From the Author

As an educator, one of my goals in writing this book was to create an educational tool for massage therapists that will instruct at the appropriate level while subsequently meeting the needs of the profession as the required competency level rises. With dual certifications in athletic training and massage therapy, I have the privilege of actively working in both professions. My experience has given me unique insights relative to the growing needs of massage education, and I continually strive to improve the quality and standards of the profession both inside and outside the classroom.

Experience has shown me that many massage therapists possess excellent hands-on skills yet still need additional training in assessing and treating the intricacies of orthopedic conditions. Conversely, many therapists who have advanced training in treating orthopedic pathologies often lack the knowledge and skill of effective soft tissue application. While many texts on orthopedic assessment in massage are technically sound, some lack information when it comes to describing how to address specific medical conditions. This text seeks to fill in some of the blanks.

While this book focuses on the clinical aspects of massage therapy, it’s been my experience that utilizing a variety of techniques, when applied with specific intent, achieves the best results. Therefore, throughout this text students are encouraged to tailor the information to suit each patient’s specific needs.

In my opinion, there are two primary components of clinical massage: knowledge and assessment. First, a clinical massage therapist must have advanced knowledge of anatomy and physiology. Such knowledge will aid the therapist in determining when treatment is appropriate and when it is necessary to refer patients to other health care providers. Second, to determine the best course of treatment, a therapist must be able to skillfully assess a condition. Assessment includes everything from taking a client’s history, palpating the tissue, and administering special tests to then incorporating all the results into a treatment plan using well-developed clinical reasoning skills. I have written this text with these two primary components in mind.

As massage therapy continues to grow and become accepted as a form of preventive and restorative health care, particularly in the treatment of musculoskeletal dysfunction, the demand for highly skilled therapists who can tackle such pathologic conditions has grown as well. It is my belief that massage therapists can make a significant contribution to the preventive medicine movement. And while manual therapy is not the only tool available in preventive health care, it is a significant piece of the puzzle for an improved quality of life. My hope is that this text will contribute to the continuing growth of this dynamic form of health care.