Spa Peachy: Our Panelist Visits Mover and Shaker Laurie Towers at Physical Advantage: The Best Masseuse in Manhattan & Official Masseuse of Whom You Know
This time, Peachy sent a panelist with a sports injury to visit Laurie.
He tells us:
For months now, I've had chronic pain in my shoulder, an injury from my obsession with fitness and exercise. A few weeks ago, I saw an Orthopedic Doctor who within 2 minutes of being in his office was talking surgery and injections! I feel my body is capable of healing on its own before a permanent operation, so...no thank you, Doc! Enter Laurie Towers of Physical Advantage. A licensed Massage Therapist with a background in sports and fitness and a long history of treating professional athletes with sports injuries. Perfect!
When I was first corresponding with Laurie I mentioned that I had an injury from CrossFit she immediately told me "CrossFit, say no more!". She has seen many clients from CrossFit as our shoulders take a lot of wear and tear. I had a good feeling about Laurie after hearing that my fellow CrossFitters have been seeing her!
Upon arriving at her 139 E 57th Street penthouse office, we spoke for a bit about my fitness background and my injury. From the feedback I got from Laurie, I could tell I was in the right place.
As she started to work on me, I was very curious as to her technique, and Laurie explained the process as she went along. She understood exactly where my pain and problems were, but insisted that the shoulder is a complicated machine with three different systems at work. If you have an injury in any one area, it affects all three. She needed to work each of these, not just the problem area. She started with my back, neck and back of my shoulder. I could feel her separately working each muscle and felt a lot of tension loosening up. She applies a good amount of pressure that I could feel very strongly, but not in a painful way. She continued on to the side of my shoulder, then flipped me over to the front, finally to the problem area. Before she put her hands on the tender part of my shoulder, I could already feel less tenderness there, and relaxation over all my shoulder. She worked my problem area very delicately. I could feel her fingers massaging each fiber and strand! After, I stood up and could feel an amazing new range of motion in my shoulder, and the pain was decreased substantially. If my shoulder could smile, it would!
Laurie's treatment did not end there. We spoke for a bit about what is required to fully heal my shoulder. Among the things we talked about, avoiding CrossFit for a bit (hard for me to do, but I am going to take it easy for a while), rebuilding my shoulder smartly through rotary cuff exercises and kettlebell work. She also recommended heat, icing & epsom salt baths. I have a nutrition background, and we talked a bit about proper nutrition, as unhealthy foods can cause inflammation in the joints, making injuries even worse. It was reassuring to hear that Laurie was on the same page as me regarding nutrition. Im very confident that following Laurie's protocol plus seeing her for massage therapy is the perfect prescription and will get me back to 100%. Sorry Orthopedic Doctor, I'll skip your knife!
Laurie Towers lives up to her accolades in New York Magazine and here on Whom You Know. I'd highly recommend seeing her, you'll be in good hands!
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The Best Masseuse in Manhattan
&
Official Masseuse of Whom You Know:
139 East 57th Street Penthouse
212 460 1879
Laurie Towers is a Mover and Shaker:
