If you match the planet of massage therapy, you will eventually notice that there are some new ideas and terms going around. Evidence based massage. Evidence based practice. Evidence informed practice. Science based medicine. What does it all mean? Massage Predicated on Tradition When I went to massage school, a lot of what we were taught was centered on tradition or that which was perceived to be common sense. We did certain things in certain ways because... well, because that was the way we were taught to accomplish them. Massage "improved circulation." We ought to drink a lot of water after a rub so it'd "flush out toxins." It seemed to produce sense, right?
My first introduction to the indisputable fact that science was beginning to contradict a number of our dearly held beliefs came when an instructor told me that research had shown that massage did not, as was commonly claimed, reduce lactic acid in muscle tissue. We'd been told that the buildup of lactic acid in the muscles was what caused soreness and that massage reduced its presence. People repeatedly experience that massage reduces muscles soreness. Therefore, massage must be reducing the clear presence of lactic acid, right?
When someone finally did some research, it proved that, in fact, massage did not reduce the clear presence of lactic acid. How could this be? Did this mean what we'd been resulted in believe was wrong? Well, it's true that massage does decrease soreness in muscles. Apparently, though, it's not as a result of lactic acid. How does massage decrease soreness? We don't clearly understand how it happens but we do know so it does happen. Although one of massage therapy's sacred cows had just been slain, I liked it that this kind of instructor was watching science and research and was more enthusiastic about understanding the reality of that which was happening rather than defending a tradition that might not be supportable.
Shortly afterward I ran across Neuromuscular Therapy, sometimes known as Trigger Point Therapy, and the task of Travell and Simons. Drs. Travell and Simons spent several years documenting the phenomena of trigger points and writing the two volume set Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: The Trigger Point Manual. Studying their work gave me the various tools to work effectively with some common pain conditions. It also began to give me the knowledge and vocabulary to speak intelligently to physical therapists and medical doctors about my clients and their patients. It started me down the path of an evidence based practice, a path which I strive to follow along with to the day.
Massage Predicated on Evidence Evidenced based massage therapy is massage therapy founded on ideas and principles supported by evidence. There is scientific, documented evidence to guide the existence of and treatment of trigger points. There is documented evidence that massage relieves muscle soreness and can alleviate anxiety and depression. Most of the claims made and practices utilized by massage therapists are founded on tradition rather than evidence. While there is not yet a large body of knowledge documenting the physiology of and aftereffects of massage therapy, if we were only able to produce statements strictly on the foundation of scientific studies, we would be severely limited, indeed. Some people prefer the definition of evidence informed practice as more accurate. An evidence informed practice takes under consideration scientific evidence, clinical experience, and careful observation.
I assumed this reliance on tradition was primarily confined to the field of massage therapy and was surprised one day when I discovered a large display about evidence based medicine in the halls of St. Louis University Medical School. 강남안마 Apparently, even yet in conventional medicine, many procedures are done because that's the direction they have always been done and are not necessarily supported by evidence they are the best way as well as effective.
In science, one always must be available to new evidence and be willing to change the mind when met with new information that contradicts formerly held beliefs. Another one of massage therapists' dearly held beliefs was challenged last summer when researcher Christopher Moyer presented a paper that showed that massage therapy did not lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol nearly as much as had been previously thought and, in fact, its impact on cortisol may be negligible. I'm sure I wasn't the only massage therapist who was startled by this news. However, once I acquired over the original shock, I examined the evidence he presented. It took awhile for me to know but in the end it seemed he had great evidence to guide his conclusions. Does this signify massage does not "work?" Well, it's obvious that massage makes us feel better, we only don't know precisely why or how.
Does it certainly matter if we understand? I do believe so. To begin with, as a therapist, I wish to make sure that the claims I make to my clients are truthful. I do not want to mislead them by making unsubstantiated claims. Furthermore, I genuinely believe that the more we are able to understand, the more effectively we might take our work. Finally, I genuinely believe that the more we are able to document the ways by which massage therapy can be helpful, the more accepted it will become.
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