that her RMT would be following public health protocols explicitly, and she would be following those same protocols. She felt that with the precautions RMTs are taking, she was able to both mitigate her risk of exposure to the virus and take charge of her health. She credits the improvements in her health and in her quality of life to being able to return to massage therapy treatments in June.
“I believe in complementary health care and that my ability to return to my life depended on an RMT who would help me heal, by recognizing the various trauma that resulted in my hip immobility, listening to my words, breathing (and groans) and my body’s responses to the therapy,” Paddi said.
She is now back to her regular plan for massage therapy treatment, and she is confident by following her RMTs recommendations she will be able to continue making progress. Paddi has long believed that taking care of the body and its complexity requires a team which includes massage therapists along with all other health care professionals. She found it difficult to go several months without massage therapy care.
“Not being able to see my RMT for several months had significant negative impacts to my personal healing and overall well being,” Paddi said.
Paddi is now back to her regular plan for massage therapy treatment, and she is confident by following her RMTs recommendations she will be able to continue making progress.