Disturbing news about body mechanics. Is it true?

[cam can help]

A friend of mine is going to school at the Vancouver School of Bodywork and Massage and his instructors told him that 85 % of bodyworkers and massage therapists stop their career as massage therapists in 2 or 2 1/2 years due to physical problems caused by incorrect body mechanics.

The number seems quite high?

 

[msnweather]

Massage is physically demanding, but if the therapists looks after themselves there is no reason why they can't do it for many years.

I have been practicing massage in many forms for more years than I care to remember, yes my fingers get strained from time to time but I soon have them sorted and back in action.

As well as looking after yourself a good hydraulic couch is a godsend to any serious massage therapist for looking after their backs

 

[:) smile (:]

Does anyone know of any good DVD's that teach Body Mechanics?

 

[olivia OH LIVE E AHHH]

I'd recommend the Sean Riehl 'Deep Tissue' DVDs, which have been recommended onanother recent thread.

I began my career with an ITEC course, where the tutor didn't teach proper body mechanics. I subsequentlydid a Level 4 courseat the London School of Sports Massage, where Mel Cash placed great emphasis on correct body mechanics (as demonstrated in both his books). It made a huge difference to my massage !

Other schools which definitely teach good body mechanics include the London College of Massage and the CPD courses run by Holos and Jing ([link=http://www.jingmassage.com]http://www.jingmassage.com[/link])

Regards

Alan

 

[Dr. Pepper]

Thanks for the tip Alan!

Hey Paul, a friend of mine did massage for 15 years and then had to stop as his fingers were 'done'. Is this the fate of the majority?

 

[$avannah]

Unfortunately that is often the case, we are taught to look after others but seldom taught to look after ourselves, you need to know when to back off

 

[regvnnss]

The 85% is probably about right, not sure about the 'due to physical problems' I think a lot of it is people think they can work a 40hr week at a very lucrative hourly rate and make lots of money, when in reality about 20hr of hands on work per week is generally considered full time due to the strain on the body, which means you don't make lots of money. If you do try the 40hr per week, you either don't get anywhere near it, or if you do reach it, you burn out very quickly. Schools don't seem to let on that 20hr per week is a pretty full workload. Schools tend to imply you can graduate and make lots of money immediately - in most cases it takes time, and often people give up.
People that make lots of money in massage are NOT doing the hands on work, they're a business owner, renting rooms, employing others, teaching, whatever, they're not massaging, or they're not massaging that much, it's all the other business income money making them lots of money.

 

[Erich]

I agree totally with the previous posts. Massage schools in the U.K don't want to disillusion students with the reality of life as a therapist and therefore downplay how long it takes to establish a career and most importantly gloss over the huge importance of how to look after yourself.

Think about how much of yourcourse was devoted to the topic? ............ Schools should go into detail about how to recognise and prevent the occurence of over-use injuries. Tell students the facts. Get injured massage therapists in to talk to the students about the harsh realities of not taking care of yourself.

Body mechanics are only half of it. You can have the best posture in the world. However, if you are doing the same repetitive movements with the same body parts day in and day out you will more than likely, suffer from an over-use injury/syndrome at some point. The human body simply wasn't designed to perform the same repetitive movements over and over again, let alone do those movements with pressure behind them.

A massage therapist is an professional athlete! Think of what an athlete does to look after themselves and the same rules apply!

A healthy therapist needs to have a good diet, excercise adequately, stretch before and after each massage and get regular massage themselves. Any of this sound familar? Do you perhaps give this advice to your clients?

A therapist needs to build and strengthen their muscles, which in turn, protects their joints, by doingresistance and stengthening exercises withlight weights. Woman generally don't like the idea of resistance training but it is invaluable to building up strong, healthy, resilient, stamina-filled muscles.

A therapist needs to HEED the first warning signs of injury and take action immediately - muscle fatigue and achiness that doesn't clear up overnight with rest is one of the first signs of potential injury.

I can't recommend the book "How To Save Your Hands! Injury Prevention for Massage Therapists" by Lauriann Greene [available on Amazon]highly enough.

In a nutshell: don't ignore the warning signs. Your body is giving you invaluable and career saving information. Take your own advice. Think of what you would say to a client or fellow therapist who is displaying signs of injury and then apply it to yourself.

 

[rebbecawqxz]

This is a very old thread, but I think it is worth re-reading in view of the story in today's newspapers:

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23929886-massaging-fat-business-fliers-gave-us-rsi.do

Alan

 

[waoo]

all very true, sorry to say

you should learn techniques on how to look after yourself on the course

 

[Victoriaaa.]

Regulars on here will know that I'm only fairly recently qualified so I am still learning lots as I go along.

I will say that I have already noticed what a huge difference it makes when the massage bed is the correct size for you, as the one giving the massage.

I started off with a cheapish bed which was actually very large but I have now bought another one and it seems much more comfortable to work on.

I read up everything I could about getting the height right and am now working lower than I did on my previous one. It's also narrower and shaped at the shoulder ends.

I recently used a friend's massage bed and that evening had quite an aching back because it was HUGE! Everso wide and too high for me.

I am also very conscious of stretching my body before starting a massage.

 

[Amber Mbing]

all very true what is being said on here....which takes me back to my point about inadequate massage training, how can you learn massage in two days, yet search the internet and you will find a growing number of schools offering fully accredited level 3 courses with only 2 days practical training.

Its worrying to see how many massage therapists I train that have never been shown proper use of their own body when massaging, they arent taught about posture, or working height of couches or anything like that. Its shameful.

 

[Laurence W]

while on my course we had lessons on how to warm up and prepare ourselves read to perform massage, we also learnt how to set our table up correctly and how to work with good posture. in fact i can remember being tested on set and posture during my course.

wow that half a day sports massage course was brill only joking sportstherapy hehe it lasted a lot longer than a wkend i can asure you

 

[Samantha Bickering]

Just over a year ago I was ready to give up massage. Not because of bad posture etc but because of RSI in wrists and thumbs. I then 'discovered' No Hands Massage and it literally saved my massage career. Because this approach uses a completely different way of moving I can now work far longer than I did before without any strain at all. When Per Henrik Ling 'invented' Swedish massage it was used as part of a treatment that involved a lot of stretching and exercise. The massage element was never designed to last a whole hour. I am horrified that there are tutors in some colleges that have gone into teaching because their wrists and thumbs are so damaged that they can no longer practice. And here they are teaching others how to damaged themselves. There has been three major independent studies, in the UK, USA and Far East that all come up with the same stats. over 75% of all therapist who have been practicing for 10 years or more are exhibiting signs of damage to wrists and thumbs.

 

[Beckster]

The sad truth about being a massage therapist is that it's difficult getting enough clients to pay the bills and, once you've got clients, then you have to stay fit enough to work on them year after year.

There are ways to extend your career - good posture and knowing how to use body weight to exert pressure is a must, "no hands" helped me & took the strain off my hands & lower back, learning a variety of moves and skills so maybe one day you can work on a table, the next use a chair - anything to avoid repeatedly using one part of the body.

Finally take regular time off &, if you do get injured, take time to recover properly. Some people I know who had to give up might still be earning now if they hadn't worked when they should have rested or changed their technique.