Relaxation or treatment: They’re not the same
Relaxation or treatment: They’re not the same
Patients can use a treatment intervention
Not all massages are equal, and patients should learn the difference between a relaxation massage and a treatment massage before choosing one of them. Relaxation massage is much more general than treatment massage, says Anna Hollingsworth, RN, MPH, CHESS, LMT, NCTMB, a massage therapist at Kona Medical Massage in Kealakekua, HI. Massage for relaxation is more surface work over the body, while treatment massage is directed at specific, individual muscles.
"Treatment work involves myofascial release. It involves specific steps directed at specific muscles, so a massage therapist would work with an area of the body that has an injury, condition, or problem like chronic low back pain," she says.
Fascia is the covering over the muscles, so a massage therapist releases that area and then works specifically with the muscle. Certain techniques are used on the muscle belly itself, releasing trigger points, which are hypersensitive spots in the belly of the muscle that are irritable and often transfer sensations of pain elsewhere in the body, explains Hollingsworth. For example, headaches often are caused by trigger points in the muscles in a person’s neck or another part of the body.
A relaxation massage can provide therapy, says Venice Sullivan, CNMT, director of Hope Wellness Institute in Carmichael, CA. For a person without major injuries, relaxation can decrease pain and tension and get a person back to a normal state, she says. However, injuries require evaluation and specific treatment work.
Sullivan, who specializes in neuromuscular therapy, always completes a thorough health history and structural evaluation before working on a client. "The site of the problem is seldom the pain area. If you have something wrong with your knee, low back pain, or even neck problems, it could be because of an ankle injury," says Sullivan.
The number of treatments required depends on the injury. For example, whiplash requires several treatment massages because so many muscles are involved. "It takes a number of treatments to get all the trigger points out of all those muscles so they will maintain a relaxed state on an ongoing basis," explains Hollingsworth.
The series of treatments also depends on the severity of the condition and how healthy the body was to begin with. Headaches often can be cured in one or two sessions.
A massage therapist must work gradually when a person has an acute injury or when the person is very sensitive to pain. Instead of working the muscle completely in one treatment, it might take five to avoid creating more pain. It takes a skilled therapist to know how to treat a client, says Hollingsworth. It also takes communication between client and therapist.
"If the muscle is really tense when I touch it, there is a likelihood there are trigger points there. I tell my clients I am going to do deep work and I want them to let me know if they feel any sensations other than where I am touching," says Hollingsworth.
She also gives clients a pain scale from one to 10 and tells them that some place in the middle, a six or seven, is a "good" hurt. She asks them to tell her when she reaches a six or seven, because for some that may be two pounds of pressure and for others much more.
"Communication is a real key. It is the therapist’s responsibility to educate clients about how to communicate," says Hollingsworth.
Sources
For more information on massage as a complementary therapy, contact:
• American Massage Therapy Association, 820 Davis St., Suite 100, Evanston, IL 60201-4444. Telephone: (847) 864-0123. Fax: (847) 864-1178. E-mail: [email protected].
• Nancy Drange, RN, BSN, CMT, CETN, Rice Memorial Hospital, 301 Becker Ave. SW, Willmar, MN 56201. Telephone: (320) 235-4543 (have paged). Fax: (320) 231-4872. E-mail: [email protected].
• Anna Hollingsworth, RN, MPH, CHESS, LMT, NCTMB, Massage Therapist, Kona Medical Massage, P.O. Box 858, Kealakekua, HI 96750. Telephone: (808) 323-9554. E-mail: [email protected].
• Norma Marrero, PT, Director of Physical Therapy, Heartland Florida Sports Medicine, 950 North Krome Ave., Suite 403, Homestead, FL 33030. Telephone: (305) 242-9600. Fax: (305) 242-1163.
• Kay Starnes, CMT, LMT, Massage Therapist, St. Joseph’s Hospital Specialty Center for Wellness and Rehabilitation, 1155 Mount Vernon Highway, Suite 900, Atlanta, GA 30342. Telephone: (770) 730-2776. Fax: (770) 730-4089.
• Venice Sullivan, CNMT, Director, Hope Wellness Institute, 6620 Coyle Ave., Suite 309, Carmichael, CA 95608. Telephone: (916) 965-6558. Fax: (916) 965-4024. E-mail: [email protected].
28 states have massage practice laws
The following states have enacted massage practice laws as of February 1999:
Alabama (1996)
Arkansas (1951) Connecticut (1993) Delaware (1993) District of Columbia (1994) Florida (1943) Hawaii (1947) Iowa (1992) Louisiana (1992) Maine (1991) Maryland (1996) Missouri (1998) Nebraska (1958) New Hampshire (1980) |
New Mexico (1991)
New York (1967) North Dakota (1959) Ohio (1916) Oregon (1971) Rhode Island (1979) South Carolina (1996) Tennessee (1995) Texas (1985) Utah (1981) Virginia (1996) Washington (1976) West Virginia (1997) Wisconsin (1998) |
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