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.

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