Out of the Ashes!

Providing a full range of massage and alternative relaxation and therapies, Phoenix Health and Wellness serves the community of West Lothian with its expert and friendly services. In the wake of the clinic being awarded the prestigious title of Best Massage Therapy Clinic 2021 – Bathgate in the LUXlife Health, Beauty and Wellness Awards 2021, we speak to Sally Chamness, the woman behind it all, about how she strives to stay at the top.

Phoenix Health and Wellness has been serving Bathgate since July 2010, providing expert
services in massage therapy, rehabilitation, pregnancy care and pain management. The clinic’s core values are to help clients achieve progress in their health, with patience and positivity. Meanwhile, the friendly staff believe in high quality care, assisting clients in healing and living pain-free lives.

Sally Chamness is the Founder and Owner of Phoenix Health and Wellness, which started life in 2010 as Wee Sally’s Therapeutic Massage but was rebranded following a devastating fire which tore through the upper floor of the building in 2019. Subsequently, Sally took the opportunity to rebrand the clinic so that the business was more inclusive of the team and reflected the skills of her dedicated staff members, as well as herself. Also, much like the proverbial Phoenix, Sally and her company rose out of the ashes to provide a new and passionate service to the local community.

Sally tells us more about the company and its ethos.

“Our goal is to address our clients concerns as a complete package of physical and mental wellbeing,” Sally begins. “We serve a wide range of clients who experience acute or chronic pain and discomfort. This can be from injury, lifestyle or health related sources. Working with our clients, we provide treatments that meet our clients’ goals and as a client-therapist team, we work continuously to assist our clients in achieving their health goals.”

Therapists at Phoenix Health and Wellness have trained with the best in the global massage industry and regularly attend international conferences to stay on top of the latest research and therapy practices. Keeping at the forefront of the sector is just one of the things that clearly differentiates the clinic from its competitors as it is able to offer more innovative new therapies compared with those typically found in a spa or salon.

Sally lets us in on some of the other new developments which have recently taken place in order to keep Phoenix Health and Wellbeing at the top of its game.

“In July 2018, we relocated to the high street which allowed us to expand our services and provide clients with a variety of therapists providing services in massage and spa treatments,” she explains. “We also added yoga classes and self-care classes.

“Throughout the pandemic we maintained contact with our clients to understand their needs moving forwards and we are in the process of adding to our mental health services by installing a floatation tank – the first of its kind in West Lothian.”

A floatation tank is essentially a large bathtub that is designed to reduce distractions: lights, sounds, gravity and tactile sensations. The water is heated to skin temperature and is filled with 1,000 pounds of Epsom salt, making it denser than even the Dead Sea.

As users lie in the float tank, about 80-90% of neuromuscular activity is decreased. Cortisol levels drop significantly, blood pressure lowers and a deep sense of relaxation starts to take over the body.

“Clients will find themselves floating effortlessly and losing track of where their body ends and the water begins.”

Having a passion for massage is the primary quality that Sally looks for when recruiting new staff to the team. Each therapist is a specialist in their own arena, whether this be in movement therapy or pregnancy and post-natal care, and all therapists are encouraged to build their practice and work with their ideal client, based on their interests and goals.

“Our therapists work with each other internally to trade techniques and tips, and it’s important that all of our therapists receive treatments often as well so that they can share their own experience of receiving treatment on a regular basis.”

During the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, massage therapy was obviously one of the most difficult services to try to offer due to its hands-on nature, and it took innovative measures from the team at Phoenix Health and Wellbeing to continue to engage with clients from afar

“Our Yoga instructors offered online classes, and our therapists offered online sessions with our clients that would allow us to assess their needs, and offer advice, techniques and self-care strategies so that they could remain on top of their physical health while we were unable to see them at the clinic,” states Sally. “As a team, we discussed how the long-term impact of physical contact may cause issues within our clinic even after re-opening, which is why as a team we agreed the introduction of the floatation tank would be an amazing idea, as it is a “hands-off” therapy which treats both physical and mental health.”

With regards to the future, Sally says it is very much business as usual, with new introductions in place to expand the clinic’s services.

“Our therapists have all spent their downtime focusing on their professional development so that we can bring the best therapies to our clients and community. We are also working with local mental health charities to offer reduced rate, and in some instances free, services to clients they feel could benefit from the work that we do.” As a result, more than a decade since its inception and with its history of resilience and innovation behind it, Phoenix Health and Wellness continues to move onwards and upwards, evolving as an organisation to deliver the best in care for tangible results for clients, inside and out.

For further information, please contact Sally Chamness or visit www.phx-wellness.com