Is Getting A Massage A Risk?
17 October 2007Yes, it can be, if the MT doesn’t know what they are doing. That is why having statewide rules and regulations are important if we are to continue our usefulness and be observed as preventative and therapeutic care. A Massage Therapy Board has strict guidelines for licensure or certification to practice massage, if it is not in your scope, you are subject to fines or get your license revoked.
The reason why I bring this up is from a News article that is circulating the web called
“Massage Could Put You at Risk for Nerve Injury”. One woman went in for a massage and felt pain in her left shoulder during and after the session. Her pain was so bad she had to go to her doctor for an MRI. She had a locally compressed nerve, the determined cause, the massage. I am not sure where this MT went to school, how many hours they received as training, or how long they have been in practice but I can assure you, in my training I learned of what not to do within sites of caution. It may have been that the women had a chronic muscle imbalance and a massage agitated it. My question is what did the woman go in for? Was this her first massage? If it hurt why didn’t she say something? There are two sides to the story and there is no clear-cut and dry conviction from the information provided on the internet story.
This IS why it is important to have adequate training, good SOAP notes and Statewide Massage Boards in place. Oh and don’t forget Liability insurance.
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