Today we’d like to introduce you to Heather Knuckey LMT.
Heather, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I was born with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS). I have nerve pain of 7 to 10 out of 10 on the pain scale. I had to learn how to help myself since pain in a child 54 years ago was considered just in the mind if you didn’t have a break, sprain or infection. I learned how to live through working on my pain.
I wanted to be a doctor to help other people who were living with chronic pain. My schooling was interrupted when I became a single mother of a three month old. I went to work for doctors instead. Most of the doctors that I worked for liked to teach. I liked to learn.
After praying for a way to work with patients I broke my ankle and tore tendons and ligaments.
I went to physical therapy for two weeks with my ankle joint frozen. There was no change so I decided to take care of myself.
I worked on my connective tissue, though at the time I did not yet know that’s what I was working on.
I went to my surgeon for a follow up two weeks later with full function.
At the prior appointment I had a frozen ankle. I couldn’t walk without my crutches. I was in pain.
At my follow up I was able to walk without crutches, pain, or a limp. I walked as if I had never had surgery. He was impressed. He had me walk seven or eight times across the room waiting for a limp.
To this day I don’t have a limp.
On the way to that doctor’s appointment, I heard several advertisements about massage school. When I got into the car to leave the doctor’s appointment, I heard it again. When I pulled up to my house, I heard it again. This time I listened. I thought, if I can do this for myself, what can I do for other people?
Here I am twenty years later. I have put a lot of money and time into researching, continuing education, and practicing on dysfunction in the body.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It was smooth in the beginning. In 2018 I was diagnosed with metastatic thyroid cancer. I wasn’t doing well. I had to stop working on people. It hurt to touch. By that time I had been doing massage for 14 years.
That’s when I learned exercise, PH balance and a few other things that can help cure cancer. I started exercising six to eight times a day. I exercised using yoga, Pilates, and light weight work outs. My sessions lasted six to twenty minutes. I slept in between.
I had lost most of my muscle mass and fat but I still kept trying. I beat the cancer. To this day I continue to exercise and drink my special shakes.
I didn’t think I would be able to touch people again. But here I am. I’m still helping people.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
I’m a therapeutic massage therapist specializing in acute and chronic pain massage therapy for twenty years. I use neuromuscular therapy, trigger point therapy, myofascial release, visceral manipulation, mindful touch and whatever else needed to get the job done. My clients are looking for relief, not a lotion rub. I help people who want to take back their life from pain. I help with decreasing, or stopping, pain medication, avoiding surgery, increasing range of motion, decreasing pain from repetitive injuries, and more. Everyone is different for the amount of time it takes but most agree this helps.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
Books: Manual thermal evaluation. Fascial decoding; Fascia: At the Heart of Manual Therapy. Visceral Manipulation I and II. The Thorax. Trauma An Osteopathic Approach. Fascia stretching. These are just a few. There are many videos that I research by different therapies to address certain issues: yoga, pilates, physical therapies and more. I also follow Fascia Congress and belong to The Fascia Congress Research Society.
Pricing:
- Custom Therapeutic Massage 60 minutes $100
- 90 minutes $135
- Two hours $175
- Three hours $270
Contact Info:
