Neck Swelling After Massage: Causes & What to Do

Question
First of all thank you for volunteering your time. I do a lot of volunteering and find it helps me be a better person.
Here is my question. Two different times this has happened to me. I get a massage and she does it where I face up and she puts her hands under my neck. She then does a series of power points and deep tissue in my neck and shoulder area. She uses an oil that I have used before but I did not have a reaction to it.  After the massage I feel really good. I have like an extra energy feeling. But then that night when i go to sleep the next morning I wake up and my neck is swollen and my eyes are very swollen. For the next few days I find that my neck is really tender to the touch, although moving it is ok. The first time I went to the doctor and he said I must be fighting something off and my glands are swollen. But then it happened again.  Have you heard of this happening before? Should i change how the massage therapist treats me? Your feedback would be really helpful.

Answer
Hi Joy,

Sorry it took me a few days to get back to you! Ok so I'm thinking 2 things here. You might be reacting to how deep the massage is on your neck. The tender to the touch is perfectly normal for a massage. As far as your eyes swelling I'm not sure. The only thing I can think of is that you might have reacted to whatever type of laundry detergent the therapist uses on the sheets. Muscles can swell up as a reaction to massage, but the next day isn'y usually something i have heard of. I can see right after, but I've never heard of the next day. Try a relaxtion massage on your neck & see how you react. I hope this helps & sorry again for the late response.

Zira