Going in for repairs
September 15, 2008 by nopstar
I’ve done posts on Thai Massage in the past, but I can’t emphasis enough the importance of Thai Massage to Nak Muay’s.
I try to look after myself; I do make an effort to stretch after a work out. In fact most nights I hit the roller. I’ve been feeling tighter then normal, so I decided it was time for some Thai massage. Down the road from me there is a Thai grocery store, named Art Muay… I have no idea why; I think it might be the owner’s name. I notice they’ve got a sign up in Thai, offering Traditional Thai Massage for about 30 GBP/hour, which is a lot cheaper then most places.
I’m going to be referring to this place from here on out as the House of Pain. My mor nuat (dr. of massage) greeted me and asked me if I had any particular issues. I said, I had been having some recent back issues, but other then that I was pretty normal.
As she began to poke and press, I began to realize that I was very far from “normal”; I could feel myself breaking out in a sweat due to the pain. She started to poke around my calf when I yelled out “Jep!” she gave me a bit of a concerned look and says that isn’t normal. She begins working slowly up my leg trying to release all the knots that have built up and accumulated of the months. I’ve got my face buried in a pillow trying to focus on breathing through the pain. I told her I trained Muay Thai, and she let out an ahh… that’s why.
She rolled me over and began to work my transverse abs or external obliques. (I can’t remember which) She commented that these were also abnormally tight and were also adding to some of my back issues. With 2 fingers she pressed and held my abs down, in about 5 sec. I could feel that she was giving me a stitch, each time she released it I could feel a wave a heat and blood rush to that area. She moved a little lower, once again I could feel a cramp developing… it went on like this for another 20 mins.
All in all I feel pretty good, could be because of all the endorphins flooding my body. I knew because of the time constraints we were not going to be able to address most of my issues . Even if we could have I wouldn’t have been able to take the pain. I think its going to be 4 or 5 more sessions before I see my legs properly sorted out.
If you train, and you’re fighting, this really isn’t an option for you. If your in Thailand, you don’t have any excuses… in fact you should be able to find a masseuse who specializes in Nak Muay’s. Take a moment, and google Thai Massage, there is bound to be something in your area. I want this to be everyone’s assignment for today. I want you to find and book an appointment for this week. If at all possible explain before hand that you’re a Nak Muay and that you would like them to really work your feet and legs.
I want to hear how it goes, your experiences, etc. Any of you guys go regularly? Surely our readers in Muang Thai are regulars…
in thailand going atleast 3 times a week is a must for about 150 baht per hour.
unfortunatly it’s impossible to find one here in holland, we do have ALOT of em, like 1 in every block haha. but it’s not the ‘traditional’ thai massage if you know what i mean, just sensual body massage with a happy end.
i did manage to find one for a whopping 50 euro’s per hour. it was suppose to be a good one, but it was shit, i bet she learned it from a thai massage for dummy’s book.
in thailand the girls are really strong, they made me cry. alot of them workout alot, and got rly powerful claws :)
I love thai masages but I got to be honest when Iv had them in thailand i tend to avoid them if im training really hard (and or actually training to fight) cause my body takes the knock it always ends up feeling like ive had another mini workout on an already exhausted over trained body, only gained any benefits from them when Iv been casually training or taking time off.Thats just me though everyone else seems to swaer by them especially when their training hard?
Nice article Nopstar.
Where in London is this place? Would like to pay it a visit.
Hogarth Road, in Earls Court. Go to the register or call to make an appointment. I think they’re doing it on the sly… hence the sign in Thai…
Also, just an fyi, the place isn’t spa like, it’s spartan and does the trick.
Nopstar your are the Greatest!!
I experience traditional Massage Westernstyle i presume, when I was playing Elite Football in Denmark, but only when I had a pain or Injury. I have never given Massages a second thought, Sure its nice to get a neck rub from your girlfriend, but a Specialized Nak Muay Massage sounds Rejuvenating and most of all Logical,when you consider the Science of Muscles, Acids and Stretching. Why wouldnt you get a specialized massage to loosen up, the thightnes that builds up. I love this Damn Site!!! Hope Copenhagen offers some thai stuff relatively cheap.
The only thing better than a thai massage is a good spanking by a hot woman.
:)
i always thought about getting a genuine thai massage during my fight training but i feel like i would never get the full experience here. i am going to thailand next year where i will actively pursue a real thai massage haha.
my masseuse right now does an excellent job on my train wreck of a body before my fights. i schedule a “sports massage” with her the day before my fight (this friday, infact!) and it takes her a solid hour to get all the knots out of my shoulders and neck.
I went a few time- unfortunately not regularly, but I can attest to the pain! I had the masseuse step on my legs and this was extremely painful because of my tight hamstrings. I have knots all over the place from MT and lifting weights. I figure I should just make the time (and money) to go often.
pardon my ignorance but what is a muay haircut?
as the sign in the window offers one.
lucky for me my lady is a massage therapist and shes studies and practiced thai massage extensively so shes really good. it hurts good. real good. hahaha
Thai massage is what I live for in Thailand. Chiang Mai is where some of the renowned massage schools are and i go every 3 days when I train. It is about 100 baht an hour (3 Canadian dollars) so I usually go for 2 or 3 hours. The women laugh at my bruised legs, but know how to work me to stretch and strenghthen my body, it revitalizes, and makes my evening training way better.
i wish I could go more at home, but for the $100 it costs, and my benefits dont recognize it..I’d rather save up for more time in Thailand!
