Thai massage experience

I have had a lot of massages and spas treatments in my life, but it was not until a couple of weeks ago that I experienced the Thai massage.

I went to a spa in Los Angeles recommended in a program on the Fine Living Network.
It was awesome. The spa is called Pho Siam Thai Spa (1525 Pizarro Street). It is not a luxurious place, but is a nice, clean place with low prices. This is not the place where you get herbal tea, steam bath and snacks while you wait in a luxurious lobby, but for $40.00 plus tips I had an hour of Thai massage; that is a bargain.

As you may know, the Thai massage is done using feet and hands. It is a deep massage, with few similarities to the well known Swedish massage offered in most spas. At times it feels like you are doing yoga with your therapist; for this reason it is called sometimes bodywork instead of massage.

My therapist was a nice Thai woman with limited English, but enough to communicate well. I was asked to undress and given a traditional Thai garment to wear. It was a bit a weird looking garment, a sort of harem pants. I lied down on a mat on the floor in a private area separated by curtains and nicely decorated.

The therapist asked Do you want a light or medium massage? I requested a medium massage. As she started to massage my achy muscles I regretted a few times to have selected a medium (pressure) massage instead of light.

The massage room had contraptions attached to the ceiling so the therapists can “walk” on the client. In reality they do not walk, but they need the support in order to use their
feet to massage. Since it is done with the feet it is very deep, at times it can feel painful especially in tense areas. In my case these tense areas were my shoulders, in particular the right shoulder.

My husband, who was in the chamber next to me, also told me that the massage literally urt, but he bore it in anticipation of a pain-free body later one. He said that the pain was worth it, because the pain in his whole body was gone and he felt much more relaxed.

Let me repeat myself; this is an intensive massage, at the end the therapist will stretch your body in yoga like positions. By the time the massage is finished I felt totally relaxed. The next day I was energized and none of my muscles had any stress.

It was the best massage I have had. I only wish they had showers, but they only give you warm towels to clean yourself. I did not like the smell of the oil, but I will go back any time for more massages.

It is too bad that Thai massages in my area are very expensive, but I think next time I want a massage I will book a Thai massage instead of the regular massage.

I will recommend that people with medical conditions, muscle injuries or who do not enjoy a deep massage should first speak to their physician before trying a Thai massage.