Licensed massage therapist expands practice

Crystal Locke expanded her healing crafts this winter including facials, ionic foot baths and reflexology to her massage therapy practice. She can be contacted at 541-398-1137. KATY NESBITT / The Observer

Diversity is the key to staying in business for many self-employed entrepreneurs.

Crystal Locke, a licensed massage therapist in Wallowa County for 13 years, expanded her practice this winter to offer therapeutic facial treatments. 

Locke wanted to provide more options while breaking up a routine of massage therapy that is extremely taxing on the therapist’s body. Her Belle Tazze facial rejuvenation detoxifies the skin while eliminating fine lines and providing a deep cleanse.

The process begins much like a massage. The client reclines on a massage table under a light blanket. Locke then places hot rocks under the client’s shoulders, hands and feet to encourage relaxation and promote circulation.

“The hot rocks put one in a euphoric state,” said Locke.

Spa music and the warmth prepare the client for an hour-long of incredible spoiling. The face is prepared with a masque made of all-edible products she mixes herself, said Locke, and is reminiscent of familiar scents.

After the masque is applied, Locke uses small suction cups and runs them along the face to encourage circulation. Running the cups along the lymph nodes allows for them to process the toxins, said Locke.

After the cupping process, Locke places cucumbers on the client’s eyes and while the masque works itself into the skin, she massages shoulders, arms, hands, feet and calves.

Locke said she uses a specialized tea to help regeneration of the epidermis and an anti-inflammatory to promote cellular repair. The cups combat both wrinkles and acne scars and reduces puffiness. When the masque is removed she spritzes lemon and rose scented oils to refresh the skin.

Locke attended a clinic in Seattle to become licensed to use the Belle Tazze cupping last year and now offers this unique facial treatment at her Joseph clinic.

“I needed to get out of my box and I’m stepping way out,” said Locke.

Concentrating on facials as another specialty made sense to her because women spend so much money on products, often needlessly. She said the face absorbs so much of its surroundings and is a natural place to detoxify.

Locke began her healing practice by trading massages with friends. She decided to take massage to the next level and enrolled in a school in Bend, graduating at the top of her class. Passionate about her art and dedicated to her science, Locke said her therapy is different than most.

She said, “My massage is therapeutic and tries to change muscle memory. I want to take a problem and get rid of it.”

Locke sees the body as a train track and her therapy follows along obvious lines.

She said, “I love what I do and it shows in my work. I understand the body and I can connect the dots.”

She has added a new edge to her therapy by providing ionic foot baths and reflexology, which is a procedure that flexes the feet and hands, providing relief in other parts of the body, said Locke.

There is a definite change in how people view their health care, Locke said. It is evident, she said, in the increasing number of massage therapists in Wallowa County. More and more insurance companies are covering massage for alternative post-surgery and accident therapy. Locke said she accepts insurance from her patients because she believes her therapy is a viable option.

“We need to take an active part in our own healing and be our own activists,” said Locke.