Like a Dream Massage

Laura O’Connell has 20 years of nursing experience, but she gave it up this year for the slower paced work of a massage therapist. O’Connell said she’s known for some time that massage isn’t just a stress relief — it can also help the healing process and ease pain after an injury.

“It’s a way to keep the pain down so you don’t have to medicate as much,” she said.

Her medical and nursing background lends a lot to her massage-therapy practice, she said.

O’Connell does both therapeutic and relaxation massage — Swedish massage, myofacialrelease, neuromuscular therapy and chair massage.

She also uses aromatherapy and paraffin and a lot of hot and cold packs for injured clients.

Massage is good for those suffering from injury or illness, but it’s also good for the business world, O’Connell said. She recently spent a day during employee-appreciation week at a large Northwest Arkansas company doing 15-minute chair massages for the employees.

“I watched people come in very stressed and leave very relaxed,” she said.

O’Connell said she invested $5,000 to open Like a Dream Massage.