Hawaiian Experience Spa

As health care reform is being debated in Congress, many Phoenix area residents feel that this is the time to speak out about the lack of medical insurance coverage in many valid fields of health care including medical massage therapy. In this second part of a special series on health care reform, medical insurance, and massage therapy, two local residents will share their story of how vital medical massage therapy has been in their lives and why they feel insurance companies should pay for this vital medical service.

Jen Scherr of Avondale, AZ suffers from Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and Chiari Malformation and spends over $3,000 per year on massage therapy. Jen says… See full article on my Examiner.com page.

Article written by:

Steve Ibach, Licensed Massage Therapist, Fitness Consultant

Hawaiian Experience Spa
“Best Day Spa in Scottsdale”
10855 N. 116^th St., Ste 130
Scottsdale, AZ 85259
480-661-2991

www.HawaiianExperienceSpa.com

Massage Therapy, a recognized medical treatment in many parts of the world for thousands of years, is finally beginning to take its proper place as a medical treatment in the United States including Scottsdale, Arizona where my practice is located. 

Simply put, Medical Massage Therapy is the focused use of advanced massage techniques to treat a specific condition and achieve a specific outcome. In some cases the condition treated is first diagnosed by the patient’s physician.  In other cases the medical massage therapist simply treats the patient based on the patient’s subjective description of his symptoms and following a thorough assessment of the patient’s muscles, posture, etc. 

Techniques used during a medical massage often include neuromuscular therapy, myofascial release, and lymphatic drainage massage among many others; however they can also include more common techniques such as Swedish Massage.  The main difference between a medical massage and a regular massage is that it is performed by therapists with advanced training and the treatment is structured to obtain a specific outcome.  Examples of specific outcomes include; decreasing low back pain, increasing range of motion in the shoulder, eliminating tingling in the hands, reducing swelling, reducing leg cramps, etc.

There is still no specific licensing requirement anywhere in Scottsdale, or anywhere else in the United States that I am aware of, that specifically licenses or recognizes “Medical Massage Therapists” over any other duly licensed massage therapist.  This means that the term “Medical Massage Therapist” is still more of a self imposed description of the therapist’s focus rather then an official designation or recognition by any authority.  Any massage therapist with a proper license in his jurisdiction can usually legally perform any type of massage.

Despite this it is very helpful to seek out a Medical Massage Therapist if you require massage therapy to treat a specific symptom.  Any therapist using this term to describe himself or his practice is clearly advertising that he focuses on medical massage.  This will narrow down your search for the proper massage therapist for your needs from among the tens of thousands of therapists that mainly focus on relaxation or general therapeutic massage techniques.  You can think of the term Medical Massage Therapist as a specialty among massage therapy.  It is similar to a family practice Medical Doctor advertising that they specialize in “medical care for women”.  The MD is still just an MD like any other, however, knowing her focus is a great help to the patient when seeking a doctor.

Treating Pain
Many of my clients first visit me because they are experiencing pain. The pain can be the result of a medically diagnosed condition such as tendonitis, a muscle strain, fibromyalgia, a herniated disc, etc. It can also be from general muscle tension, a previous car accident or injury, or can be from no known cause.

In many cases, medical massage therapy can eliminate the client’s pain permanently in only a few visits by releasing chronically hypertonic (tight) muscles, and bringing proper muscle balance back into your body.  Muscles encompass about 60% of your total body mass and much of the pain we experience emanates from nerve endings in muscle tissue.  When muscles are out of balance (meaning that one muscle is tight compared to an opposing muscle) your body can physically shift out or alignment (hip can rotate forward, shoulder can elevate, etc.) causing nerve compression and pain.  By applying medically proven Neuromuscular massage techniques, among others, we can alleviate muscle tension, helping to correct your posture, and eliminating unnatural pressure on your nerve pathways.  This process can often be accomplished in only a few visits and improvement is usually seen by the client after only a single visit.

For more information on medical massage, along with some client testimonials of how medical massage has helped them, I suggest visiting the Hawaiian Experience Spa Medical Massage Page.

Some of the conditions that can be successfully treated with medical massage include:

• Low Back Pain
• Stress
• TMJ Pain
• Sciatica and Piriformis Syndrome
• Tingling in Hands
• Neck Tension
• Reduced Range of Motion
• Postural Imbalances
• Recovery after Surgery
• Chronic Pain in any area
• Lymphedema
• Joint Aches
• Fibromyalgia Pain
• Headaches
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
• Tendonitis
• Constipation
• Much more..

Article written by:

Steve Ibach, Licensed Massage Therapist, Nationally Certified in Therapeutic Massage

Hawaiian Experience Spa
10855 N. 116^th St., Ste 130
Scottsdale, AZ 85259

480-661-2991
www.HawaiianExperienceSpa.com

IMPORTANT – Nothing you read in our blog, on our web site, in our newsletter, etc., as well as nothing we discuss with you individually is meant to treat, diagnose, cure, or prevent any disease. You should consult with a physician or other qualified professional for all medical advise.

By: Steve Ibach

I am treating a client who came to the spa with severe and debilitating pain in the left gluteal area.  She was in constant pain and could not perform many regular everyday activities.  Upon assessing her muscle condition I could immediately tell there was an extreme imbalance between various muscles that act on the hip area.  Some muscles were severely hypertonic (overly tight) and others were hypotonic (less tone than normal). This imbalance was causing postural abnormalities including elevation and anterior rotation of the hip among other areas.

After a few minutes of working on the client and discussing her condition and background a little more, I suggested she speak with her doctor about seeing a physical therapist.  Although I was certain that massage therapy techniques would be a great help to her, and perhaps alleviate her pain completely in the near term, the client also needed strengthening of the hypotonic muscles to help correct some of her symptoms.  Although I have no problem recommending general exercise to clients, physical therapists are the appropriate health care professionals to work with when seeking specific rehabilitation exercises.

So that brings me to the whole point of this post.  According to my client, her medical doctor told her she “was too far gone for physical therapy”.  This is not a joke?  In my opinion my 75 year old mother who had heart valve replacement surgery is not too far gone from physical therapy.  What does that even mean?  Is the doctor saying death is imminent? My client is in her 30’s – 40’s.  Instead her doctor thought it was better to give her cortisone shots!  Cortisone shots, while they are useful under some circumstance, are much more invasive then physical or massage therapy.  They have many possible side effects.

Why would a doctor recommend such a course of action?  Certainly he will make more money from the insurance company giving her cortisone shots compared to giving her a referral.  Did he really believe that was the best course for my client, before even at least trying physical therapy?

This is an example of a failure of our medical system.  Family practice Medical Doctors, whom I greatly respect as a group, are not the foremost experts in the musculoskeletal system.  This client should have been referred to a massage therapist, physical therapists, or another medical doctor who specializes in this type of condition. 

My client has seen me for a few weeks in a row and is now greatly improved.  The debilitating pain is gone and she is beginning to do normal activities again.  Despite the fact that she was “too far gone for physical therapy” she has started an exercise program of her own to strengthen her muscles.

Regardless of how we improve the medical system, there will always be some doctors, physical therapists, nurses, massage therapists, etc. who give bad advice.  My recommendation is to not accept everything your healthcare provider says as absolute fact.  Educate yourself on your condition, speak with a variety of people, get second opinions, etc.  Your healthcare is your responsibility and you cannot depend on your doctor to always be right.  There are varying opinions among the most qualified physicians and specialists so always evaluate all your options – especially if an invasive treatment such as surgery, shots, or medication is recommended over physical therapy, massage therapy, etc.