Cheney's own in business to heal pain

CHENEY – Jamie DeAndre says she has a desire to heal things.

The 1994 Cheney High School graduate also says she’s always had a desire to own her own business. Both of those desires have come together in Enlightened Hands Massage, DeAndre’s business located inside Diamond Beauty and Boutique, 1322 1st St.

DeAndre has worked for years in the physical therapy field, including seven years at Lakeland Village in Medical Lake. It was that experience that led her to get into massage therapy, graduating from the Inland Massage Institute in 2011 with state and national certifications.

DeAndre worked four years at Elements Massage and has spent time working for several chiropractors in the area before landing an occupational therapy position with St. Luke’s Rehabilitation Center in Spokane. While that’s a position she said she loves and helps pay the bills, she’s always wanted to do massage therapy on her own, often working out of her house to “keep my skills sharp.”

In January, she set a goal to open her own business, and after looking at a couple places in north Spokane that “didn’t really speak to me” saw a spot posted with Diamond Beauty and Boutique. She met with the owner and they shook hands on a business arrangement that day.

But after being open for a bit in February — COVID-19 hit and businesses such as hers were forced to close due to state restrictions enacted to combat the spread of the virus. Since those restrictions were relaxed earlier this summer, allowing her to reopen, things have been going rather well.

“People are eager to get back into massage,” DeAndre said. “Everything has been pretty good in that regard.”

DeAndre said she specializes in deep tissue, medical-based massage, and is versed in tailoring that practice to the specific needs of individual patients. She can do full-body relaxation or address issues such as whiplash and chronic back pain.

DeAndre said she is a firm believer in chiropractic treatment, which in simplest form deals with structural adjustments and realignments. But if muscles and ligaments around those structural issues are tight and bond, they will work to pull those adjustments out of alignment.

“That’s where massage comes in, it helps get things leveled out,” DeAndre said. “Chiropractors and massage go together like peanut butter and jelly.”

DeAndre works with customers to set up treatment plans. A portion of any first visit is an assessment to figure out what’s going on and what can be done to address it. She said she typically likes to see people for four weeks straight for therapy before re-assessing their progress.

A typical session is one hour, although 90 minute sessions have proved popular and she is capable of doing two hour sessions as well.

“It gives you time to focus on areas of concerns while touching other areas,” she added of the longer sessions.

Enlightened Hands Massage is currently open from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. on Thursdays and Saturdays, although DeAndre said she hopes to add a third day soon. She is able to accept Labor and Industries patients, and appointments can be made by calling her at 509-934-9997 or by going to her Facebook page. She is currently offering a $50 introduction rate for the first hour.

“If somebody comes in with pain, I want to fix it, I want to heal it,” DeAndre said.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].