Yes, I am back on my favourite soapbox and banging my drum about using massage tools in professional massage treatments. But I am not alone this time!
A massage instructor from a US training school named Neal contacted me to compliment me both on the Kneader and the website (he even reads my blog!). He said that he agreed therapists need to diversify and, at the very least, have the option of using hand-tools to help them carry out deep and/or repetitive movements. He was very interested in getting a sample of the Kneader (I get quite a few such trade requests) but I had to decline – for now – as the tool has yet to hit Stateside and I need to protect my IP. However, I am hoping that Neal will contribute some of his thoughts in writing to this blog, which would be mega on many levels: (a) it would further validate my ‘Tools in the Trade’ Crusade (should I trademark that?) and (b) it would give this humble blog a truly international feel (it’s a small world after all, as the Disney song goes).
What frustrates me about all of this is that I hear it ALL the time. The day-to-day therapists and smaller massage schools agree that the incredible growth in the health & beauty/massage therapy industry within the last 10-15yrs means that therapists (especially those in big spas) are working longer hours and doing more treatments – and all this can lead to, at best, muscle fatigue and, at worst, debilitating RSI. Whenever I manage to find the time to go to a tradeshow, I am innundated with therapists (young and old, male and female) asking me one question regarding the Kneader: “Will it help my hands?”. So many therapists complain about their fingers (especially the thumbs) and wrist joints hurting and the majority of these complaints are vocational injuries that start off simple and bloom into difficult.
So why are all the major massage bodies (in the UK at least) still shying away from including a ‘Tool Section’ to therapists’ training? Why do they still infer that using tools is somehow ‘cheating’? Teaching all the hand moves, then the hands-free moves (elbows, arms etc) and THEN hand-held tool options wouldn’t be selling out, it would just be more comprehensive. Try this system and benefit from it today!
Variety is the spice of life and the staple of business (you heard that here, first)!
