Pain Induction Part 3

By Rinalda,

When it comes to physically working with a client, the Therapist is obligated to being knowledgeable about:

·         Anatomy, Kinesiology, and Exercise Physiology – which facilitate understanding physical activity and movement and greatly assists with the processes identification and assessment.

·         Fitness Instruction – helps the Therapist to be totally attentive to details, and develop excellent communication and demonstration skills, which facilitate reaching the client at their point of need.

·         Sports Injuries and Rehabilitation – this helps the Therapist to properly advise the client on appropriate exercises that would facilitate the healing process.  First Aid comes in handy here.

·         Sports Psychology – this helps the Therapist to motivate and encourage the athletes and also examine the effects of stress on their performance so that they can make more informed decisions.

 

Some programmes squeeze in a bit of massage with as many as five persons working with one client on a table (overseas in recognised places).  The programmes usually entail much more than the points above, but I am unaware any curriculum including pain induction as a motivator, or the necessity of making the athletes cry.  We need to be mindful of a person’s pain threshold.  I got a new client recently who is into sports.  He had a ‘keyhole’ incision medially and inferior to the knee through which the knee was dealt with.  Gentle circular friction was done around the keyhole and though the surgery was done a month ago, I could feel heat radiating from the tissue.  What’s the difference between surgery and a sport-related injury?  

Should I have poked the keyhole and made him cry while telling him I’m doing deep tissue massage?  Soon after an injury we understand that there can be severe pain due to inflammation, along with nerve and other soft tissue damage (not considering hard tissue here).  In addition there may be swelling, heat, discoloration, etc.  How does a Therapist conduct an assessment, recognise any of the above symptoms, and still poke into the tissue?  Lymphatic drainage and vaso-constriction should be the main focus, and as time and healing progress the techniques used can be deepened being careful not to destroy the newly formulated fibrin, and later still, more depth can be added with the view to reduce scar tissue so as to maintain appropriate range of motion.  This process of working out the kinks from onset of injury to full recovery does incur some discomfort, but it is the deliberate induction of pain that I am concerned about.

 

If the use of pain as a motivator has merit (then children should be flogged at home and in school) like the use of reverse psychology, then it is for the Therapist to distinguish such among players.  If this is found to be the case, the Therapist is still obligated to monitoring the speed, skill, stamina, suppleness, and strength of the athlete and treating him/her with a view of maintaining fitness in all the areas.  I will agree with the Psychologists here and say that behaviour can be learned, and learned behaviour can be adjusted/changed, or improved upon, so that the athlete who gets his/her adrenaline rush from pain could be re-educated to source it in a more healthy way, as speed is not the only component for success.  

Getting back to massage…  It is a ‘tool’ of fitness that is often underestimated. Effleurage, for example, is the culprit that ‘pampers’ the athlete, but it is excellent for soothing the nerves to inducing relaxation, which is critical obtaining maximum results in healing and performance. Tension creates exhaustion.  Exhaustion and weakness go together. What does that do for motivation or performance?  But who cares? Let’s flex our arms, crack our knuckles and vie for the Petrissage/Percussion/Deep Tissue crown.  While we are showing off, the athletes are suffering.

 

So the question is, why am I not ‘involved’ in the Sports Industry? Firstly, the application of knowledge (which needs to evolve into understanding) gained under the banner of Sports Therapy, Medicine, Rehabilitation, Psychology, etc. is not limited to service in the Sports Industry.  But I have other excuses…  

2 Many athletes don’t know their self-worth so we find extremes of low and high self-esteem which affects their appreciation/perception of the attention given to facilitate their advancement.  

3 Training is sometimes an emotional thing (it has to be ‘fun’), which interferes with dedication and consistency.  Success only comes before work is in the dictionary.  

4 Payment is never a problem, yet is has to be ‘gotiated,’ negotiated, and renegotiated, which is tiresome.  

5 Working frequently with some athletes can degenerate the professional relationship, but that’s okay as evidence proves that coupling-up can be an invaluable form of support. 

6 As if this is not enough, among ourselves as ‘professional’ Therapists there are multiple standards and each one of us is right about our methods based on our training and/or experiences.  I dare say we are right not because we actually are, but because we have weak/sensitive egos that are afraid of censure.  We swat every fly that passes by looking like it knows what we know lest the pedestal on which we are ill at ease is ascended by another.  

And that’s good.  Life must be lived with some degree of passion…something to live for, or something to die for.  So, if the current methods are working, let’s fight tooth and nail to maintain them, but if they need adapting, we should fight with as much gusto for the change.  All in all I am glad that the exposure is helping students to see how drastically different perceptions can be, and they can use this information in deciding the arena in which we want to function after certification.

 

One of the new students who is a Muslim was remarking that she came to do the course because she wanted to be involved in ‘therapeutic’ massage so that she could work with athletes who have injuries as against clients who might be seeking a sensual massage.  We were discussing the Human Energy Field, and our connectivity to people and things as a result of energy, starting with our own aura and the therapeutic effect of our intentions being channelled through us, so that it is not merely our physical touch and how we bend our fingers and arms that alleviate distress, but energy through touch facilitating healing.  

