Recent mag articles would have you believe that traditional massage (with hands) is a cert for injury.I am so fed up with this that i simply wish to post the fact that you can use your hands and live to tell the tale.
6,000 sessions of deep tissue work have required I establish a career protection routine that means I recieve a massage for every ten I give.
Find another therapist to do regular swaps with, protect one another, get those forearms stripped through twice a month, when you are busy have extra treatments and you'll find you can work hard and deep and be healthy.
Our massage teaching schools need to take more responsibility for their students.WHERE IN THIS COUNTRY does a massage training school do a postural assesment of their students? It cant be acceptable to take large sums of mony from students whos suitability to train as therapists is not assesed.
Of Those of you that were taught no hands massage how many of you were assessed for hyper flexibility, core stability, muscle balance/strenght ect ect.ONLY if you were assesed individually can you believe those that teach you really care about your future career as a massage therapist!
RE: WITH HANDS (PRACTITIONER SURVIVES)
Hi Stephen,
I think you hit the nail on the head there about core stability. I go to the gym and work out on strengthening my core muscles as well as my neck and upper back to prevent an old injury rearing its ugly head. Since starting work as a masseuse, my back, neck, and shoulders have actually improved. EFT and Reiki work helps a great deal as well.
At the moment, I'm stuck indoors studying for a major exam when not working (going to work in half an hour -eeek), and I can already feel the difference being away from the gym for a week has made [>:]
RE: WITH HANDS (PRACTITIONER SURVIVES)
Hi. My college were really hot on posture and technique, but to be honest you can't tell some people and however many times they were pulled up about it they still didn't get it.[&:]
Personally I get regular osteopathy treatments when I need them, I have also started having massage once a week and get reflexology whenever I can grab it. My arms did get quite bad at one time but they are better now, though a bit pumped up lower down. I have a good dig inbetween the web of my thumb and first finger which helps.
If I didn't do all this then I probably would struggle to carry on to be honest.
I can't help but use my hands but I do use my forearms and elbows when I can. Nothing beats a good old dig with thumbs though! I actually find that giving reflexology treatments makes things worse, all those tiny repetitive movements have a bad effect.
RE: WITH HANDS (PRACTITIONER SURVIVES)
There is well documented evidence that traditional massage is not a certainty of massage. However it also shows there is a high probability of injury amoungst bodyworkers. And the majority of that injury is avoidable through any one of a number of ways, some of which you use.
I don't want to dispute anything you say in your post Stephen because I can't - everything you say is true. I'm glad that you have found a, for want of a better term, injury prevention program that works for your body. And that is a very important thing for bodyworkers to know I think, find or develop a program that works for your own body to prevent injury - not one that works for me or for someone else.
To answer your question my college didn't offer me a postural assesment, or significant advice on ensuring good / appropriate posture. I have since had that advice in post-grad training. I would have loved that knowledge when starting out, I think it is something that should be given to every bodywork student.
Foz xxx
:o)