I know it has been a long while since I have updated you all on how my Frozen Shoulder was doing….
Today marks the 1st day in almost 12 years that I am no longer a Certified or Licensed Massage Therapist.
I made the decision not to renew my license this year and here is a timeline of events that led me to this decision…
In March of 2020 Covid closed down my place of business, in June of that year I developed frozen shoulder in my left shoulder, sometime shortly after that I was able to return to work briefly only to discover that I cannot wear a mask for prolonged periods of time without increasing my migraines.
By January of the following year, I was seeing great improvement in my left shoulder but was starting to notice discomfort in the right, by April that shoulder had frozen up just as I had regained almost full range of motion in the left shoulder.
I had also noticed during the time I was being treated for the left shoulder that the joints in the fingers on my left hand were inflamed and no longer had full ROM, I had assumed it was simply due to the frozen shoulder but today it is still painful to close my fingers on that hand.
In the time that I have been recovering from frozen shoulder syndrome (times two) I began to question just how long a person can safely practice massage without taking a toll on the body.
I remember hearing when I first came to the field of massage that 4 years is the average for “burn out” but I was thrilled when those years came and went, and I was still going strong. Well, the recent events have given me time to ponder this.
I recall telling another therapist who had also been in the field that I could no longer open jars, she too had been in the field ten years and was also unable to open a jar, she said her “gripper is broken.”
There is no doubt that damage had already started, but then add in other factors such as age, genetic predisposition to psoriatic arthritis, and family history of joint disorders I really had to ask myself if I could continue this as a career for much longer.
I do want to say this has been an amazing learning and healing experience for me and I cherish the memories of the many healing miracles that happened on my massage table as well as the many unique and rare skeletal and autoimmune disorders I have seen and learned more about over the years.
This experience has opened my eyes to the amazing healing abilities of the human body as well as the hidden ailments that the people around us are dealing with on a daily basis.
In future posts I will focus on some of the things I learned as a massage therapist and some of the conditions that I have seen and what those clients taught me about life and living with chronic conditions.
Until then, take care,
Yours in Health and Wellness,
Kristeen Smart
ps, yes, I am still certified in Reiki and EFT though I am not sure if I will follow that path in my future journey just yet, the future is unwritten.
