Archive for February, 2011
The 2011 AMTA Fact Sheet Is Now Available
21 February 2011It is always interesting to see the facts gathered from our industry. Compare the two articles about the AMTA Fact Sheet by Massage Today and Massage Mag and they both pretty much pulled the same information.
When I looked over the sheet, the things that stood out for me were different. The above articles focus on the section about “Who Is Today’s Massage Therapists”. I automatically jump to the “Massage Therapy as a Career”; “Nearly three-fourths (73 percent) started practicing massage therapy as a second career” data. Along with “More than half of massage therapists (57 percent) also earn income working in another profession.” Also “Of those massage therapists who earn income working in another profession 23 percent practice other form of bodywork, while 22 percent work in education and 18 percent work in healthcare .”
They probably don’t focus on this information because of their intent to attract more Therapist to the Industry. Understandably so, it’s an Awesome field to work in, however it is always best to get the bigger picture when reading articles, do your own research and form your own opinions. Most of the time perspective students of Massage are bombarded with sugarcoated outcomes of becoming a Massage Therapist. The schools advertise the ability to start earning massive amounts of money right out of school, or something along those lines. Good Advertisement but not a guarantee for all who go through a massage education course and this line of attraction increases distortions for totally unrealistic expectations and will most likely experience a very different outcome.
In fact if you are concentrating your efforts on becoming your own boss and creating your on work schedule, check out start up business plans. The majority of information out there will tell you straight up not to expect to make a profit at a new business for the first 3-5 years. Realistically it is best to have another part time job that gives you stability and maybe even health care benefits until you get your clientele base and business in good working order.
Interestingly enough it is also better to have a part-time Massage Therapy practice to save your body and increase the amount of time you spend in your chosen profession. If you don’t take care of your body inside and outside of work you will have a very short career. Continuing education credits can be spent on educating your body to perform efficiently and effectively. This also increases your knowledge that can be shared with your clients well being as well.
The other interesting statement made in the Fact Sheet was under ” State Regulation of Massage Therapy Profession”; “The American Massage Therapy Association and most other massage therapy organizations prefer the MBLEx, administered by the Federation of State Massage Therapy Board (FSMTB), as a state licensing exam.” The rest of the information is also enlightening. Check it out 
The last statement I focused on from this Fact Sheet is this; “AMTA works to advance the profession through ethics and standards, the promotion of fair and consistent licensing of massage therapists in all states, and public education on the benefits of massage.” I say Amen and good work, lets all keep up the good work of helping to educate and inform the masses.
Professional Massage Community Continues to Grow
14 February 2011The MTAA or Massage Therapy Alliance of America is the new essential for Professional growth and educating the masses in 2011. Show your support by becoming a member and maybe even obtaining a position on its board.
Don’t sit back and complain… Be all and Do all… Make a difference
California Massage Regulations
8 February 2011Each city or county was in charge before 2009, this article from Morgan Hill Times shed some light on how the transition is affecting the massage community.
The comment at the bottom shows how much education is truly needed. We need to see more articles like this.
Pain Knowledge
7 February 2011According to Medterms.com:
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The word “pain” comes from the Latin “poena” meaning a fine, a penalty.
Pain: An unpleasant sensation that can range from mild, localized discomfort to agony. Pain has both physical and emotional components. The physical part of pain results from nerve stimulation. Pain may be contained to a discrete area, as in an injury, or it can be more diffuse, as in disorders like fibromyalgia. Pain is mediated by specific nerve fibers that carry the pain impulses to the brain where their conscious appreciation may be modified by many factors.
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Medical personal use the 1-10 pain scale in assessing; 1 is no pain and 7 equals that persons pain tolerance and 10 equals extreme pain.
Their are many types of pain; chronic, cutaneous, deep somatic, functional, ischemic, psychogenic, radicular, kick-back, referred and visceral. Just to name a few.
There is no way to adequately describe everyone’s questions about pain in one article. The knowledge base, tolerance and view of pain varies for everyone.
The best thing anyone can do, is find out for yourself by personal research. If your in pain and you don’t want to be you have two choices. Do something about it, or don’t.
Now I know some are attracted to pain and love its company, however there are those who would chop off their left foot just to be pain free.
Pain is the bodies way of telling you that something is wrong. We westerners have been taught to push through/ ignore or take something to cover it up. Don’t lie its the first natural tendency of many… So is denial.
As great as the Western Medicine is and for all the strides they have made in the last few hundred years, they don’t know everything and do not have access to the cure all’s. It is truly amazing what has been accomplished and Western Medicine defiantly has its place.
So only turning to one source for your answers and management of your condition is ludicrous. Just like there are many definitions and types of pain their are supporting Medical modalities that have been around much longer and deal directly with preventative, management and complete recovery.
I live in the Great Northwest, we are known in the medical community for our noticeable use of doctor referrals to other supporting modalities. Its not new, and many hospitals and physicians around the US are adapting to refer for the care and use of their patients.
Did you know that in the original handbook for nurses by Florence Nightingale there was a detailed section on the benefits of and treatment techniques for Massage?
Did you know that Acupuncture has been around for 4000 + years?
Did you know that a REGISTERED Aromatherapist can make you a topical oil that will relieve/ reduce pain? (Must be Registered not certified)
Did you know a good Physical Therapist can give you the knowledge and tools necessary for a pain free life?
Did you know that some muscle pain and fatigue can be due to Joint alignment? Get a hold of a Good Chiropractor…
Did you know that some muscle pain can also be relieved by better posture?
Do some research there are a ton of resources available. Every pain is different for every individual. There are going to be different ways of getting rid of, or managing that pain condition. There is no cookie cutter sure fire way. But there are plenty of Therapist that are willing to work with your Family Doctor or Physician to get the job done.
Massage In The Now
2 February 2011This is a great article from Massage Today. The best way to find out how to create a successful business is to ask those that have done it before you.
Her points rang true. Educating the client and responding to their treatment needs is what enhances the love I have for my profession. So the energy you put into providing good care for your clients is number one, just like it is the number one cardinal rule to “Do no harm”. In order to stay in business it is imperative you are allowing the client to communicate before each session what they hope to get out of this treatment.
Honesty, honesty in work ethics and treatment efforts. Keep it clean and all will be well. Get confused on previous words and loose the trust. Loose the trust, deplete success.
For instance, I take insurance and some new clients have come to me and said I didn’t pay a co-pay at the last place I went to. Did you know that not taking a co-pay is in violation of your contract with the insurance company and you could loose your provider status with them and be in danger of loosing your license? I know that those therapists probably wanted to retain these insurance clients and thought that the insurance check provided is more then cash clients so why not just skip the co-payment? Wrong-O!
It is a very simple thing, yet detrimental to the credibility of the Massage community as a whole. Take care that you follow the rules and you will continue to evolve as a Massage Therapist and business owner. You are either helping or hindering, I hope it is on the Helping side of the fence.