About 80 percent of adults in the U.S. have had back pain at some point in their lives. That’s a lot! According to a Consumer Reports survey of 14,000 people, low-back pain is the fifth most common reason people go to a doctor (1). They also go to chiropractors, physical therapists, and of course, massage therapists. In my own practice of well over 7,000 massage sessions, back pain is the most common reason people come to get a massage.
Have you ever had a bad back? Have you ever gone to get a massage to help a bad back? I have – many, many times. Every year, more and more clients go to massage therapists to relieve their back pain, even though insurance doesn’t pay for it. That says a lot about word-of-mouth advertising about the benefits of massage.
More doctors and chiropractors are referring their patients to massage therapists, too. This will probably only increase over time. But not every massage has the same benefits for back pain!
What many clients and doctors don’t know (though they often learn quickly enough) is that the time spent on one massage therapist’s table may be very different from the time spent on another massage therapist’s table. You see, most forms of massage will have some benefit in relaxing the client and helping them feel a little better than they were when they came in.
However, I’ve heard many horror stories from clients telling me about therapists that just didn’t get into the tissue deep enough – or they didn’t spend enough time on the back, even when asked – or they got in so deep they were left bruised – or worse. And they walked out of the session wishing they had used that time to do something completely different. Of course, they never went back.
Then there are those therapists that understand anatomy well enough and work in such a way that you know they’re getting to the right muscles and tight fascial tissue – with just the right amount of pressure and duration. And when you leave, you know that the therapist dealt with the CAUSE of your pain, not just the symptoms.
You walk out happy to have invested your time and money in their expertise. And you say, “Ahhh, that was a great massage.” Isn’t that how you want your clients to walk out your door?
The bottom line is that a good therapist with a good understanding of anatomy and excellent soft-tissue manipulation techniques can usually help clients with back pain get out of pain in one session and help them maintain a healthy back over time. They work efficiently and productively – day in and day out.
Those clients tell their friends and family, who come in when their backs are hurting them, too. And pretty soon you’ve got more clients than you can handle, and you’ve got to refer some to other massage therapists. There are many LMTs in that situation right now!
There are lots of instructors offering good training to help you get the techniques and knowledge of anatomy that you need to be successful.
At Ray of Light Massage Training, we believe firmly in providing REAL hands-on tools that you can use in your massage practice. And consistently we get excellent feedback from our students – every class.
DIT is Direct-Indirect Technique™, which is a blending of the best techniques from myofascial, neuromuscular, deep tissue, and cranial-sacral therapies into one coherent and highly effective modality exclusive to ROLMT. The techniques you experience in the ROLMT classes range from very deep, ‘direct’ pressure procedures to very gentle, ‘indirect’ methods. You will learn how to use both styles in a systematic way to give your clients the immediate and long-term relief they need, and you will learn which techniques work best with different conditions and client types.
Many previous students have said that these techniques have revolutionized their massage practice. Many have emailed me their success stories with their clients – relieving pain and allowing more freedom of movement and activity.
To register by phone or get more information, you can call John at 800-584-1562.
Or simply register online at the www.roltraining.com .
All ROLMT classes are approved by the Arkansas State Board of Massage Therapy and the NCBTMB.
Of course, massage is not a silver bullet. It can certainly reduce pain and enable you to do the things you do in your life more freely. However, there are other factors that help keep the pain away – i.e. stretching, strengthening, aerobics, good hydration, good nutrition, good sleep, consistent bodywork, etc. All those things we encourage our clients to do all the time. But do we follow those recommendations ourselves? Good subject for another time…
Stay well,
John
Ray of Light Massage Training
rolmt@earthlink.net