Guest Editorial: Massage Therapists are the Athletes of the Health-Care Field

Guest Editorial: Massage Therapists are the Athletes of the Health-Care Field

"In the health-care field, massage therapists are the athletes. We sacrifice, strain and punish our own bodies more than any other health-care provider in order to provide others not with entertainment, but with a better quality of life, making our sacrifice truly honorable.

We should begin to think of ourselves as athletes, especially in the way we care for our bodies. If we train our bodies like athletes, we will be able to perform at the high level we are expected to while avoiding injuries to the hands, wrists, arms, shoulders, neck, back, legs and feet (did I miss an area?) that are common to all massage therapists."

An amazing article - definitely reminded me about the classes I'd taken and how self care is SUCH a priority! As I'm looking at starting a Masters program it's definitely becoming even more important with this becoming more and more my life's work and goal. One of my first massage-therapy instructors told our class the average massage therapist only practices for five years until burnout due to injury occurs

Marketing and Social Networking

Marketing and Social Networking seem to be one and the same with regards to building clientele, advertising and modern day marketing are new concepts for me. Ok, maybe not the building clientele, but the marketing might as well be ancient Greek for all I know about it. I know that to get clients I need some form of marketing, in this economy it needs to be really good at 1) getting attention, 2) having a good message or use to potential customers and 3) have the possibility of getting those potential clients IN the door where I can show them what they've been missing with not having Massage. 

There in lies the issue. Talking about massage and the benefits, I've been told, makes me light up like a Christmas tree. I am passionate about the subject and have a love of the work. However, I get really queasy about the thought of standing up in front of large groups of people for seminars - someone suggested that as a marketing tool previously. So mainly I've been relying on word of mouth and referrals - which works great to some extent, but hasn't been HUGE on new clients in recent years.

In early September I attended a workshop hosted by the Salt Lake SCORE group for new businesses. In the seminar, marketing was a main focus for me. It was stated that social networking - FaceBook, Twitter, etc are the NEW ways of getting your message to your potential clients. That having people become "fans" of blogs, FaceBook business pages and the like are known to help your website and search engine rankings. More people now days will google a business, check reviews and rankings before ever calling a business like mine to set up an appointment. The days of Yellowpages and print media are on their way out...

Change of Seasons and Immune Health...

With the changing of the weather and cold and flu season about to begin I thought this would be a great time to share some helpful information regarding the body's immune system and some of the ways that massage therapy can affect it's functions. 

Massage has long been known to relieve muscle tension and reduce the effects of stress. Less well known are the benefits of massage on immune system health. 

While once considered an indulgence, scheduling a massage at your local spa, is now regarded as a restorative therapy. Numerous studies have confirmed the effects of massage on immune function. In particular, massage improves the function of certain white blood cells and reduces production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. In addition, the immune system benefits from self-care. As a treatment for specific conditions, massage is often covered by medical insurance.

Unlike the immediate relief massage brings to sore muscles and arthritic pain, the effects on the immune system are subtle and develop over time. And while, one massage offers immune system benefits, regular massages show sustained effects when it comes to immune function.

Health Benefits of Massage

• Helps Fight Infection—Massage increases the activity of white blood cells that target and destroy infectious agents. With regular massage, the immune system is strengthened rather than stimulated and it becomes more robust.
• Modulates Immune Function—Massage strengthens the immune system, restoring balance. Massage increases antibody production in immune deficiency and reduces auto antibody production in autoimmune disease.
• Benefits Autoimmune Diseases—Besides reducing auto antibody production, massage reduces the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, which are responsible for inflammation and pain.
• Reduces Pain in Arthritis---Besides reducing production of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor alpha, massage increases production of anti-inflammatory cytokines, effectively reducing inflammation and pain.
• Reduces Depression—Massage increases the production of both endorphins and serotonin. Increased levels of these biochemicals effectively reduce symptoms of depression and contribute to well-being.
• Stimulation of the Lymphatic System—The lymphatic system is comprised of the thymus gland, tonsils, spleen, adenoids, lymph nodes and lymph fluid as well as lymphatic vessels. The lymphatic vessels carry clear lymph fluid that circulates throughout the body, removing waste products, degenerated cells, and accumulations of fats and proteins. Lymph vessels lie beneath the surface of the skin and are stimulated by massage. This results in improved lymphatic circulations.

Physical Benefits of Massage

• Improves Natural Killer Cell Function—Numerous studies show that massage increases the cytotoxic function of white blood cells known as natural killer (NK) lymphocytes. This results in improved NK cell function including increased resistance to infection.
• Increased Endorphin Production—Massage and acupuncture are known to increase production of endorphins and enkephalins. Increased production of these neurotransmitters has a modulating effect on the immune system. Similar to decreased T-cell production, increased endorphins increase the body’s ability to fight infections while improving immune function in autoimmune disease.
• Reduces Pro-Inflammatory Cytokines—Reduces pain and inflammation
• Increased Serotonin Levels—by increasing serotonin levels, massage increases feelings of well-being and alleviates symptoms of depression.

With all of the great benefits who wouldn't want to keep up with regular massage?

New fun for the business!

So after a long day of thinking on what to do, pricing, marketing, business plan etc, I received a notification of a new client booking - ONLINE even...using my credit card processing! OH MY GOSH! I was so excited for this to finally be moving forward even if only one client currently. I called back to confirm his appointment for this morning and YAY it wasn't a mistake.  After hoping for some clients like this it finally happened, I had to make sure that I wasn't just delirious or something.

So making sure I had everything around for the trip to the studio last night I decided it might be a good idea to print off those "referral" cards I'd been thinking about. So after playing around in publisher for 30 or so minutes I finally got them to the right size and looking pretty good. Printed off a bunch so that I had some for my new client with the intent of getting him back in the door even if his session is free... he has to get me 2 new bookings. He was quite interested in that prospect this morning after his session and post massage interview. So here's to hoping for a couple more new clients in the foreseeable future *crossing fingers*