Relief for stressful time of year

April 21, 2005
By Lisa M. Larranaga
Staff Writer

There is a cure for the anxiety, stress and fatigue of finals week.

With late-night studying quickly approaching, massages offer results that promise to calm the nervous system and promote a sense of relaxation and renewed energy.

Director of Massage Therapy at Capri College in Davenport Barb Wallick said when a massage is skillfully applied, it can effectively influence the structures and functions of the body. 

Some massages, such as the Swedish massage are used primarily to relax the patient.  Others, like the sport massage, are used to enhance athletic performance. There is an endless amount of massage techniques for almost every area of the body; there is even an animal massage.

Acupuncture, an ancient oriental healing technique using fine needles to relieve pain and cure disease, is not under the scope of massage therapists’ techniques. 

It is usually done by chiropractors and they have to be licensed Wallick said. 

The most common massages are Swedish, used for relaxation; sports, seated or chair and spa massages, used for wellness and stress management; and rehabilitative or remedial massages, used for clinical and medical use.

The Quad City area schools such as La James and Capri offer discounted massages, because students conduct them.  At Capri, the cost is $17 for a half hour and $25 for a full hour.  Students receive a 20 percent discount if they bring their student I.D. La James charges $35 for an hour and $20 for a half hour.

Wallick advises patients to arrive five to ten minutes early to fill out a health intake form. 

“Such things as medications or sickness need to be evaluated and possibly okayed with a doctor before a massage can take place,” Wallick said.  “Massages can alter certain medications, so it’s important that these things are checked.”

Patients are allowed to undress to their own comfort level, but the body is fully draped at all times, only exposing the part of the body the therapist is working with.  Patients are kept in a private area surrounded by curtains and soft music is played. 

Junior Angie Iozzo has used the massage services at La James. 

“It was okay,” Iozzo said. “They’re not professionals, but they do the job they’re supposed to do.”

Iozzo suffers from back pain and uses massage therapy as a way to alleviate it.  She usually gets a massage at the end of each semester and a chair massage every other month at Hair Happenings, in Moline.  The cost is $20 for a 20-minute massage, and Iozzo said it works best to relieve the tension in her back.

Junior Stephanie Stapes has received a massage from Capri College, but didn’t think it did the job.

“I didn’t like it much at all,” Stapes said.  “I couldn’t really feel the therapist massage me and I felt bad asking her to do a different technique.”

Capri is really reasonable, Stapes said, but since she suffers from back pain and numbing from a past job, she needed a professional. 

She now goes to her hometown of Des Moines to get a deep tissue massage every-other month. 

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