She was fine with that and reiterated her desire to therapeutically touch athletes and maybe people who have stroke and the likes.  Another student remarked to her that while she desires to function ‘above board’ some men in sports suffer from groin injuries and she would have to massage them.  Whaaat?!  That’s true Miss?  I confirmed such and she panicked.  

We discussed it and she understood that as we build our practice we get a feel of what works for us and that specialization is always an option.  She mentioned a cousin of hers who does Chiropractic work and fills out insurance forms for her clients, and wanted to know if she would be able to do the same if she gets a Massage License.  I told her the Insurance companies will not be able to offer support for Massage Therapy until we sort of the legality of the license, which is also why Doctors could only suggest, but not prescribe massage treatments.  Almost exactly at 5pm her phone rang.  I permitted her to answer it.  It was the home-front reminding her that she had to be return home for prayers.

 

Pain Induction Part 2

My interactive massages continued for the next few hours with me still working even after most the booths were dismantled by the maintenance staff, the cleaners were sweeping the carpet, and everyone else (except the few who were awaiting their ride) had left.  Most of the clients were students from COSTATT, but I also had one from the AVON booth and another from the Optometrists booth.  The showdown was between the AVON lady and a student.

 She told him that she had been waiting and four persons got their massages ahead of her and she had to have hers before she left.  I decided to stand back and let them work it out.  He had been waiting too, and felt he should have a massage having missed most of the activities because he was at classes, and now he had a long ride to Sangre Grande which is usually taxing on his body because he is too big for most of the car seats that the Japanese folks made for themselves.  In the end, it was ladies first.  He waited.

She explained how she usually gets stiff-neck and feels it has to do with the amount of stress she has to deal will.  I’m always amused at how an invisible thing like stress is blamed for pain.  How exactly does stress cause pain?  She said: well, you know…  Uh-huh.  I know.  But I was hoping for a step-by-step guide as to how nothing climbs onto the body and becomes something.  So I said what I know, limiting it to perception and how that affects the endocrine system causing it to release too much of some hormones while suppressing others.   

She is a nervous case too.  Said there are times when her head suddenly jerks back.  Hmmm.  She needed a separate consultation under difference circumstances.  The guy was still waiting, and a lady who appeared to be a supervisor of the day’s operations seemed to be waiting for me to get out.  The guy said he does massages for his mother and other folks, free.  He spoke of taking on people’s pain.  The flexors of his left far were particularly painful and he explained that he had recently gotten a puppy and had to fetch in on his arm while carrying his heavy bag on the other and strained his muscles in the process.  But it was worth it, for now it’s not just his mother for company, but a cute puppy also.  Bless you.  A grown man and his puppy.  Are wives becoming outdated?

Getting back to the first client who does/likes deep massages…  She reminded me of a story I heard from a student.  She had gone to the savannah to hopefully work with some members of a football team and encountered a Medicine Woman (MW) who was attached to the team.  The lady studied Sports Medicine.  The MW advised the student to do deep massages on the guys, to put pressure on injured areas too, break up the stuff, make them cry and thing, and most of all, don’t pamper them.  Poorly articulated for someone who pursued the level of studies that she did.  

But nonetheless shocking to me – her request.  Are these the intentions that we are seriously supposed to have?  No wonder the sporting world has ignored me.  I lack the ‘right’ intentions for the job.  The student called for my advice because on the one hand she wants to get in her hours of practice, but on the other hand she did not want to be accused of not following orders by doing what she considered best for the athletes based on direct consultation with them.  And as if that is not tough enough, the MW advised her that if she pulls this off well, she will refer her to some other clubs that she works with.  So here are the prospects of sparkling future in the world of sports, if only she could make the guys cry.

Look out for the final Pain Induction Part 3 

World Massage Conference Announcement

Posted from the World Massage Conference

Here are just a few notes of interest as the fall World Massage Conference nears...

We need your ideas for a user guide

We're hoping you can help us out. We need your feedback on a guide we're creating.

We are putting together a short printable guide to help participants get the most out of their World Massage Conference experience. We have a rough draft of the content put together (but not formatted).

Can you do us a favor and look over that content and let us know if you have any suggestions? What do you do to get the most out of the conference? You can leave any ideas or tips in the comments section at the bottom of the page.

We're happy to hear any ideas you may have and we'll try to integrate as many as possible into the final version of the guide. Thanks in advance for your help! Here's the link:

http://worldmassageconference.com/gettingthemost

Have you ever worked on a cruise ship?

We are hosting a presentation on working on cruise ships. We’d love to hear from therapists who have had the experience to get the good, bad and ugly. We’ll record your experience over the telephone and play it as part of the presentation. If you’ve always wanted to be on World Massage Conference, here’s your chance.

If you are willing to share, simply reply to this email and let us know that you've worked on a cruise ship and we'll send you more details on how you can be involved. If you can attach your picture, we’ll use that in the presentation.

