More or less, you have probably undergone some kind of massage in your life – it might be a simple home massage, the one applied by a reflexologist, or the type of massage that is performed by licensed practitioners. You cannot deny that massage applied on your body, if done smoothly, does indeed feel good and relaxing.
In our previous articles, we have discussed various practices of medicine and how they provide relief, remedy, and solution to particular illnesses or disorders. While those previously discussed involve massage as one of their methods of treatment, in this article we are going to cover another therapy and a modality of medical practice on its own – Remedial Massage.
Admittedly, remedial massage is often confused as a method of treatment under the various modalities such as chiropractic, physiotherapy, and osteophathy (to mention a few). The reason behind this confusion may be due to the fact that many osteopathists, physiotherapists, and chiropractors also know how to do remedial massage and they offer this service to their patients. We should wonder how real remedial massage therapists feel with this perception.
Medical Website is taking the pleasure of providing you, our Readers, a brief yet concise description and explanation about remedial massage and how it stands alone from the other therapies.
Remedial Massage as A Stand Alone Modality
If you look into a dictionary or encyclopedia, the basic definition that you will find about massage therapy is something like this…
Massage therapy is the scientific manipulation of the soft tissues of the body for a therapeutic purpose to assist normalise tissues and consists of manual techniques that include applying fixed or movable pressure, holding, and or causing movement of or to the body. [1]
Note that we have just define the term “massage therapy,” which is the general method of applying manual movements to move or stretch the muscles, tendons, ligaments, and other connective tissues. Reflexologists and other therapists make use of this treatment to provide relief, remedy, and relaxation to their clients. The application is more general than specific to a certain case in focus.
What then, in particular, is remedial massage? Remedial massage is the methodological assessment and treatment of the body’s muscles, tendons, ligaments and other connective tissues in order to aid in the rehabilitation and the management of pain or injury on any of the body parts. Take note that the science of remedial massage involves an assessment procedure prior to the actual treatment. In this scenario, there is a diagnosis of what application will be performed to a specific area of focus.
The aim of remedial massage is to create a favorable environment for the body so that the patient can return to normal health after an injury. It is characterised by the premise that the treatment should reasonably reverse the effects of physical injuries the patients are enduring. If a patient has experienced moderate to heavy injury leading to structural pain and/or loss of function, then a diagnosis for re-correction may be necessary to eliminate (if not lessen) pain, and eventually help restore the body’s normal function.
The Misuse of Terminologies
So we now have defined both massage therapy and the science of remedial massage. We have made the distinction of one from the other. Previously, we have mentioned about how people think remedial massage as a method under various modalities (such as chiropractic, osteopathy, and physiotherapy). Here is the thing, one factor that contributes to the confusion is that the term is quite misused online.
If you are not diligent enough in your Internet browsing, you will see only the websites of some therapy centers who use the term “remedial massage” and connote it as the treatment and application of the massage ONLY; and if assessment and diagnosis are performed prior to the treatment, then it falls under chiro, osteo, physio, or other branches of medical practice. The thing is, these references are actually describing mere “massage therapy” and not the science of Remedial Massage.
Final Note
Some chiropractors, osteopaths, and physiotherapists can perform remedial massage therapy, but it does not mean that remedial massage is merely a method of manual treatment. Remedial massage is a science and modality of its own. It is not the application of the massage only, but it involves an assessment procedure prior to the actual treatment. The assessment allows the remedial massage therapist to apply a certain focus on the area of the body that needs treatment and what type of massage can be done. It will also inform both the therapist and patient if there is a need for remediation to remove the pain and restore the body’s function.
What is Remedial Massage?
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If you are a practicing Remedial Massage Therapist (or you know someone who is) and you need to market you practice on the Web, feel free to contact us for an assessment.
Reference:
www.atms.com.au/page.php?id=80 [1]
