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Knead to Melt Away Tension?

Duke employee wellness offers convenient chair massage sessions on Thursdays

Massage therapist Benjamin Franklin releases Virginia Carden's tension with a a chair massage. Photo by Bryan Roth.
Massage therapist Benjamin Franklin releases Virginia Carden's tension with a a chair massage. Photo by Bryan Roth.
By Marsha A. Green

Kneeling on a massage chair with her forehead on a padded face rest, Virginia Carden exhaled as a massage therapist pressed his thumbs into her shoulders and pressure points.

For more than four years, Carden has enjoyed a chair massage most Thursdays through LIVE FOR LIFE, Duke's employee wellness program. LIVE FOR LIFE began offering chair massage 12 years ago to give employees a quick, convenient way to release tension and enhance flexibility and health.

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"When he starts, I'm a solid rock, but after a few minutes, things start moving and the tension starts draining from my muscles," said Carden, an administrative research librarian at the Medical Center Library.

Massages are offered by a certified massage therapist from 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Thursdays for $18 to $36, depending on whether the massage is for 15 or 30 minutes. The sessions are in either the Duke Cancer Center Belk Boutique or the Duke Clinic Employee Health Clinic in the Duke Clinic Building. To make an appointment, call (919) 684-3136, option 1.

Over the past year, nearly 300 employees have taken the opportunity for a massage through LIVE FOR LIFE. "Massage is an excellent way to slip a bit of rejuvenation into your life," said Lauren Updyke, health education manager with LIVE FOR LIFE. She said research shows that massage melts away tension in tight muscles, slows the heart rate, lowers stress hormones and can improve the immune system.

Carden said her weekly massages help work out kinks from sitting in front of a computer and reduces lingering pain and stiffness from a neck injury twelve years ago.

On a recent Thursday, she entered the private room in the Cancer Center Belk Boutique, where soothing guitar and flute music filled the room. Ben Franklin, a certified massage therapist and director of education at the Body Therapy Institute in Siler City, quickly got to work kneading tight spots on her shoulders and neck.

"A tight muscle feels like a speed bump or a knot," said Franklin, who has offered services through LIVE FOR LIFE since 2001. "Once the tension is gone, the muscle feels nice and smooth throughout its width and length."

Carden said the regular massage helps keeps her back limber and body relaxed. "Sure, it costs a bit," she said, "but sometimes you just have to put your body first."