Years ago my husband owned a sandwich shop in Palm Springs. He and I were dating then and I was a doing one of my clinical internships there at a local hospital. I would often come to his shop after work to eat, study and help him get ready for the next day. It was in the late spring and the evenings in the desert are beautiful.

One evening we had stayed at the shop especially late, in fact it was almost midnight. The main road was quiet and we strolled slowly to our cars with few signs of anyone around. Then suddenly out of nowhere there he was right in front of us walking his dog, surprisingly all alone. You couldn't help but recognize him and his frame. He is quite distinct and his voice is recognizable anywhere. He was strolling too, in the cool of the evening. Of course, all I could think of when I saw him was that he got a massage everyday, and that I wished I got a massage everyday, and I wondered what it would feel like if I could get a massage everyday.

You see I had heard that this particular celebrity got a massage everyday when I was in physical therapy school and I was fascinated with the idea of it. I think I was so interested because as a physical therapist you are trained to know the benefits of massage, and when you understand what the benefits are you know it is the best gift your body can have. You would have thought I could have come up with some great conversation piece seeing that we were alone with him, but I didn't. I was too busy watching how he walked and how smooth he looked for his age. He squatted down to pet his dog and there were no old bones that creaked, he did it easily. I swore right then it must have been those daily massages.

Massage as you know can come in many forms. There is massage for relaxation, for muscle soreness after working out and for getting your lymph system up and moving. There is special massage that we use for scar tissue build-up or for tendons that have inflammation. We use certain patterns of massage to drain edema after a sprained ankle or a twisted knee. If you have had a total joint replacement there is a massage we do specifically for that also.

In a recent study on the benefits of massage, the subjects were told to exercise and then they would have a massage. They then did a muscle biopsy before and after their massage. The research indicated that there was less lactic acid build-up in the muscle directly after the massage then before the massage. Once again research evidence that massage was all it was cracked up to be for us.

Massage is something physical therapists do everyday and they are good at it. They know how to assess what kind of massage you need and what will benefit you the most. You and I may not be able to afford a massage everyday or even once a month, but a good massage from a trained physical therapist can help make all the difference in the world for each of us. So you decide if it's worth it to you and your body.

And by the way, the only words I said that evening because I was so busy thinking about his daily massages was, "Good evening, Bob!" He smiled and said "Good evening" and then the moment was gone. Thanks Bob Hope for reminding me of the importance of massage for our body, I won't ever forget that evening in Palm Springs.

Sheree DiBiase, PT, is the owner of Lake City Physical Therapy and she and her staff can be reached for a specialized massage at (208) 667-1988. Please join us tonight, Oct. 17 at 6 p.m. for a Lymphedema education massage class. Call to reserve a space.