oh, my poor back!

Sounds familiar? Like many of you, I often get muscle tensions & aches around the neck, shoulders and lower back from spending long hours crunching keys in front of the computer (like right now). 

Muscle tension accompanied with pain is a sure sign of fatigue and minor inflammation of muscle tissues. Usually, a good night’s rest on a very good (but very expensive) mattress will alleviate the symptoms. But how many of us actually own a $5k mattress to be honest?

What most of us would do is to slap on some ointment like Tiger Balm or other analgesic muscle rub, “dak goh yok”, Hokkien for applying a medicated patch, or painting the affected areas with a rolled-on medicated stick like Yoko-Yoko. True, they may be effective but, frankly, I find the “hot & spicy” sensation rather objectionable and wonder if it’s really necessary to heal pain with even more pain. And, guess what, the pain would return hours after enduring all that.

Once I even booked an appointment with a massage parlour for an aromatic full-body massage. What I ended up with was a hole in my pocket, I’d bought a packaged deal which seemed a good idea at that time but had second thoughts after the massage ended, and none the more satisfied. Oh, by the way, the nagging pain didn’t go away.

Fortunately, my beloved is skilled in giving massages (and also very strong). So, we decided that I should become his apprentice while I formulate and experiment with essential oils to come up with personalised blends for us. And so that was how A4[map] came about.

A4[map] is short for Aromatherapy for Muscle Aches and Pains and this is the first formulation, a synergy essential oils to treat inflammation and improve circulation.

That’s it. It’s easy to make, smells awesome and I don’t have to elaborate on the joys of giving mutual massages with your loved one which I highly recommend to couples or good friends.