How to Get Rid of That Pain in the Neck

THESTREET.COM has some great suggestions for how to get those kinks out of your neck:

Winter can be a real pain in the neck, the way everyone is holed up indoors.
Faced with the unpalatable prospect of my own upper-back tension lingering well into spring, I realized I needed help working out the kinks, and I needed it fast. So I scheduled a massage.

Massage -- Swedish, specifically -- is the most popular spa treatment in the U.S., according to the International Spa Association. The quest to alleviate achy muscles and joints is one of the top reasons, along with stress relief and reduction, propelling people to spas, says iSpa.

Seeking convenience and efficiency on top of relief, I scanned the online menu of "body therapies" offered by Exhale mind body spa, a minichain with popular yoga and fitness classes.

Since opening its first facility in 2005, Exhale has grown to eight locations in the United States, most encompassing 15 to 20 treatment rooms and a fitness studio or two. (The spaces in Venice, Calif., and Bridgehampton, N.Y., are basically fitness studios and don't offer spa therapies.)

Expansion plans include new Exhale spots in Miami and Manhattan, as well as residential- and hotel-spa partnerships.

As Exhale already has two locations in Manhattan, near me, I figured my chance of snagging a last-minute appointment, at least on a weekday, was good. All I wanted was a half hour, which would be easier to squeeze into my schedule than a longer treatment, and I was happy to see that most Exhale massages are available as 30-minute sessions.