Avoiding Injuries in the Massage Profession
A common belief in the massage profession is that there is a
high rate of injury to the massage therapist. The work is physically
demanding and can often result in injury.
There are many ways to take care of yourself physically:
-
exercise so that you are strong enough to meet the demand of
you work
-
learn proper body mechanics and posture
-
study movement therapy to apply to your self while working
at the table (tai chi, chi gong, yoga, pilates, Feldenkrais)
-
Eat right and drink enough water
-
Get regular massages
All of these things are external things that we can look to if
something is not going right and we are ending up in pain after a day or week of
work.
More importantly, I believe that the cause of most injuries to
therapists is that they work too hard to "fix" clients and don't know
their own limits and over-extend their boundaries in order to accommodate
clients needs over their own.
Your body, mind and spirit have to be stronger than the clients
you are working on or the chances of you getting injured increase rapidly.
You must be physically strong enough and work up to working on clients.
Starting with a few a week up to whatever it is that you need to run your
business. People working on over 25 people a week will need extra support
to deal with the physical, emotional and mental strain.
Trying to "fix" clients and work too hard on them is
what is
really taxing to the body, mind and emotions. Can you just stay
present with a client while they are in pain and let them become aware of what
it is that is causing the pain? Doing this requires that you have done
your own work in feeling your own pain (emotional)
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