My first session with a Chiropractor: Tamalou in Essaouira (Morocco)
This article isn’t NOT sponsored
I have told you here and here that I had pain in my shoulders and neck because of the bedding not adapted to Morocco and my habit of blogging from my couch. It became so unpleasant that I couldn’t lower my neck completely.
That’s when I wanted to look for an osteopath (one and not one) – because male osteopaths tend to crack a bit more than female osteopaths (in my experience). I couldn’t find one in Essaouira, there were some in Casablanca (7 hours drive) and in Marrakech (I don’t like this city). I gave myself a few days to think about it, to see if I finally accept to go and see an osteo man, at the risk of cracking my bones, or to wait for my arrival in Lisbon.
And then, by chance (although I think that chance doesn’t really exist), I came across a Tamalou flyer at my favorite French bakery. This practice treats all types of muscle, joint and visceral pain!
I show the flyer to my bakery and ask for more information. She tells me that she didn’t go personally but that she had very good feedback.
As there is no address on the flyer, I call directly the number indicated on the flyer and a French lady answers me, reassuring me that :
- his office is just 5 minutes away from my home (dunes area in Essaouira)
- that she can offer me a consultation in a few days time
1st session
So, a few days later, I ring her doorbell and she shows me her ultra-equipped office. I learn thatshe is a physiotherapist but has trained in other alternative medicine techniques and specializes in pain relief and anti-aging.
I show her where it hurts and she says “we’ll take a look at it”. I lie on my stomach, fully dressed, and she examines me from head to toe. I will try to explain her technique, my words are probably not very precise, I apologize in advance.
Reflex chiropractic
By pressing on a few specific points, she can see (by measuring the alignment of my feet), if there is a tension at this or that place.
All the vertebrae of the spine are checked, making it possible to determine if there is tension in a specific vertebra.
Once the tension is determined (and I can clearly feel, when she measures my heel alignment, that my heels aren’t aligned), she presses my back at a precise spot with a mini hammer (which makes a “click” like a ballpoint pen), frankly it doesn’t hurt at all. And as if by a miracle, she re-measures my heels and here they are perfectly aligned. In 3 seconds.
The scientific explanation would be that tensions can pull a little on the bones and create asymmetry and affect other parts of the body. Our body has its reflexes (remember the reflex hammer used to tap the knee. The projection of the leg must follow), so by pressing very quickly with the hammer, as it does, my body reacts and readjusts itself. This is the basis of reflexology.
By the time it reached my head, all my shoulder tension was gone. She pressed where it usually hurts a lot, but this time I don’t feel any pain. It’s really magical!
Atlas / Axis Balancing
There I am on my back and she explains to me that the whole head rests on only 2 bones. I didn’t understand the rest of the explanation, sorry. But once again, by pressing 2, 3 times with her hand, everything is perfectly aligned.
In any case, after 30 minutes, I can move my neck as before, without tension. I can lower my head again as before. It’s amazing!
After this first session, I had back pain for 2 days. The little hammer blows didn’t hurt at the time, but they did create some aches and pains. It seems that the body works by itself to put everything back in place.
I couldn’t even slouch for two days, I could only stand perfectly straight. She told me that I shouldn’t do any sports. Unfortunately, we went for a mini roadtrip between Essaouira and Agadir, on roads not quite tarred. My poor body was surely shaken a little… so I waited impatiently for the 2nd session to check all this.
2nd session
Good news: the body has recovered well, at least a good part of it, because during the control done as in the 1st session, my heels were perfectly aligned most of the time, and my atlas/axis balance remains perfect.
This time I had a few suction cups on my back. It hurt in a few places, but I think they worked well and helped me release some tension in those areas. The proof: after this 2nd session, I have no more pain at all.
3rd session
3rd and last verification session before our final departure from Morocco. There are still some mini-tensions but I can consider myself cured.
Sorry for my imprecise vocabulary but I just wanted to give you my testimony. I was pleasantly surprised by the effectiveness of the treatment and its non-invasive, non-violent side (no bones were abused/cracked during the process).
When I asked her, the lady told me that she also offered anti-aging treatments: facial care (with high-tech machines such as Thermage or an ultrasound machine to lift the facial muscles), slimming treatments… I even saw a client with beautiful skin who had just finished her first peeling session (gentle, non-invasive). I thought that this client had always had such beautiful skin, and after investigation, this was not true 🙂 This is the effect of a gentle peel, followed by an oxygen mask and light therapy.
It’s a shame I didn’t have enough time to test these facials.
In any case, I am delighted with the effectiveness of his pain management.
For more information, go to his website: http: //www.tamalou-essaouira.com/
Contact her by phone or via the website, do not show up in front of the center WITHOUT an appointment, everything must be done by appointment. Here is the number of the lady (Sylvie): +212 6 82 54 72 02
