Massage therapist helps ease more than just stress

In her 15 years as a licensed massage therapist, Lee Stang has soothed the sore muscles of Olympians, the U.S. Power Lifting Team and some of the best players from the University Of Connecticut’s women’s basketball team. She also works on local folks.

"My clients have ranged from three months to 88 years old," she said at her studio, Bridges to Health, at 17 Farmington Ave. "We focus on injuries, chronic pain and health conditions, but massage also helps people with multiple sclerosis, fibro mialgia and cancer. It’s also great for general relaxation and stress reduction."

Stang grew up in Pennsylvania and came to Connecticut "by way of Indiana." While working to help rehabilitate people with head injuries, she was impressed by the benefits her clients got from massage.

"I thought, ‘I could do that,’" she said.

So she enrolled at the Connecticut Center for Massage Therapy and began to study. She earned her license in 1995. While building her practice, she also taught anatomy and physiology and clinical massage at the school, where she still teaches.

Massage has many benefits, Stang said. It helps surgery patients recover and helps old or infirm people with mobility. Those with chronic pain feel better after half an hour on the table.

"Some of my most rewarding work was with breast cancer patients," she said. "Massage helps their recovery time. I work on their shoulders so they can lift their arms completely."

Stang has also taken advantage of the chance to travel in her career. She worked at the Olympics in Salt Lake City in 2002 and the Paralympic Games in Greece in 2004, where she helped organize the massage therapists for the track and field teams. She travelled with the U.S. Power Lifting Team to Prague and accompanied the lady Huskies to San Antonio during the Final Four. She even coordinated the massage therapists at Ground Zero in the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001.

"This is hands-on work," Stang said. "That’s why it’s so effective."

In 2006 she was named the National Sports Massage Therapist of the Year by the American Massage Therapy Association and will be teaching at the National Massage Therapist convention later this year.

Stang shares her office with several other therapists. Some specialize in various techniques, such as Reiki and Reflexology.

Stang lived in Plainville when she opened her studio, but seven years ago she moved to Southington. Now her business is following. In April she will be moving to 1850 West St. There are also other massage therapists there, along with chiropractors and nutritionists, so people can access a variety of services in one place.

"It’s a great profession to be in," she said "There’s the opportunity to effect people in a lot of different ways."