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Hernando Today

A Massage Therapist's Touch Can Heal

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By TONY HOLT

Hernando Today

Published: December 15, 2008

SPRING HILL - She has worked for chiropractors and a day spa.

She worked for other people for more than four years.

Six months ago, Lilia O. Lopez de Flores thought it was time to go solo. It's what she had always wanted.

She travels to homes and offices. She drives a truck and brings with her a massage chair and/or table and other supplies.

"My truck is my office," she joked.

Lopez de Flores, owner and sole operator of Touch Can Heal, prefers to assist those with nagging pain or injury.

"I want to help those who seek a massage for therapeutic purposes," said the native of Guadalajara, Mexico. "I can help with any type of injury or chronic pain."

She is moving ahead in her business. She travels from Lecanto to New Port Richey and is available to anyone as far south as Tampa or Brandon, she said.

She recently joined the Greater Hernando County Chamber of Commerce.

Lopez de Flores wanted to be a physician while she was a little girl. She married early and had two daughters within 10 months.

She and her family moved to California 25 years ago - then to Tampa to Ocala and back to Tampa.

While employed at a bank, she would occasionally give shoulder rubs to her co-workers. Before long, she was doing them regularly and by request.

They urged her to go to school to become a massage therapist. Never losing her desire to work in health care, she took their advice.

She showed a progress report she kept while she was still in school four years ago. She was graded on a variety of skills and techniques on a scale of 1 to 4. She scored a 4 in every category. Her grade point average was a 3.96, she said.

One of the former chiropractors she worked for refers clients to her. She often treats patients with whiplash, sciatic nerve pain, back pain and shoulder injuries.

She can give chair massages or table massages.

Her business is mobile, so she can do house or office calls. Sometimes, bosses will reward employees or insist on occasional stress-relieving treatments. That is where Lopez de Flores comes in.

She wears a short-sleeved shirt, scrubs and tennis shoes. She looks and acts the part of a professional massage therapist.

Her old classmates thought the same thing.

While at massage therapy school, students went to her for help, not knowing Lopez de Flores was one of them.

"They used to tell me, 'I thought you were one of the teachers,'" she said.

Biz at a glance:

Name of biz - Touch Can Heal

Owner - Lilia O. Lopez de Flores

What it is - Appointment-only massage therapy

Get in touch - 727-534-1361 or 352-686-4621

Reporter Tony Holt can be reached at 352-544-5283 or wholt@hernandotoday.com.

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