I (18f) woke up yesterday with a tender shoulder, it felt like a knot which I’ve gotten a few times in the past. I went about my day and woke up this morning in absolute agony. I haven’t done any heavy lifting or any strenuous exercise so I don’t think it would be an injury.
After putting up with the pain and stiffness all morning I decided I would take funds out of my savings and book a massage. On the website it said $55 for 30 min and seeing as I’ve never had a massage I didn’t want to go for any longer then that. To book online you pay a $20 deposit and $35 before your service. Well I turn up to shop and the woman said I had to pay $40 even though online it said $35. I was mildly annoyed because it was more than what I had accounted for but oh well $5 is $5.
I get the massage and for the most part (except for the excruciating pain lol how to people find this relaxing) it’s good. Every time the masseuse would go over the knot it felt ok, but randomly during the massage i would feel it twing. I thought that meant the knot was gone and it was just some after pains, boy was I wrong.
I get changed back into my clothes and my back feels completely the same, still excruciating pain and limited mobility. I could’ve cried. I’m now in the same amount of pain I was this morning and feel so helpless. I feel like I’ve paid $60 for something that didn’t help when it was supposed too and would like my money back, but technically there was nothing wrong with the service, so would I be the a hole?
INFO: I did specify that my shoulder was causing me lots of trouble and that was the reason I came in for the massage.
EDIT: before one god damn person says “see a doctor.” Don’t, I’m not seeing a doctor for a muscle knot that could be a quick fix from a masseuse. Not until I’m not able to move my shoulder at all will I bother a doctor over something the can’t treat.
YWBTA- I say this as a person who’s has had multiple injuries and chronic things as well as little nagging injuries like this- if you have an injury, you need to see a dr and a physical therapist. The result you expected is not realistic from a 60$ 50 minute first time massage.
A massage is going to try to release some muscle tension and maybe work out some knots. Maybe maybe maybe you see someone really amazing and well trained in multiple modalities they may be able to knock out a knot or a kink or whatever, but generally if you’ve got something going on that hurts a lot , is recurring and is limiting mobility- it’s going to take time and management to improve, not a few minutes of massage.
Also, not to be annoying but your concept of injury is off. It doesn’t have to be something strenuous or traumatic to cause pain and dysfunction. It can be mundane repetitive motions, motor habits, muscle guarding. Maybe you always carry your bag on that side or you sleep on it weird every night or you work at a cash register, or that’s your scrolling hand. There’s so many boring little ways to wreck your body.
YTA
You booked a massage. They gave you a massage.
There are a ***lot*** of pains and problems that can’t be fixed with 30 minutes of rubbing. It’s not their fault if your problem is more than they can fix – they did their job and provided the service you asked for.
YTA if you ask for a refund. You got a massage and by your own admission the service was “perfectly good.” They are not magicians who can make pain vanish into thin air.
YTA- a massage is just that, they are not medically licensed unless you specifically choose a registered massage therapist which would cost more than what you paid. A massage is meant to help release some tension but it does not fix it, least of all in 30 minutes. This is something a doctor or chiropractor or someone who specializes in injury of this type needs to look at and determine best course of action. You could have also made it worse by not checking what it could be. But either way the massage was performed and it is exactly what was advertised other than the extra $5
it wasn’t the masseuse fault.
The problem is you paid for 30 minutes of massage, not for a shoulder knot to be gone. And you received 30 minutes of massage
YWBTA, a massage isn’t going to fix your deconditioning.
Ybta- one massage isn’t going to fix intense pain. You need to see a health provider.
Go to a Dr. and get a muscle relaxer like a grown up.
YWBTA. You don’t even know what’s wrong with your shoulder, and you expect a massage to fix it.
Go see a doctor.
YWBTA, you paid for a service and received it. You are not entitled to a refund. And it is a bit absurd to even consider that to be a normal thing. Someone spent their time and energy giving you the massage, but because it didn’t resolve a medical issue you think they shouldn’t be compensated for their time. Would that feel fair to you on the other side? If you gave someone a massage and weren’t compensated because of something like this?
YTA. A massage therapist isn’t a medically qualified professional. If you want to address shoulder pain then go see your GP or a physio.
Imagine if a massage therapist could immediately make any pain go away with a 30 minute massage – they’d never have openings and would cost an absolute fortune. YTA. It doesn’t work that way. You got what you paid for. Try about 4 more if you want it to improve.
YWBTA and also insane