Register now! Price doubles on November 19th

If you haven’t registered for the conference yet, now’s the time. Any available discounts are coming off the site on November 19th. Right now, when you register for the fall conference, you’ll get instant access to about 25 hours of recorded presentations from the spring 2013 conference. Altogether, about 50 hours of online education from some of the top experts from around the world for less than $100 bucks. It’s the deal of the year. Click here to register now:

http://worldmassageconference.com/register-now.htm

Another free resource to download

It’s so important to take notes as you’re listening to the presentations. It helps you to retain the information and to better integrate the information into your practice. Not to mention the fact that you have quick and easy reference notes to go back to in the future.

To help you out, ABMP has produced a variety of great note taking handouts. These are usually made available to instructors for use in their classrooms, but ABMP is making them available to you at no cost to help you get the most out of your conference experience. Download them here:

http://worldmassageconference.com/responsemomentforms

See you Today for our next pre-conference broadcast,

Eric Brown, Scott Dartnall and Melanie Hayden
http://www.worldmassageconference.com

Pain Induction Part 1

Written by Rinalda,

Over the next four weeks, you will receive 4 issues of Pain Induction by Rinalda,  Each is a continuation of a piece she wrote and has agreed to share with you here.  Rinalda's site

Part 1 begins..

ConLast week COSTATT had their health fair at NAPA and I was invited to hang out with Adepeju at the OMO and BestStart booth.  When I arrived lunch was served so I participated.  One of the persons sitting at my table (or was I sitting at hers?) was from St. Ann’s Hospital and I did not give her breathing space.  I wanted to know about this drive to take vagrants off the streets and dump them in her facility.  

She explained the difference between being mentally and socially displaced and I had to ask if the officials behind the drive are unaware of the difference.  She said she often wonders. We both agreed that the monies spent on public awareness campaigns via television should be redirected to better services allowing awareness to be spread by the man on the street based on the evidence he sees.  Now, now, if that is done then we won’t be playing politics, would we?  So at the price of maintaining her fixed income, she is stressed out with work that she does not need to do while those who could use more of her attention will never get it.

When I first entered the auditorium, the plainness that greeted me made me wonder if it was the right place.  There was a security guard and two ladies at a booth.  I enquired where was the health fair.  One told me that they were a part of it.  I adjusted my lenses (the ones in my head) then noticed that her t-shirt had a modest indication that she was from COSTATT.  She escorted me further in and I saw a drama in full swing, which I later learn was staged by the St. Ann’s folks geared at clearing up misconceptions about the mentally displaced. 

 I did not linger long enough to recognise that, it was my dining partner who advised me of such.  Around the corner from that performance were two Massage Therapists looking all professional with their fancy chairs working silently.  A few persons stood in line awaiting their turn.  I asked my escort where were they from and she said something about a ‘Light’ organisation that I did not get fully.  Then I found Adepeju and settled down to lunch while keeping an eye on the massages.  The Therapists could go up for the next Olympics.  Category: Synchronized Massage.  That’s a compliment.

Having stuffed my guts I ventured further in to visit a booth (Health Food Specialists Ltd) that had several Canadian-made products that were gluten free.  And guess what?  I saw herbal nicotine-free cigarettes geared at breaking the smoking habit.  Lollipops are a more attractive idea.  Anyway, someone is trying and must be compliment for the effort.  20 per pack for $20.  I thought that their variety of powdered protein was quite economical when compared to popular brands.  About half the price of one particular brand I know.  I then passed the Avon folks, but did not stop.  

They are good at their marketing, but I did not want anyone tinkering with my face, or taking my hand to rub a sample of this or that so that I could see how well it matches my complexion.  I’ve been slow-frying over the years walking about in the sun with olive oil on my skin.  At least 20 years.  My skin might rebel if I stop cooking it now.  And finally, I arrived at OMO.  It did not take 5 minutes for me to have a patron. Someone said something, and the next think I heard was: I’d like to have a massage.  I pulled a chair in front of the booth and got started.

My first client was familiar with massages.  She goes to a gym and the Instructor indulges her every now and then.  She had tried doing what was done to her on her mother and gotten only complaints.  I asked her to explain what she does.  Deep massages.  Okay.  I took her hand and demonstrated deep by gradually working my thumb into the flexor muscles.  Is this what you do?  No.  Can you feel thumb gently penetrating deeper into your muscles?  Yes.  And you think that your mother would appreciate this better?  Yes!  She would like that.  Good.  I returned to working her shoulders while she explained that the hard massages that she gets at the gym were best as they works well for her and she had honestly expected her mother to be appreciative.  

I explained that her mother is in a differently place physically and mentally and the pressure of the massage should be adapted to suit her otherwise she might develop an aversion and hastily say ‘No’ at any invitation to such.  I told her to think of massage as bonding time during which touching is done with love, otherwise she might start feeling rejected because her mother does not want to be touched by her.

Continued Nest Monday Pain Induction Part 2