My massage therapist warmly greets me and asks how I am doing. I respond by thrusting out my hands, placing them on her desk and inquiring if the bumps on my hands mean I have arthritis. She responds in the affirmative. I was hoping they were just some weird bug bite, but after over a month and a half I had to accept that the raised red bumps alongside a couple of my knuckles, and some of my fingers going a bit crooked might mean something else.
The good news she informed me is that at this stage she can help treat it. She pulled out her anatomy books, flipped to the pages that had cross sections of hands, and described what is happening to me. “See this tendon that runs along your forearm? It goes straight down to your ring and center finger. The tendon is tight and pulling, making those fingers go askew, and the resulting pressure causing the bumps to build.”
For the next hour and a half she methodically treated both hands, alternating moving back and forth along the forearms and hands. At the beginning of treatment, my hands were mottled in colour. Now with blood freely flowing healthy colour was restored. I also had ease in moving my digits.
I left my appointment with gratitude.
Hands Up to our helpers.
Wordsmithing 
I’ve never heard of a 90 minute hand massage. I’m glad it helped and hope it continues to provide relief.
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Interesting- I keep wondering if I am seeing early signs of arthritis- clearly I should do some research.
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Yes, it is worth enquiring. Being proactive with our health is a valuable investment.
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That massage sounds like it was needed! Health challenges are scary no matter what, but thank goodness for experts. This was written in such a detailed manner, thank you for sharing this slice!
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It sounds like that massage was certainly needed! Health challenges are always scary, but thank goodness for expert help…
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That sounds like a very needed massage! I hope you continue to receive expert advice and care for your arthritis. Thank you for the detailed slice of life you wrote!
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Thanks for stopping by and reading.
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Wow, how wonderful. I’m glad to know about this as I have a lot of arthritis. I don’t think it’s showed up too much in my hands, but I imagine it soon will.
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I’m glad your massage helped you and eased some of your worry.
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I’ve been planning a massage for some time now, but haven’t booked it and your post has inspired me. I supposed I didn’t think about the healing nature of it and your slice shows this element with a bit of healing music as well! So glad that I stumbled across your slice today 🙂
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I hope you were able to book a massage for yourself. It is self care!
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I am glad you are feeling better and that your massage therapist was able to both teach you about what was going on and what to do about it.
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I’m glad your massage helped!
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I have gone for the fun/relaxing massages, but I haven’t gone to a massage therapist that would be able to help out with pain/issues. I might need to make an appointment to help out with the lower back and shoulder pain I get. I’m glad you were able to get some relief from the pain.
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There are massage therapists with various trainings. If you can find one that helps you therapeutically it can make a huge difference in your quality of life and daily functional living.
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