The profession of massage and bodywork has become big business and has evolved into a major industry in the last decade. Massage therapy has become mainstream and is more accepted as a therapeutic modality than in the past. This demand for treatment has created more full-time work for massage therapists and higher expectations have been placed on schools to train more qualified therapists. These factors have added more pressure to therapists to perform and have increased chances of injury to the performing therapists.
Today the industry faces many challenges. Schools are not taking the time to train the students on how to properly use their body and how to use their equipment ergonomically. The demand for massage is greater but the techniques have gotten deeper and more intricate. Injury prevention is complex and it needs to be understood completely for therapists to steer clear of any injuries. Therapists must first understand what their physical advantages and limitations are and learn how to use their body correctly. You must understand how to care for your body before, during, and after performing massage.
Schools and working facilities must emphasize body mechanics and self-care combined together. Some clinics and spas look more at the profit in money than the protection of their own therapist’s interests. A lot of times, therapists are not allowed more than five minutes between appointments, they work eight to ten hour shifts, and they hardly have room to move around the table. These facilities must not have the mentality of thinking that each therapist is a number. They must maintain an attitude of taking each person and their attributes and limitations into consideration.
On the other hand, therapists think of themselves as caregivers and believe it is not acceptable to be injured because they have the tendency to put others needs before their own. I believe that bodyworkers do not have a full understanding of the physiology of injury and also have shame when they are injured. Occupational related injury is very high in this field. If the statistics are to improve, bodyworkers need to stand up and voice what is going on with them so that other therapists will feel more comfortable to do so. Shame will only make having an injury worse. If you say nothing and work through your injury, you could make the situation worse. Fear is a common emotion when you have symptoms of an injury because you may be fearful of losing your income or your job. It is a shame that you have to be afraid when it comes to using your body for your work. Priorities need to be set so that your body’s needs are being put first. You have to have awareness of your own body and stop doing the activity when certain symptoms arise in order to avoid becoming your own worst enemy.
