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 […]
Archive | Clinical & Orthopedic Massage
The Myth of the Pain Receptors
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 […]
Deciphering Elusive Symptoms of Nerve Injury
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. […]
Certificate vs. Certification: Credentialing Terminology Matters
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 […]
Questions to Consider for Myofascial Therapy
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 […]
Central Sensitization and the Benefits of Massage
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 […]
Confronting the Challenges of a Major Paradigm Shift
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 […]
Dupuytren’s Contracture
Introduction As the population of the country ages, massage practitioners should be aware of various diseases and conditions that are increasingly common in an older age group. One such condition is a connective tissue disorder that affects the palmar fascia of the hand, called Dupuytren’s contracture. The primary structure affected in Dupuytren’s contracture is the […]
Unraveling the Complexities of Piriformis Syndrome
Introduction Cultural colloquialisms develop from real world experiences. When something is very difficult or annoying we characteristically refer to it as a real “pain in the butt”. And, well that is the perfect description for this syndrome. Sciatica is a poorly defined condition that generally refers to any pain sensation felt in the gluteal region […]
Fantasy Physiology and the Post Hoc Fallacy
I have been around this field for three decades now. In many ways it has been quite astonishing to watch the tremendous progress in acceptance of massage therapy as a valid healthcare option. Obviously, we still have a long way to go but we have certainly come a long way in just a short period […]