It was the perfect maelstrom of situation and circumstance. I had three hours to kill, having dropped off my car to have all the breaks replaced. It was a lovely day so I decided to take a walk around the neighbourhood to appreciate the glow of a would-be spring sun. My journey took me to one of the Big Feet locations, deciding it would be the best way to kill some time.
They are known for affordable massages and traditional Chinese style healing methods, and it just so happened that I pulled a back muscle the day before, over extending a punch. A little pinch that nagged, but not enough to need relief from pain killers. None-the-less I decided to treat myself to a slower paced afternoon and indulge in some self care.
I was orginally eyeing the body massage, but thought to experiment with a different technique.
I was honing in on the Moxibustion on the treatment menu, but it required a trained acupuncturist. She would not be starting until later, and I walked in wanting my massage now.
Moxibustion accompanies acupuncture. Where the burning of mugwort leaves are use to apply heat close to the skin’s surface using a stick. Thus enhancing the efficacy of the acupuncture. This would have been an $28 add-on to the price of the acupuncture.
After crossing off that option, I then moved on to the Fire Cupping & Guasha at $38 for 25 minutes. It is either one of the other, otherwise they charge you the full price twice for both.
Fire Cupping is when heat is applied to glass cups and suction is used on the back to relieve pain and extract toxins from the body. Those who have had the treatment done come out with bruised spots on their back that look like octopus tentacles. Cups of various sizes are placed across the shoulders, back, sides, and either halves of the spine. You feel the pressure squeeze, but it looks worse than it feels with your flesh flushed blue with deoxygenated blood, and receded flesh dawned into the balloon shaped cup. I walked away with no bruises, which had me skeptical of the efficacy of the treatment.
Guasha is the scraping of the back and shoulder with a sliced up and sanded smooth portion of a bull horn. They warn of blistering or bleeding, but there is not enough pressure to cause damage. It is also done over a sheet while you are face down, to protect you from direct skin contact. It was more like a pressured massage, but with a scraping motion as apposed to a kneading or rolling one of a more common massage.
I found more benefit from the shoulder massage that accompanied my extended 75 minute foot massage. I let the expert healer up-sell me to have a dedicated 15 minute shoulder massage as my feet were allowed to soak in a plastic tub, lined with a plastic bag, and filled with hot water. You feet “stand” on spikes at the bottom of the bucket mention, to mimic the effects of reflexology. This is pressure points on the balls of the feet that correlate to organs in the body.
The longer massage allowed for greater relaxation and the ability to calm oneself. It is hard to be stressed when you are this relaxed and felt well tended to and cared for.
Be warned not all locations have an English speaking attendant. Communication was challenging and I felt less than welcomed with abrupt, money-is-the-goal service. When it was time to pay the attendant helping me rang me through, but the boss/owner had to come by and check his work with a calculator, in front of me, and essentially belittling and demeaning him. This would be the only dark cloud during this visit, but enough to not have me wanting to return to any of their locations when there are so many other and better customer focused options out there.
Big Feet
5258 Imperial St, Burnaby, BC V5J 0G9
(604) 998-8711
bigfeet.ca
