Medical Massage Therapy

     Medical massage is a completely different massage therapy technique that is administered by a massage therapist.  The medical massage therapy is not comparable to a regular therapeutic massage or even a deep tissue massage, this massage is essentially prescribed only by a medical doctor.  The massage therapist works very close with the on staff doctor, the doctor will then write up a prescription of what the patients ailments are so they can determine the proper methods for the patient.  Patients that are prescribed the medical massage therapy could have a number of different ailments that include pain, illness, injury or disease. The written prescription will help to assist the massage therapist in determining the proper massage treatment along with a long term plan for that patient.  The medical massage technique is applied only on the actual areas that are giving the patient issues or pain, a variety of different tapping or rubbing methods are applied to those areas to take care of the troublesome areas.  As you know a massage therapist cannot legally write up a prescription for a patient or offer their expertise in the diagnosing the patients issues, therefore it is imperative that they only take these specific orders from the physician on staff.  A massage therapists background typically consist of either an associate’s degree in massage therapy with a state massage license or just a massage therapy license.  Massage therapists also get trained on specific medical massage therapy techniques and how to correlate these techniques with the actual diagnosis or recommendation written by the physician.  Medical massage therapy is becoming more popular than ever, as this helps to target one specific problem area and the expertise of a physician on hand offers a more scientific approach.  This is great alternative for someone who recently experienced an injury or is having problems from an illness or disease.  This offers a more precise plan for patients who have an injury that requires the extra attention a physician can give them.