Value of massage

[injuryupdate]

Reasonably interesting link on massage at the Sports Factor:

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/8.30/sportsf/stories/s1449988.htm

[stephen]

I think one danger is a lot of sports massage therapists market themselves as physiotherapists and massage schools almost promote this in their courses. One massage course I did was very much like that and it leaves students thinking they are qualified to treat anyone with any condition when they are not.

I think massage does have benefits and it lets the therapist do some hands on assessment with the possibility to refer but I'm not sure if the research shows any benefit in terms of recovery, etc.

[Dbailey]

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1250256

another study on massage that has some more positive results

[eelgirl]

I think one danger is a lot of sports massage therapists market themselves as physiotherapists and massage schools almost promote this in their courses. One massage course I did was very much like that and it leaves students thinking they are qualified to treat anyone with any condition when they are not.

I think massage does have benefits and it lets the therapist do some hands on assessment with the possibility to refer but I'm not sure if the research shows any benefit in terms of recovery, etc.

I agree. I am a massage therapist, but I was very careful to make sure of what I was legally allowed to do in treatment. As far as I know, Massage Therapists are not qualified to give full diagnosis. I definitely will give a patient an idea of what I think may be the problem, and if it came to it, I'd have no problem referring them onto another modality (Physio, Osteo, GP etc).

A lot of natural therapists are very critical of and competitive with western medicine, so the main thing to remember is to choose what works for you, and if you're unsure, see your GP.

I don't believe massage is beneficial for acute injury, and may cause more aggrevation. If you are seeing a GP or Physio for an injury and you want to have a massage, it would be best to ask them how long before you can have a massage.

[anges_82]

The massage course I did advertised it as quite the opposite. They made SURE we realised we weren't to diagnose patients, and if we were in doubt, to refer on to another modality.