MASSAGE MONDAY – What is a remedial massage therapist?

We’ve probably all heard of a massage therapist. We may know what massage is, and we might know how it can make us feel better if done by a trained professional.

However, what is a remedial massage therapist and how can they help someone?

A remedial massage therapist is a practitioner who deals with specific issues or dysfunctions, and who will formulate a plan especially for you and your health concerns (as opposed to a massage therapist, who may give you a massage to relax and rejuvenate your tired muscles and mind).

A remedial massage therapist will work with you by taking a precise history and performing a thorough assessment and evaluation.

There will be notes and plans, as with what you’d see with any practitioner dealing with the treatment of a health concern.

Your remedial massage therapist can work with you to treat some of the more common pain-causing conditions:

– Musculoskeletal disorders

– Sports injuries

– Arthritis (including ankylosing spondylitis)/bursitis

– Injuries resulting from a car accident

– Frozen shoulder

– Fibromyalgia

– Cramps

– Carpal tunnel

– Sciatica

– Stiff neck/back pain

– Headaches

As with many more natural therapies, your remedial massage therapist works to find the actual cause of your discomfort, and their therapy aims to eliminate the root cause, not just the symptoms.

They will use a series of manual manipulation that may or may not be firm and forceful.

Deep tissue massage itself is not remedial massage, but remedial massage might involve deep tissue massage.

It may also involve passive stretching. One of the aims of treatment is to stimulate the body to do its own healing.