But Who Do Massage Therapists Trust for Their Own Massage?

To whom does a massage therapist turn when he or she needs serious massage therapy? In many cases, the answer is Doug Turet, owner of Massage Horizons in Stoughton, Mass.

“Clients run the gamut from marathon runners to professional dancers to high school and college athletes, from a high-pressure business executive to an 80 year-old grandmother with high blood pressure,” says Turet, who has been a Life Coach and Access Bars Facilitator for five years, and a Licensed Massage Therapist (LMT) and Certified Medical Massage Practitioner (MMP) in private practice for the last three. “Whatever a person’s age, there are proven therapeutic processes and treatments that can help facilitate the relaxing and healing of muscle and connective tissues,” he says. “Indicative of my results: more than a handful of my clients are themselves well-known massage therapists.”

Massage has been used as a medical treatment dating back to the Chinese over 5000 years ago. As early as the 1880’s, a Boston doctor wrote about the treatment of specific diseases and disorders using massage. Today it’s an art and science and Turet spends his days pressing, rubbing and manipulating clients’ skin, muscles, tendons and ligaments. “Massage is an integral part of complementary and alternative medicine, and is beneficial for a wide range of medical conditions,” Turet says, “but it’s not a replacement for regular medical care.”

When 30 year-old marathon runner Sara ran her fourth Boston Marathon, she injured her IT band (the sinewy strip of tissue connecting the side of the hip to the large bone of the calf, and that helps stabilize and move the knee joint). “I was desperate to be ready for my next race,” she says, “but I had trouble walking -- severe stabbing pains on the outside of my knee. I chose to see a massage therapist for the first time.”

Sara says, “Doug took his time, chatting, getting to know me, easing me into the massage process. The environment was calm and relaxing. The massage was incredible. He took his time, working with every muscle. He explained each as he went -- educating me on what each one did, what it connected to, how it impacted my running, and how it was or was not affected by my injury. The deep tissue massage was completely pain-free. His slow and steady process allowed my normally incredibly tight muscles to completely relax. He offered tips and tricks for self-care. He is completely transparent in his methods, incredibly knowledgeable, kind and genuine. Now, I try to see Doug at least once a month. Overall, working with him has been an absolutely stellar experience.”

Carol, 76, is a Medical Massage patient who was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Her doctor suggested massage therapy: “I had been in pain that traveled from one area of my body to another, impacting my quality of life. I went to Doug for six sessions, every other week as my doctor suggested. After six weeks my fibromyalgia just stopped! He is remarkable. His touch is gentle and he knows just how to handle body problems.”

There are numerous health benefits of massage therapy besides relieving stress and anxiety, says Turet. It improves blood circulation; it stimulates the lymphatic system which carries away the body’s waste products; it can prevent and relieve muscle cramps and spasms and can help with pain management for arthritis, sciatica, fibromyalgia and repetitive stress injuries.

Asked about the origin of his Massage Horizons name, Turet explains that by working with him, clients benefit from his experience and training as a Massage Therapist and nationally certified Medical Massage Practitioner. Clients can also “expand their horizons” through traditional Life Coaching, Therapeutic Energy Work such as the Access Consciousness® Bars® process, guided imagery/visualization work, or a combination of them all.

Turet’s clients have a choice of traditional Swedish massage that warms up the muscle tissue and releases tension and anxiety, Deep Tissue and Myofascial Release/Trigger Point therapies, which break up adhered tissue knots (‘adhesions’), and Medical Massage -- a more focused therapeutic process, which must be prescribed by a doctor to treat one or more very specific areas of soft tissue injury, such as after an accident or surgery. Medical Massage (also known as orthopedic or treatment massage) is usually administered after a thorough hands-on evaluation/assessment by the Medical Massage therapist and a discussion with the patient about his or her goals and aspirations, and the therapy path ahead.

Turet also offers a fifth choice, a modality of his own creation: Gentle Descent DEEP massage, an approach that can be woven into any of the other deep techniques, but is most often requested with Medical Massage. “It’s significantly deeper than traditional massages, but there’s never any pain, or bruising or extended recovery time.” Deep-tissue massage concentrates on the deeper layers of muscle and fascia (connective tissue) in the body and is often recommended by doctors as a treatment option, but it is often uncomfortable and can sometimes be quite painful. “The concept of Gentle Descent DEEP came to me a few years ago while I was recovering from wrist surgery and trying to come up with a way to heal faster without further traumatizing the injured tissues,” says Turet. “After a bit of experimentation, it all came together for me: a way of delivering the kinds of treatments that usually cause patients excruciating pain and need to be followed by icing and pain relief meds, but painlessly! What could be better? With or without this technique, deep tissue massage can treat a variety of ailments.”

Studies show that in addition to soft tissue pain and sports injuries, massage can help with digestive disorders, headaches, arthritis, even insomnia and depression. Turet says, “Some people enjoy receiving therapeutic massage for the comfort and reassurance they receive from it, which then extends into other areas of their lives. For others, the hour they spend in that massage, life coaching or energy work session may be the only time and place they feel completely safe from harsh judgment or criticism. And for others, sessions can serve as unique pathways toward greater self-awareness.”

A strong believer in giving back to the communities he serves, Turet has a long history of volunteering to help participants relax before and recover after such fundraising events as the Avon Walk to End Breast Cancer; the Boston Marathon, the Old Colony Hospice Walk, and MS Cure Fund for Multiple Sclerosis research. Last Fall, Turet was welcomed by the American Massage Therapy Association’s Community Service Massage Team, which provides free therapeutic support services to first responders, and earlier this month, thumbtack.com named Doug Turet its ‘Best of 2015’ for massage therapy in the region.

For more information, contact Doug Turet at (508) 29 - RELAX (508-297-3529), or email him at relax@massagehorizons.com. The website is www.massagehorizons.com. Massage Horizons is located at 2 Canton St., near the Stoughton T Commuter Rail station parking lot. By Stanley Hurwitz / (508) 269-0570 / stanhurwitz@gmail.com