HI Nop, i think you should include rollings before your workout. It will help. :)
hey, damn, the place you’re talking about is literally 2 minutes from my place!
i had a bad case of sciatica for about 4 years – went to a number of specialists and spent thousands of dollars trying to deal with it in canada. i was in thailand for 6 weeks – getting massaged once a week and they healed it. at this point, i couldn’t speak thai and the people that i was dealing with were blind. i’d just go in and let them do their thing.
on that note, if you’re in thailand and if you can find one, i recommend the blind massage. the one i went to was in someone’s house – it was a live/work space for about five blind people. ask around.
i found a large difference between the massages you could get in the markets and anywhere that had english writing/geared towards foreigners. they weren’t bad, but completely different. i found dealing with the blind to be more therauptic and definately more taxing. i’d normally have to go home and nap for at least an hour or more afterwards.
This thread is kind of old, but I’ll go ahead and ask anyway, since I haven’t found any other internet discussion of massage to heal muay thai injuries.
Is massage helpful for working out I-just-ate-five-leg-kicks-yesterday-and-still-can’t-walk knots in your legs, or just chronic, ongoing knots from continual training? I ask because I’m in the first situation.
I actually got kicked several times last Wednesday, so about 5 days ago. My knee is very large, and my thigh is pretty big too. I can’t really walk because of the swelling in both, although I think the swelling around the knee is mostly from drainage from my thigh. For instance, my knee is noticeably smaller in the mornings, after sleeping with it propped up all night. The muscles in the top & outer side of my thigh are balled up in very tight knots, preventing much movement of the leg. It’s not Urijah Faber bad, but I can’t really walk without a big limp, and crutches are definitely much easier for getting around.
Around here, Chinese tui na (??) is very common. It sounds like Thai massage might be similar – they really dig their hands into you, activating pressure points in a manner similar to acupuncture. In the past, tui na really healed a bad cramp/knot I developed from trying to sprint without proper warmup. There’s some more info here and here.
I’ve gotten tui na for my leg twice now (last Thursday and Friday), and it hurt like hell, but the leg isn’t noticeably better. Or at least, I still can’t walk. Any thoughts on whether I should be going back for more, or waiting & resting the muscle? If I should be waiting, how long?
Other than that, I’ve been doing the RICE/PRICE routine.
@ Armadillo: I’m not an expert, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to get a “hard massage” on your leg if it’s swollen. I’d wait until the swelling is gone, then yes I think it would be good…
Thai Massage : When in Thailand, I got one from a blind masseur for an old knee injury and it relieved the pain for a week or two. I guess some more session would have healed my knee for good! damn! ;-) The “best” part is that it cost me 150 THB (3-4$)! I should have known before since I previously went to both the ostheopath (80$) and chiro (45$) and both did nothing good…
Your muscles and ligaments are probably inflamed. Prob not a good idea to get a really hard massage, but your muscles need to heal. Use ice for 20-30 mins at a time to reduce bloodflow and retard inflamamtory process. But not longer. Circulation needs to be restored to help drain the fluid out. Are u in Thailand? Go to the pharmacy and get some anti inflammatories to help accelerate healing. You can take 800mg Ibuprofen three times a day (its over the counter). or ask for Mobic 15mg and take it once per day. be sure to take with food. 2-3 week dose oughta be fine. Generic is cheaper and called meloxicam. I dont know how debilitating it is, but since it is a weight bearing joint you know it is already handling your body weight, far more when u train. I would take it easy, do light movements/exercises. maybe work on boxing but move lightly. Light exercises that get blood moving help remove fluid. Stretch, stretch and find a cute girl to rub your things every night before bed. Dont prop it all night.
if after a month this thing still looks just as bad, you best be consulting an MD to get an imaging done for any structural damage
Thanks much for the advice. I’m a married guy in China, so I’m not going to be following all of it, but thanks all the same. I’ll be staying away from the tui na for a bit longer. At least until I get off the crutches.
Definitely hit the ibuprofen hard, and keep on it daily. That will help with the swelling – that and time off.
As an update, after I got off the crutches, I went back in for some tui na, and I think it really helped in loosening up the muscles and restoring range of motion. The guy said that it was actually very hard to do anything helpful the first two times I had come in (24 & 48 hours after sparring), because my leg was so swollen he couldn’t reach the pressure points. Right now, I’m just trying to get the range of motion back in my knee, and the strength back in the muscle. In addition to loosening up the muscle, the tui na involves them really digging into your knee, moving the patella around, and such. From what I can read online, this is apparently good for range of motion as well, although it feels like the patella is going to squirt out of my knee and fly across the room. A strange feeling.
Overall: painful, but recommended. Once the swelling goes away.