What is relaxation massage? What is Medical Massage? How is relaxation massage different from medical massage?
These questions are need to be answered by the massage profession now, because if we don’t start stepping up and defining ourselves – the insurance companies and individual state licensing acts will and are.
One of the reasons why this needs to be defined is that massage therapists are actually billing insurance companies and charging them more than their cash rates rationalizing by saying that what they are doing is medical massage. Since there is no definition of medical massage that reasoning will not mean anything in a court of law.
The thing about relaxation massage – is any massage ever really only a ‘relaxation’ massage? If you are doing a relaxation massage what do you do when you find a tight muscle or a triggerpoint? What do you do if the person says they have stiff neck from sitting at the computer all day? In 18 years of doing massage, I don’t think I ever did just a ‘relaxation’ massage. Do people at spas or resorts just do relaxation massage?
One of the things that the so called ‘medical massage’ group is trying to do is to separate what they do from someone who they are judging to be less qualified. Education and more hours of training does not necessarily make one more qualified although most of our society gets caught up in thinking so.
So called ‘relaxation’ massage does have it’s place in medical massage since most medical conditions can in one way or another be linked to stress. Eliminating relaxation massage from the medical equation would be a great disadvantage to the profession. We need more research to prove that there is a difference -if any- between relaxation massage and medical massage.
Relaxation massage as far as I understand is also basic Swedish massage. When you learn the benefits of Swedish massage the main things talk about the medical benefits – reduces blood pressure, increases circulation. increases range of motion,
What therapies would be included as being medical massage? What therapies would be excluded? Is medical massage just the ability to work with a physician and an insurance company?
In order to be paid by an insurance company one needs to be able to show improvement in a condition and be able to write medical chart notes that prove medical necessity. The sessions must show that they have outcomes in mind when doing the session. Anyone can learn to write chart notes that way. Hands Heal is a great book that will teach you all you need to know and more.
Other reading : www.thebodyworker.com
Medcial Massage - Marriage or Monster – by Deane Juhan Massage and Bodywork