Local massage therapist has magic in her fingers

"It started about 10 years ago. My husband Mark owns his own business. He came home stressed and very tight in his neck, shoulders and back. I gave him massages to help relieve his stress,” says Terri LaBell. “Amazingly, giving the massage was a release for me as well. I went into a zone and could relax doing the work. I found it very rewarding.”

For eight years Terri, who lives in Avon, worked on her husband at home. As she put it, “I pretended I was a real massage therapist.” During the day she worked as a purchasing agent for one of the area’s biggest design and automation companies. This was 2006 and she had spent the last 23 years working in a cubicle and decided she needed a change. A drastic change.

Terri spent the next two years attending professional massage school after work at the Onondaga Massage School here in Rochester. In 2008 she shut down her cubicle once and for all and began her new career as a licensed massage therapist.

“It’s so rewarding when people email or text me the next day to tell me they are pain free. It makes up for the 23 years I spent in a cube and it’s a great affirmation that I’ve made the right decision. I’m helping people every day, and that feels great.”

Earlier this year the former owner of Massage on University decided to sell the business when she moved to Vermont. Her hope was to sell the business to someone who would run it with as much care as she had for the past 10 years.

Having spent two years learning the ropes, Terri jumped at the opportunity to own the full-service relaxation center that offers more than a half dozen services from scrubs to facials, waxing, manicures, pedicures and, of course, full-body massage. On Oct. 1 Terri officially became the owner of Massage on University, the same place where she worked for the last two years.

“Human touch is so important. I’ve read studies of monkeys who were deprived of social interaction and touch. Ones that were touched, they thrived. The isolated monkeys did far worse,” Terri says, speaking of the famous Harlow experiments performed by American psychologist Harry Harlow.

“I think humans are the same way. It’s a disservice that massage is not readily covered by health insurance. Pills are prescribed freely but massage is held in a different regard when in all actuality many pain sufferers need therapy once a week but just can’t afford it,” she continues.