Heading for a good rub-head and shoulder massage

I am gonna go for a good shoulder massage.
Yes, good old seated shoulder massage. My neck and shoulder have been stiff after sitting here for so many hours.

I find that it is kind of unfair to these guys at Ko Hong. They have so far been consistently good (although I heard that the standards do varies sometimes). What is a neck and shoulder rub is like, friends have asked me. I know most gals are too shy to try it, since the masseur for this kind of rub is usually a guy. If you have tried it (and have stones for shoulder muscles like I do), you would have understood and appreciated why it is usually guys.

For one, the strength that they need to apply to "melt" my "stones" (this is how I refer to my stiff and bulging muscles) is no joke. My usual therapist, a small sized forty something "uncle", even have to stand on stools and and apply the weight of his body on his elbow to clear the knots I have. As you would have imagined, this could be painful sometimes, especially when the knots are worked on, and certain acupoints are hit. I sometimes refer to these 20-minute sessions "buying a torture".

Other than the neck and shoulder, they also massage the hands, crack the fingers and sometimes your back and lower back as well if they noticed that the stiffness originates from there. The session is usually not really painful, at times quite comfortable. At times, the discomfort and pain sometimes persist for a couple of hours after the massage. It all depends on how "stiff" you are when you go there.

But why do i go back to it?

It effectively clears my tension headache. I still remember a lecture a long time ago which talked about different types of headache. One type stands out to me- tension headache.

Tension headache is the type that some people complains can't be tamed by paracetamol or NSAIDS. Not suprised. The root of the problem is tense muscles, particularly those two long stips of muscles that are connected from the shoulder, passing through the back of the neck and almost circling the skull.

When I go for a massage, I asked for more attention on these culprits. And the massage have served me well as a headache prevention.

So, have I justified my S$200/10 session rubs? Ok. i am heading for a good rub before the stiffness build up further!