by Carrie Moritz, Gazette
A new business is coming to town, thanks to entrepreneur Allison Neukirchen. She will be opening a massage parlor in her home, called Pasque Medical Massage.
"I want to break the patterns of pain," she said of her work. Neukirchen, who has a bubbly personality and is quite relational, said she got into massage training while studying for acupuncture and her health science degree in college. Her mother had had surgery, and no amount of follow up visits with occupational therapy and physical therapy were helping, but chiropractic therapy did help, as did massage.
Neukirchen, who is originally from Washington state, moved to South Dakota in 2023 for family and economical reasons. Her father-in-law bought a house in Garretson, and through that they fell in love with the topography of the area and the small community feel of the town. They moved into their house this past summer.
Though they haven't had children yet, Neukirchen and her husband Jack are looking forward to having the ability for their kids to play outside, ride bikes and be with friends without having to worry the same way they would in Sioux Falls.
However, starting a business so soon after moving into their house has been an adventure. They have modified a front bedroom to be the massage parlor after obtaining permission from the city, and set up their open-concept house with room dividers to differentiate between business and living spaces.
"My neighbors probably think I have a shopping addiction," she said with a laugh, pointing out the equipment she's been acquiring for the business.
Her room is outfitted with hot stones, a towel warmer, Himalayan salt stones, and other equipment she can use in pursuit of the medical-style massage she intends to utilize.
She has learned many different styles, from the regular Swedish massage style to deep tissue massage, pre-and-post athletic techniques, pre-natal, lymphatic drainage, and much more. She doesn't intend to necessarily differentiate to clients which technique she's using, as there are many tools in her toolbelt and she plans to utilize whichever ones will benefit her clients the most.
When asked how she got into massage, Neukirchen laughed. It was a bit of a winding path, with work first as an EMT and a goal to be a doctor.
In 2014, Neukirchen originally went to the University of Washington (UW) on a pre-med track, but soon decided to change to a more holistic route. While in college, she worked as an EMT.
In her second year, she transferred to Bastyr University to study acupuncture and acquired her massage certification.
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