Massaging the Military
posted: 12-04-07

As owner of Muscle Vacation, which has offered massage therapy and holistic techniques at Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) locations in the Navy Southwest Region for more than 14 years, Lori Pellegrini has provided relief for people in all branches of the military, retired veterans and their families.

Pellegrini began studying massage in the early 1980s when she got tired of driving a limousine for a living. She started with sports massage and added different modalities of massage through the years as she had a thirst for learning more.

 “I started working in a gym back in ’91 because I wanted to do more than what I was doing with the general public, and I wanted to work with optimum-minded people and optimum fitness,” Pellegrini said. “I wanted what I was doing to be viewed as therapeutic. I felt the best way to get optimum results was to start a program in the Navy.”

There are now several therapists with the program, offering services at locations including Balboa Naval Medical Center, Naval Submarine Base Point Loma, and Fleet Anti-Submarine Warfare Training Center.

Pellegrini has worked on thousands who have served, and has learned the differences that certain military factions have when needing massage therapy.

“You have your pilots who have more severe neck problems, and that has a lot to do with the gravity pull,” she said. “Many have lower back problems because they hold so much weight on their bodies coming from the [military] zone. Their bodies are fatigued from carrying so much. Those who are on the ground fighting, there are a lot of shoulder issues as well.

 Pellegrini draws on sports massage, range-of-motion exercises, and deep-tissue massage. "There’s a lot of Swedish for those who just want to relax," she adds. (www.massagemag.com/Magazine/2007/issue135/OE_Vets.php)

—Keith Loria