Introduction Do you ever recall sitting in a classroom in school and thinking that one or two students were getting the lion’s share of attention when others had things to contribute as well? It seems the world of soft-tissue pain and injury problems shares this metaphor. Take nerve entrapment for example. As soon as you […]
Massage is great for many soft-tissue pathologies. However, sometimes various conditions exist that seem like a common pathology, but then don’t respond to the treatment. In some cases an undiscovered problem may exist. In this post we’ll take a look at the synovial plica, a cause of knee pain that can easily mimic other common […]
Overview Unlike other healthcare fields, such as physical therapy or occupational therapy, massage therapy is actually two primary “tracks.” The first track is geared towards the use of massage as a personal care service, with a focus of general relaxation and wellness enhancement. While massage performed for personal care can enhance health, the focus of […]
Practitioners frequently get asked whether to use heat or cold for soft-tissue pain and injury problems. Of course, the correct answer is always that it depends on the nature of the client’s condition. But what are the key factors upon which heat or cold therapy depends? New research indicates the standard guidelines for hot/cold therapy […]
This is an exciting time to be in the massage profession, with research that is shedding new light on different facets of our work. Pain is the most common reason people seek the care of a massage therapist, and the more we understand about pain, the better we can participate in a comprehensive solution to […]
One of the most challenging situations facing practitioners who work with pain and injury conditions is correctly interpreting nerve injury symptoms. It seems that in so many massage therapy training programs the nervous system gets only cursory attention, yet pain originating in the nervous system is a critical factor that drives people to our practices. […]
There is a great deal of confusion in our profession (as well as many others) about the terms certificate and certification. We have an abundance of marketing and promotional materials in our field which advertise for “certification” in particular modalities or technique methods. However, this illustrates a common misunderstanding about the distinction between a certificate […]
Clinical practice is often changed by research that sheds new light on treatment methods. When translating results from research studies to clinical practice we must not overgeneralize the results or use one single study as final unconfirmed proof of anything. However, there are times when a study is truly groundbreaking and is an indication of […]
About a year ago Melissa was involved in a car accident where she sustained a moderate whiplash injury. She had pretty serious pain in her neck for several weeks, but then it subsided. Recently she’s been having a very similar pain sensation, although she has not had any recent injury that would appear to aggravate […]
I’m not sure when it really happened. I guess these things don’t often happen with a sudden event, but with a gradual period of change when you look around and notice that things look different than they used to. For me I think it began several years ago when I started running across some articles […]