Medical Massage
The field of medical massage is growing tremendously. There is increasing clinical evidence of the benefits of therapeutic massage in treating a variety of physical ailments. The medical field has not always been open to massage as a treatment method for patients, as doctors were more accustomed to prescribing drugs to treat pain and illness. Today, many medical doctors are now hiring certified massage therapists to work beside them in their practices.
A medical massage therapist is trained specifically to help decrease the symptoms of diagnosed illnesses. Extensive study in pathology is essential in order to be an efficient medical massage therapist. It is also important to be able to speak the “language” of the medical profession. Some of the disciplines which fall under the medical massage field are neuromuscular therapy, Cranio-Sacral Therapy (CST), myofascial release, lymphatic drainage, massage for cancer patients and orthopedic massage.