Extracts from the Books

Vol III: Protect Your Career

Introduction

I. The 7 stage model of Massage injury

II. How to identify the 7 stages of Massage injury

III. How to protect your career at each stage of Massage injury

IV. The Historical Evolution of the injury pandemic

V A Silence of the Lambs? Statistical evidence and research

VI. Squaring The Circle - An ergonomic perspective

VII A Legal Duty Of Care – a summary

References

APPENDIX 1: The NO HANDS Revolution

APPENDIX 2: American Survey Results

Drawings by John Coombes

108 pages

So what is in this book and how will it help you?

This book provides you with everything you need to know in order to protect your career. This downloadable and affordable ebook means that every Bodyworker in the world can now recognise the early stages of injury and take immediate action. With this one book I intend to strike a death blow to the injury pandemic currently ruining the careers of thousands of Massage therapists world wide.

It is my fervent wish that this book becomes required reading in every Massage school in the world. I write this book as a clinician who suffered injury and I also write it from the pain of the hundreds of clinicians who I have met – many of whom asked the same question over and over again: “Why did nobody tell me about this earlier?”.

Much of the material in this book was presented to over 1000 Massage therapists in the UK and in the Far East as part of my “Protect Your Career” seminar. New material has been added since then, particularly the statistics, the research and the legal information. As far as I am aware this information is not available anywhere else in the world and as a Bodyworker you should not wait a single moment before learning the practical clinical information it contains. It is the result of an epic 20 year journey of discovery – and will take you only a few hours to benefit from!

If you are serious about your Bodywork then this is an investment that will earn you HUGE sums of money – from the sessions you continue to give whilst many of your colleagues retire injured. If you have never attended my seminars then you will find that this book provides you with all the information you ever need to know about your personal Health and Safety at work. Here, you will find descriptions of how to recognise which of the 7 stages you may be at and even more importantly, you will learn what remedial action you must take at each stage of injury if you wish to preserve your career.

The Seven Stage Model of Massage Injury

This model postulates that there are in fact 7 distinct stages in the development of injury that fit with the universal experiences of Massage practitioners worldwide. It is presented here as a logical theory of injury development that will appeal to common sense. You will recognise some of these stages from your basic Anatomy and Physiology training, particularly in the body’s responses to injury and inflammation. This model assumes that the practitioner takes no protective action, but simply keeps on Massaging heroically, as did this author!

Stages 1 and 2 should be considered precursors. This is where repetitive movements cause an initial loss of function and efficiency in the elastin and collagen fibres of the muscle tissue. This loss of efficiency and ‘give’ in the muscle function, is what leads to the more serious injuries of the later stages. Only by understanding these first two stages can stages 3-7 be properly understood.

An Injury Pandemic

The rapid and creative evolution of touch therapies can be seen in the many ways in which practitioners have been reinventing different approaches to Bodywork with numerous colourful titles. This is one of the reasons for the popularity of the term ‘Bodyworker’ which is an umbrella term able to contain the variety of work going on. This diversity and creativity makes our profession (whatever we call it) one of the most exciting and innovative communities that I have ever had the privilege to belong to. In truth no other single healing therapy can claim such a renaissance as Bodywork has experienced over the last 100 years.

This rapidly evolving and highly creative aspect of modern day Massage therapy means that it is appropriate to take a new look at traditional assumptions regarding the techniques and approaches we use. Nor is it only the hand which becomes injured. The awkward and unique problems posed by working around a treatment couch for most of the day is damaging practitioners’ necks, shoulders, backs and hips. The result is a profession which is seriously damaging itself.

A Duty of Care

Every training institution and every employer has both a moral and a legal responsibility to ensure the welfare of those in its care. This principle is enshrined in numerous laws and regulations. ...it is now incumbent upon every Massage training institution and Massage employer to alert all students to the risks they may be facing and to provide them with information about proven and tested safe alternatives. That is what this book has sought to do for the protection of employers, training establishments and their practitioners.

There is also a very real danger that failure to provide a proper ‘Duty of Care’ as laid down in Government legislation for both training establishments and employers could result in a flood litigation to those very employers and training institutions who are doing the most to promote Massage.

Virgin airlines recently were forced to pay out £109,000 to a Massage therapist who got injured whilst Massaging their clients. This sort of figure would cripple most employers and training institutions. These people are in a unique position to prevent injury to the profession - and fulfil their legal and moral obligations. Employers have a golden opportunity to demonstrate to their new and existing staff the same level of care that they would wish their employees to show to clients. Proper knowledge of the legal definitions of this “duty of care” can help both employers and educationalists to protect themselves as well as those in their care.

Vol I: Building A Successful Business Practice

To view a short extract of the 27-page “Building a Successful Business Practice!” ebook click here. This booklet contains the 7 steps you need to take in order to secure your success.

Vol II: Massage in the Workplace

To view an extract of the 6-page “Massage in the Workplace” ebook click here. This booklet is designed for business managers and you can copy it as many times as you want. It is an amazingly powerful tool to get your face out there into the public domain. This is where your clients are!