Hi there, Remedial Massage therapists and lovely readers.
So you know those times when you’re having a nice chat with a stranger at a party, and the question of profession comes up. I don’t know about you guys, but I usually find that I’ll get one of four possible responses:
1. They’re delighted
2. They’re delighted and ask you to take a look at their sore shoulder
3. They think you’re a physiotherapist
4. They tell you about a terrible massage they had at a shopping centre
The strangest response was from a lovely elderly lady I met in the health food section at Coles. She asked me what I did for a living, and after telling her I was a remedial massage therapist she remarked on what a nice and well-spoken prostitute I was. I very quickly corrected her and clarified that I’m not a part of “that” industry, and am a health care professional. I remember reading once that a number of Paediatricians were maliciously targeted after media coverage of a known paedophile being brought to justice, so it appears there’s a need for increased awareness as to who does what when it comes to healthcare.
Remedial massage therapists assess and treat musculoskeletal dysfunction, or in simpler terms, we make your painful muscles feel better. We’ll look at your posture, the way you walk, and then do some movement tests on you. Depending on what we find, we’ll agree on a treatment plan with you and get started working on muscles which have been too tight for too long. When a muscle contracts, or is tight, there is reduced blood flow and circulation, thereby causing pain and often adhesions (knots). It might take us a few sessions, but our aim is to release these troublesome muscles and/or fascia (a coating around muscles and skin), thereby correcting the problem.
The trouble is, that unless you’ve had a massage before, public perception about massage therapists seems to be fairly entrenched. How many of you have heard the “happy ending” joke? PLEASE DON’T EVER TELL THIS JOKE. So many of us devote countless hours to study, keep our CPD (Continuing Professional Development) points up to date, educate people about what services we do and don’t provide, and work in a wide variety of settings. We work really hard, and are specialists who work in the healthcare industry.
What makes things challenging are the ones who take good honest people for a ride, claiming that they’re specialists – but just aren’t. I once spoke with a very intelligent person who told me she was seeing a “Spineologist”. Apparently this is a dude who does stuff to spines. A person who she was paying quite a lot of money each week for as many visits as she could manage, so he could fix her bulging disc problem and a number of other vertebral dysfunctions. It appeared as if he’d used his influence to convince her that he was a miracle-worker, and the only way she could be pain free was to see him daily for the rest of her life.
By the end of this story I’d stuffed most of my fist in my mouth to stop me from screaming, but managed to ask, in a calm and considered manner, what sort of qualifications he had and whether she’d signed any documents or contracts locking her in for life. Luckily she hadn’t, but “Doctor Paul” had warned that if she cared about her health at all, she should visit him at least a few times a week. Sessions were only 10 minutes long, but this would help her be pain free (for about as long as it took her to pay) until her next visit. The more questions I attempted to ask (calmly), the more defensive she became. But then I reminded myself that although I wanted to find Doctor Paul and run him over with my car, some people do respond quite well to the placebo effect. If whatever he was doing was non-invasive, wasn’t hurting her and she felt better, then who was I to judge?
I work in the industry and sometimes the myriad of different healthcare categories baffles ME, so I know it can be confusing folks! If you’re not sure who does what, or what modality would achieve the best results for you, then please ask someone you trust – like me! If I don’t know, I can find someone who will know. There are also a number of sites that will help you make an informed decision, and Google reviews are usually a good yardstick. Of course you may wish to ask your friendly GP. But please, if any health care individual wants to see you several times a week, for an indefinite future, put those sceptical pants on before making a decision.
Have a fabulous and healthy month everyone!
Mya :)
