published 4/27/07, updated 5/01/10

Do you know a good massage therapist in _______?

Three quick ways to find decent medical massage or trigger point therapy in your own area

by Paul Ingraham, Vancouver, Canada MORE
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Credentials and qualifications

I am a writer and retired Registered Massage Therapist (unusually well-trained for a massage therapist, a 3000-hour program). I’m almost done with a Bachelor of Health Sciences degree. I am a peer reviewer for The Natural Standard, and a copyeditor for Science-Based Medicine. My most important qualification is more than a decade of workaholic post-graduate study, clinical experience, and constant conversations with readers from around the world, including many experts who have provided countless suggestions and criticisms.

For more information, see: Who Am I to Say? More information about my qualifications, credentials and professional experiences for my readers and customers.

EXCERPT This article is an condensed and somewhat modified excerpt from SaveYourself.ca’s extremely detailed trigger point tutorial, which covers pretty much every imaginable aspect of how to tackle stubborn trigger points (muscle knots). See Advanced Tutorial: Save Yourself from Trigger Points & Myofascial Pain Syndrome!

The single most common question I receive by email from my readers is:

Can you recommend a therapist in [insert any place on Earth]?

I have actually been asked, many times, if I can recommend a therapists in Europe, Asia, India, Africa, Australia … entire continents where I know only a handful of people, and most of those only by email.

And so, unfortunately, the question is nearly impossible to answer: I can almost never recommend specific therapists. Either I don’t happen to know any in the area in question, or I know one or two but just do not know them well enough to recommend them.

The basic problem is that I really need to know a therapist quite well before I’m prepared to recommend them. Hundreds of therapists contact me every year now, interested in SaveYourself.ca, fascinated by the volume of well-researched writing I’ve published here. Many of them express wholehearted agreement with my ideas, and they may well be good therapists. But just agreeing with me philosophically in a couple emails isn’t enough. I can’t really know the quality of a therapist until I’ve been on their table a few times.

If you need a good massage therapist — and who doesn’t? — here are three good ways of locating one:

Way 1: The letters-behind-the-name test

Credentials really do not guarantee anything — especially in massage therapy, where certification standards fluctuate wildly from one jurisdiction to another — but they are better than nothing. Look for someone with letters behind their name, preferably “BSc” (although that’s a long shot in most places), but at least “LMT” or “RMT” (licensed or registered massage therapist). In the States, they may be advertising “medical” massage. These folks are your best bet. I am not saying that unlicensed bodyworkers can’t be good therapists — some of them are truly excellent — but just that your odds are generally better with someone credentialed.

Way 2: The high-maintenance test

When you start with a new therapist, ask for what you want. Be demanding. In particular, be demanding about pressure. Ask for changes. Be nice about it, but say things like, “That’s a bit too strong for me right there, could I get a little less?” If they give you a “no pain, no gain” response, say, “Sure, okay, that makes sense, but I’d still like a little break from the intensity for a couple minutes — I need to catch my breath and relax a bit.” Or, if it’s too fluffy a treatment for your tastes, ask for more pressure.

If your therapist doesn’t seem to hear you, or is dismissive, never go back. This is the single most efficient (and likely) way of eliminating therapists who aren’t worth paying.

Way 3: The big-red-books test

Practically everyone needs a therapist who is competent in the assessment and treatment of trigger points (muscle knots). Especially if you are looking for help with a serious pain problem, you may wish to give this test openly before you even book an appointment: let your fingers do the walking, call therapists up, and just ask them if they know the work of Drs. Janet Travell and David Simons. Be open. Tell them you are looking for a therapist with specific skills. Be a consumer about it, and just ask: do they have the big red textbooks? Do they at least have a dog-eared copy of Clair Davies’ popular translation of the big red texts, The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook?

Let your fingers do the walking, call therapists up, and just ask them if they know the work of Drs. Janet Travell and David Simons.

If they don’t immediately say, “Of course,” then thank them for their time and keep looking.

Or just train your therapist

Ultimately, I think it’s important for every patient who has struggled with chronic aches and pains to learn about trigger point therapy for themselves. Anyone can benefit from reducing dependence on therapists. And if you are knowledgeable, and if a therapist is compassionate, open-minded, and has an ounce of common sense, there should be no problem with “training” him or her.

Of course it would be preferable if your therapist could be your guide, but it’s not a perfect world.

So, study trigger point therapy yourself, learn what works for you — a good idea in any case — and then find a therapist who is happy to take direction and learn with you. This subject — finding and training good help for muscle pain — is covered in much more detail in my trigger points tutorial:

ADVANCED TUTORIAL

More trigger point information! Now with science!

There’s a lot of junky, flaky information out there about trigger points. The SaveYourself.ca trigger point tutorial offers advanced troubleshooting, resting on a bedrock of (clearly explained) science. Interesting and entertaining, constantly updated and upgraded. Ideal for patients who have failed to get relief from basic tactics, or for beginners who want to get off on the right foot — this tutorial is the ultimate guide to trigger point self-treatment. Better yet, it’s available free with the purchase of some other tutorials (low back, neck, muscle, or iliotibial pain). Add it to your shopping cart now ($19.95) or read the first few sections for free!

$1995