Massage Therapy

I can be a person of passionate enthusiasms, as my friends and family know all too well.  Some of my great enthusiasms have had a short lifespan, others went on life support and passed away quietly, and some remain robust and healthy.  This fall after reading the book Wheat Belly by William Davis, MD., I became obnoxiously  enthusiastic about fundamentally changing my diet and the diets of those in my household.  I found going gluten free very difficult because it required discipline and consistency, two disciplines I consistently lack.   I lasted gluten free for about a month, even though the diet made me feel great and I lost weight.  

My latest in a long list of health-related enthusiasms is massage, and it may be a passion with some staying power.  I had been suffering for many months with a painfully stiff neck and embarked on a journey to find some relief, involving my doctor, a physical therapist, a chiropractor, exercise, and pills of all sorts.  None of these roads led to Rome.  In desperation I signed a contract at Massage Envy in Edina for a year in order to get a bargain-priced massage once a month.  Some massage therapists at Massage Envy were good, some just ok; and then one day I got lucky.  I had explained to the woman at the desk that my neck was still pretty bad and she asked if I had had a massage with Gary Sarppo?

I realized immediately that Gary was not your average massage therapist. He was highly skilled and intuitive. The first time he gave me a massage  I had a bit of bruising on my back the next day, which he told me I should expect from deep tissue work.  I also felt a bit sick for a few hours after the massage and I  drank lots of water to rid my body of the toxins released by the massage.   I did not bruise on my second massage with Gary, but therapeutic massage is never pain free.  No pain, no gain.

After three massages with Gary I had a pain-free neck for the first time in over a year and the pain has not returned.  Gary left Massage Envy last summer, and with some minor subterfuge I discovered that he had opened his own practice in Roseville.  Though my neck was pain free, I continued regular massages with Gary because I began to experience other results I never anticipated.  Besides a bad neck I have  two chronic stress-related conditions which manifest themselves in my body on a fairly regular basis, even more regularly with advancing age.  With whole body massage these conditions have ceased to plague me.  Most surprising of all, I have stopped taking painkillers for my arthritic knee.  

Recently our friends Tom and Anne returned from a month long trip to Thailand.  They biked, hiked, and kayaked through the Thai countryside.  They also enjoyed  massages on the days they were not out adventuring.  I told Gary this and he said the tradition of massage in Asia dates back some 5,000 years.  I am grateful to the Asians and to Gary.    

Gary's website is:

Massage Rejuvenation in Roseville,Minnesota,Gary Sarppo ...

www.rejuvemass.massagetherapy.com/

Schedule an online appointment with Massage Rejuvenation

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Schedule an online appointment with Massage Rejuvenation in Roseville, Minnesota

*I took a bad fall ice skating on New Years Day.  I saw my doctor, who said nothing was broken and I should heal in a few weeks.  The pain in my arm was excruciating for two weeks.   I went to Gary last week to see if he could help me.  He worked for an hour on my arm.  The massage hurt pretty bad because the muscles in my arm were a mess, but two days later the pain is nearly gone.  I'm wondering which body part to throw into a crisis next.