Ah, I'm still envious of your job... once I finish my PhD, I really might just run off to massage therapy school. I do wonder, though, about the salary and how long it takes to get "established"... how difficult is it to find a position? To open your own practice? Is it better to work for someone else, or to contract yourself out? Also, how much did massage school cost? Do you ever get sick of the patients, after a long and smelly day?
I had an allergy attack (hay fever) in January and a few sneezes into it, my lower back was killing me. I found it difficult to bend over at the waist, to get out of bed, to do push-ups... basically, anything involving the lower back muscles (right above the butt, directly to the left and right of the spine). It got better over time, but has never been the way it was before those sneezes.
I've practically OD'd on ibuprofen, used hot and cold packs, IcyHot patches, got a Swedish massage, and had a chiropractice adjustment done a couple of weeks ago (which actually helped it a lot). But still, every couple of weeks I'll just be walking along or doing some mild exercise, and suddenly WHAM!... all power leaves my lower back and I'm whimpering for the next couple of days.
The Icelandic doctor scribbled out a physical therapy recommendation, so I'm trying that avenue next... but I'm actually wondering if this kind of chronic pain demands an MRI to check for slipped disks, pinched nerves, etc. (And no idea what to do, if that's the case.) Any thoughts from your profession?