How Massage Helps Me

Member Jeanine Kastens receives the 'healing touch'

By Rebecca Douglas
Photo by Jeff Newton

Massage Envy members are a fascinating group, each with a unique reason for joining. In the first installment of our new series, How Massage Helps Me, we introduce you to a straight-talkin' Texan who relies on the healing touch of massage therapy every week.

Before Jeanine Kastens was diagnosed with breast cancer, she occasionally enjoyed what she now calls a "frou-frou" massage. "You know, just for relaxation," explains the politically active grandmother from Pearland, Texas.

Serious complications from reconstructive surgery following her lumpectomy and double mastectomy, however, led to six other corrective surgeries. Before her last surgery, she suffered nerve damage and one of her implants opened up, leaving her incredibly sore. These days, massage is all about pain relief.

"It's physical therapy," she explains. "Massage is the only treatment I've found that relieves my pain."

It's also a regimen that all of her doctors support and encourage.

That Special Quality

Sometimes Kastens' muscles are so tense when she arrives for a massage, it's hard for the therapist to make even a slight indentation in her back. "If I clean the bathroom or overdo it physically, I pay for it later," she says. "One therapist worked so hard on me, he was wringing wet with sweat afterward. I was impressed that he was willing to make the extra effort to get the results I needed-even though he had to change his shirt afterward!"

Therapists who go above and beyond the normal call of duty is just one reason Kastens has come to the Pearland Massage Envy clinic at least once a week for the past two years. "Their talent and knowledge are impressive," she raves. "They take the time to learn massage techniques from Asia and Europe and continue their study in areas like reflexology."

One therapist found that working pressure points in Kastens' feet is the best way to begin sessions when she is particularly stiff. "It settles me and my muscles down enough so they can make better progress on my back," she explains.

The Voice of Experience

Throughout more than 100 visits, Kastens has realized the benefits of seeing a variety of massage therapists. "I rotate according to where I'm hurting," she explains. "While all the therapists have the healing touch, I find that sometimes one therapist is best when my sciatica is bothering me; another is better at hips and legs."

Although she understands that many clients get comfortable with one therapist and only want to see that particular person, Kastens urges them to give other therapists a try. "I think variety helps," she notes. "They all have different personal strengths."

Given her regular weekly visits and outgoing nature, Kastens is downright chummy with the Pearland Massage Envy staff. "They're all so caring, you can't help but get to know them," she says. "I'm like a second mother or aunt to some of them; so I tell them exactly what I'm thinking."

Beyond Business

The staff's Texas-size compassion was really driven home for Kastens when the Pearland clinic sponsored a Massage for the Cure event. "It was really touching," she recalls. "All day long, the therapists gave massages for donations. All the revenue they brought in that entire day went to support local breast cancer programs."

So far, Pearland and about 75 other Massage Envy locations have raised more than $400,000 with Massage for the Cure events. Over the next few years, the company hopes to expand the effort to its more than 430 clinics nationwide.

Despite her unfortunate diagnosis and unusual string of complications, Kastens considers herself lucky and celebrates each cancer-free milestone with enthusiasm-and a little less pain thanks to the therapists at Massage Envy.