Medical Massage is massage that ameliorates or mitigates the symptoms of a diagnosed (or diagnosable) condition. While a prescription is not necessary for a massage to be considered a Medical Massage (unless it is to be paid for by insurance-- which I am unable to accept), a prescription COULD be written for it.
Medical Massage is not the practice of medicine or chiropractic, nor is it intended to diagnose, treat, or cure any disease– its purpose is to relieve symptoms and to improve quality of life.
When provided by a properly trained licensed massage therapist (LMT), massage can be beneficial for a wide variety of conditions, including (but not limited to) injuries, chronic disease, mental health conditions, and nervous system dysregulation. "Proper training" will vary based on the specific conditions to be addressed: a client living with cancer will need an LMT who is specially trained in oncology massage, someone with lymphedema will need a manual lymph drainage (MLD) specialist, and a pregnant person would do well to seek out a prenatal massage therapist (spoiler alert: I happen to be trained in all three of these particular areas). The list of symptoms and conditions for which Medical Massage can be helpful is endless! Medical Massage can be provided as a single stand-alone service or in a series of several sessions, based on the client's health history and goals.
Below are just some of the conditions for which medical massage can be helpful, sorted by whether they are generally limited-duration situations for which massage can aid in recovery, longer-term or chronic conditions for which massage can relieve symptoms, or support for mental health conditions for which massage can improve quality of life. It is possible for two or even all three of these categories to overlap for the same client, which is where my extensive specialized training comes in handy.
Learn more about the various conditions and people with whom I work in my blog, Renée's Writings.
Read about my Trauma Touch Therapy™ services here.
Crick in the neck
Pain between the shoulderblades
Sciatic pain
Frozen shoulder
Migraine
Sinusitis
Rotator cuff injury
Tennis/golfer's elbow
Carpal tunnel
Surgery recovery
Pregnancy
Cancer
Diabetes
Parkinson's
Alzheimer's
Heart disease
Cerebral palsy
Fibromyalgia
Lupus
Arthritis
Lymphedema/lipedema
Burn injury
PTSD/C-PTSD
Anxiety
Depression
Eating disorder recovery
Dissociation
Trauma
Abuse survivor
Assault survivor
Addiction recovery
ADHD
Autism