Hi Faciaman
Contra indications vary on where and what you are taught, we were taught not to work over a recent operation and depending on the severity of the recent injury to approach the area cautiously, but that did not mean that treatment should not be given, if we can't get on top of the area straight away, then we can certainly work around it to assist the healing.
So to state that acute injuries should not be addressed is incorrect. Now if someone has not been trained to treat injuries then I agree they should not do it, but for general body massage which is what we are discussing here they just need to avoid the area.
Before I got my qualifications and after, I was either employed or did exchange treatments with many therapists practising a host of different therapies, yes they would not let me work in their practices as I was not a member of a trade association, but they were more than happy to receive my treatments as I was and still am an excellent practitioner.
So yes I am happy to receive massage from someone who has done a distant course and I am very happy to receive massage from natural massage therapists who have not received any formal training but are competent in their natural abilities. Saying that if I have an injury then I would be looking for someone who can get on and treat it for me.
Hi Faciaman
Contra indications vary on where and what you are taught, we were taught not to work over a recent operation and depending on the severity of the recent injury to approach the area cautiously, but that did not mean that treatment should not be given, if we can't get on top of the area straight away, then we can certainly work around it to assist the healing.
So to state that acute injuries should not be addressed is incorrect. Now if someone has not been trained to treat injuries then I agree they should not do it, but for general body massage which is what we are discussing here they just need to avoid the area.
Before I got my qualifications and after, I was either employed or did exchange treatments with many therapists practising a host of different therapies, yes they would not let me work in their practices as I was not a member of a trade association, but they were more than happy to receive my treatments as I was and still am an excellent practitioner.
So yes I am happy to receive massage from someone who has done a distant course and I am very happy to receive massage from natural massage therapists who have not received any formal training but are competent in their natural abilities. Saying that if I have an injury then I would be looking for someone who can get on and treat it for me.
That is the appears to be the problem then Paul, because the case in question mentioned by fasciaman, the therapist must have had exactly the same idea as you, and decided to use remedial massage to treat an acute injury, (I actually know of this case too, because I was contacted to see if I knew the therapist) and to say that acute injuries shouldnt be addressed by massage is not incorrect, it is the teaching of pretty much every syllabus in the land, and common sense in my view, you dont apply heat to an acute injury, and massage can produce heat, as well as the other problems that it can cause
If you had a problem, say an ankle sprain, would you be happy to receive a treatment from someone who had done a sports injury distance learning course? The principles are the same, read a book and go and give a hands on treatment.
Yes massage is instinctive, and intuitive, and you cannot learn these skills from a course...however, courses teach you how to be safe and effective.
Take as an example, a client with rounded shoulders, who's upper back muscles are no doubt lengthened, and their pectorals shortened. Unless you had done a decent course, you would just quite happily do your lengthening strokes up the back, thus the problem would not get resolved. That in my book would not be a safe massage (and yes there are different degrees of safety). You would never get that sort of information on a distance learning course (unless the companies read this and add it to their out of date course materials).
I agree with most of the comments from yogajoga, however, I dont think massage is unrecognisable. We have lots more variations of massage, using knowledge of the human body and movement, we have been able to develop those ancient techiniques. I certainly believe that massage is one of the oldest and most powerful healing tools, and that is why I believe that it should be taught by people that are themselves natural and intuitive. I certainly dont teach my students 'routines', because that is not intuitive, instead they get a feel for persons body, and how it responds to their touch. That cannot be taught via a distance learning course.
Just to pick up on your comment about treating someone with kyphotic posture. Your average massage course will not go into much detail about how to treat kyphotic posture - you will be taught a full body massage - using light to medium pressure and you probably won't go anywhere the pecs. To massage the pecs [and assisted stretching is also important] you need to do a sports massage course, or a course which shows you advanced techniques, or a workshop specialising in kyphotic posture.
I don't think that by working the rhomboids and trapezius more - because they're more accessible and everyone is taught those techniques is dangerous. What you are doing, is exacerbating the very cause of the condition. ie. back muscles which are tight in a lengthened position due to round shoulders and pecs which are tight in a shortened position. This makes the treatment less effective but I wouldn't say dangerous. The client will feel some instant relief from getting the back muscles massaged but it will be shortlived and their posture will remain the same no matter how many treatments they get where the pecs aren't massaged and postural advice isn't impressed upon them.
If I'm missing something here I'd really like to find out how this might be dangerous.
Again there is a big difference between learning general body massage for non specific issues and the more specialised forms of massage which do require more in-depth information to practice.
Without knowing the specifics of the case you are mentioning, as well as seeing what is wrong with the person first hand, I can't really comment on it, each person presents individual symptoms that are unique to them and requires a treatment to suit their individual requirements.
Personally I do not hold with the teaching that if someone comes with a lumber issue then you just treat the lumber area, to me the body is one entity and it needs as much of it treating, as is required for each type of injury we are presented with.
Just to pick up on your comment about treating someone with kyphotic posture. Your average massage course will not go into much detail about how to treat kyphotic posture - you will be taught a full body massage - using light to medium pressure and you probably won't go anywhere the pecs. To massage the pecs [and assisted stretching is also important] you need to do a sports massage course, or a course which shows you advanced techniques, or a workshop specialising in kyphotic posture.
I don't think that by working the rhomboids and trapezius more - because they're more accessible and everyone is taught those techniques is dangerous. What you are doing, is exacerbating the very cause of the condition. ie. back muscles which are tight in a lengthened position due to round shoulders and pecs which are tight in a shortened position. This makes the treatment less effective but I wouldn't say dangerous. The client will feel some instant relief from getting the back muscles massaged but it will be shortlived and their posture will remain the same no matter how many treatments they get where the pecs aren't massaged and postural advice isn't impressed upon them.
If I'm missing something here I'd really like to find out how this might be dangerous.
I didnt say the word dangerous, I said the problem would not get resolved, in fact you explained exactly what I meant better than I did, so thank you for that.
I think we may be going off topic slightly, as we are discussing massage by distance learning, however, it does highlight the differences in training. When I teach even what you would call 'basic' massage, I always discuss posture and the effects of massage on postural problems, and how just slightly changing techniques and movements, will have a beneficial effect on the problem, and wouldnt exacerbate it.
Oh yes, apologies - you said "would not be a safe massage" I guess I inferred dangerous as being not safe. We're in agreement anyway 😉
O for the golden years of family tradition massage and apprenticeships. Doesn't it conjure up wonderful nostaglic images. Problem is in 21st century UK that this doesn't exist - we are living in a modern technological culture not a village in the foot hills of Nepal or Northern Thailand (more wonderful romantic images). Times change and we have to change with it. Of course anyone can obtain a series of qualifications and letters after their name, but what's far more important is combining the best from the old and the new - intuitive/nature skills with modern A&P knowledge. Any serious massage practitioner will naturally do this. It's about using both sides of the brain!
RP