Pain Away of Philly --- Chinese Medical Massage — Local services in Philadelphia

tl;dr 4 massages across 2 weeks completely addressed shoulder and lower back pain I've had for over 2 years.

full story: In November of 2021, randomly, a sore spot materialized behind my left shoulder blade. It was muscular (soreness) and also bone (something needed to be popped back into place several times a day).

I tried EVERYTHING. Several different massage therapists, biweekly chiropractor visits with different doctors, biweekly stretching sessions - nothing helped more than temporarily, and by temporary, I mean a matter of hours and the discomfort was back, if it ever left at all.

It was hard to describe what it was - I'm no medical person and am clueless of anatomy - but it felt like the muscle was pulling a rib (or something) out of place. I could feel the pressure build over time that would be relieved when I or a chiro popped it back into place, but within the hour, it'd be unseated again. I had resigned myself to living with this for the rest of my life - I guess this is what being in your mid-30s is all about.

About a year ago, my lower back also started bothering me. Now, I regularly practice yoga, pilates, and barre - I'm in classes 3x a week, and while yoga helped, I found myself constantly stretching and using a theragun to try and relieve the soreness. And, same as with my shoulder, my lower spine would need to crack several times a day to relieve pressure.

Anyway, something told me to visit this place, and I'm glad I did. My first appointment was 2 weeks ago, on a Monday. I spoke to the woman at the front desk (I believe that's Bin, the owner?) - there was no language barrier, and I showed her exactly where my shoulder was bothering me and described what I had been dealing with.

She called over Steven, and described to him (in Mandarin?) what I said, and then I went back for an hour massage with him.

He and I sporadically talked throughout the massage - mostly me telling him when he hit the spot in my shoulder, and him asking questions about what I was feeling as he worked. Nothing intrusive, and the adjustments he made based on what we discussed were amazing.

Near the end of the hour, he used his phone to translate from Mandarin to English - the message said that the muscles were very, very tight, and my meridians were blocked, but a couple massages would help, and that he also recommended adding on a cupping session to the massage.

Reading that message - I can't tell you how it felt to hear that this could be addressed and fixed. I really was only expecting temporary relief, like with the other things I'd tried.

Steven used traditional glass cups, with fire and alcohol, and literally covered my back with them. I felt like a whale with barnacles attached all over!

He left me to lie there for 7 minutes with the cups, and a curious thing happened - the initial physical discomfort from having your skin vacuum-sucked into 15 or so glass cups faded pretty quickly, but I had the wildest outpouring of emotions. I had a swirl of memories surface - mainly around guilt and carrying the emotional burdens of others, and had a good cry on the table.

When it was over, the cups were removed, and I was dressed, I could not believe how much better I felt. I was almost afraid to believe it, because what if it was only temporary again?? But the pain in my shoulder had lessened by 70% at least, and stayed that way for the rest of the week.

I went back on Friday, for just the hour massage, again focusing on that area, and again, felt so much better after the massage, even though we didn't cup again.

Realizing that the issue with my shoulder COULD be fixed, I went back for another round for my lower back - same thing. I’m feeling so so so much better - better than I ever thought I’d feel again, AND IT ONLY TOOK 4 SESSIONS!!!! I’m so...

I never write negative reviews but I was so disappointed with my experience- I had really high hopes for this place & really wanted to like it! I booked a 1 hour massage which was listed as $80. I strained my neck on the left side and it's been bothering me for a week. I explained this to the front desk person when she asked & she said she would relay it to the masseuse. After the masseuse started (she didn't speak to me or check in before) it was clear she was focusing on the right side of my neck, not the left. I interrupted the massage twice to try to explain that it was the left side that was hurting but I think the language barrier kept her from understanding me. Also, for the first half of the massage she rubbed my body over the sheets which was uncomfortable. Her technique was good and after she started massaging on my skin rather than under the sheets it felt better but it didn't make a difference because she was not focusing on the part of my body that was in pain. I ended the massage with a tension headache from being pressed into the headrest too hard. She added on gua sha (without asking) and moxibustion. I asked multiple times what the moxibustion was because I've never had it before & was frustrated and had a headache at that point, but I don't think she understood me. The smoke made my headache worse. I didn't feel comfortable getting up and leaving because I was undressed and during the massage the privacy curtain was open and my masseuse was having conversations with her coworker. I was charged $140, plus a fee for using a card & the tipping options were 30, 35, or 40%. I normally always tip but I hadn't budgeted for almost double the cost I had booked for (!!) so I clicked no tip and then was pressured into tipping cash, which I did. To top it all off, I paid for 75 minutes of parking because I thought I was getting a 60 minute massage but since it went 90 minutes, I got a fat parking ticket! I'm really bummed out- I really wanted to like this place & everyone seemed really nice. There are worse things to blow money on but my neck still hurts just as much as before & I'm going to go take some tylenol for my...

I've been here twice... The 1st time I forgot to do a review & it was better than the 2nd time. I have bad back pain & I spend a crap load of money on massages. I am here in Philly working and need a skilled therapist. The 1st time I had a man (don't remember his name) He was surprisingly good, as He started I felt like I wasted my money because it wasn't what I was accused to as a massage But his technique did stop the pain. Usually after a massage I feel light & relieved Almost like I'm floating on a cloud but I didn't feel like that with his massage. It did help the pain go away. But I didn't have that light heavenly feeling afterwards & I normally do when I get Thai massages. My pain was just gone which I did appreciate. but this second time I was in serious pain & I stopped working to come get massage , Needless to say i was disappointed I had a woman. I don't remember her name and she was way too soft. She kept massaging areas that I didn't need. I kept telling her no. She had no true technique. It was almost like luck that she hit the right spot that was able to relieve the pain bbut 10 minutes later I'm in my car and I feel pain again.It was a waste of money. I will not be going back. Neither of them spoke english so they couldn't understand what I was asking them to do.No one wants to be in a massage and have to ask the receptionist to translate so I just dealt with it. I am still in philadelphia and will Be for a couple of weeks but I do not plan to come back here. Lack of communication is a huge issue for me, when I cannot communicate with someone that is providing a service that I am paying for. I gave it a 3 but it's really more...