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Could you imagine if someone brought that same ✨big physio energy✨ into the massage world and bashed Physiotherapy the way massage therapy gets bashed?
Don’t worry, I did it for you 😝😬
Incoming long post:
I’ve let this slide long enough and I’m pushing back. I’m getting increasingly frustrated with the massage therapy bashing. As MTs, we have nothing to be embarrassed about as long as the care, narratives and interventions we are providing people are evidence based.
The literature is suggesting that multidisciplinary approaches are needed for pain management, and MTs are a piece of that puzzle as well.
Not because we release tissue, blast trigger points away, shift organs and CSF around, break down adhesions or [insert whimsical belief/hypothesis here]. It’s because we may be a bridge that facilitates movement, exercise, self management strategies or referral for psychological care. (Here’s a note discussing possible avenues for massage therapy and psychological effects.. maybe we need to switch to a cognitive framework instead of a biomechanical one?
The pain experience is fluid. Some appointments people are going to value passive interventions more than active interventions. As a Canadian 🇨🇦RMT, I’m so thankful exercise prescription is within my scope so I can help encourage movement and self management strategies that align with the person and their goals.
From what I’ve observed, what’s often missing from these online conversations is the person’s perspective and what they value. Sure, manual therapy may be viewed as low value to some outspoken clinicians, but maybe extremely valuable for someone who hasn’t slept in days, is anxious, or too scared to move because of the pain they are experiencing. Manual therapy can be a powerful way to provide reassurance via neuromodalatory effects.
Exercise can also provide similar effects too, so why are we bashing our approaches?
Does this mean we just give people whatever they want? No, this means we collaborate with people on an individualized plan. They establish what they value, and we provide the education and reassurance and then come together with the intervention. Then if everyone consents to the plan, we move onward!
As musculoskeletal health care providers, how each one of us approaches care is going to be different. What all of us (should) offer is an art, science and philosophy when executed.
To my massage therapists out there, don’t let ✨big physio energy✨ get you down. Continue the grind towards science based practices. The people under your care value what you provide. 🥰