There is many a myth in our industry, and while I’ve written about and tried to change some opinions around them, I haven’t been able to cover them all. Fortunately, people like Daniel Wonnocott are trying to do the same and did a great job busting this myth.

“Mythbusting: Massage Reduces Cortisol” – Daniel Wonnocott

I’m sharing this because it’s simply an amazing cause that involves our profession. A group is Rwanda is training visually impaired people to be massage therapists, providing them with a career they may not have had otherwise.

“Seeing Hands Rwanda” – Seeing Hands Spa

There is no shortage of modality classes you can take to learn a different way to touch your patients. However, what if we paid more attention to the concepts behind a treatment application, rather than just the modality itself? I for one think this is FAR more important than any modality and fortunately, this article agrees with me.

“Modalities vs. Concepts in Massage Therapy” – Tania Valasquez

This seems to be a hotly debated topic at times, but it’s a necessary one. It’s important for our business, but also as this article shows, charging for late cancellations is also important for the therapeutic relationship and our mental health.

“Why I Charge For Late Cancellation” – Megan MacCutcheon

While I know (well, at least I hope) none of us are on our cell phones while talking to patients. However, there’s some good advice here about communication in general, and yes, we can apply this to when we are talking with our patients and improve not only our communication but probably our outcomes as well.

“Put Down Your Phone: Why Presence Is the Best Gift You’ll Ever Give” – Will Aylward

A tale of two nails shows us how thoughts, beliefs, perceptions, emotions, past experiences, context, and input from your body all affect your experience of pain. This also shows us (and our patients) how tissue damage is not an accurate indicator of tissue damage.

What Changes Pain? – Rachel Zoffness PhD

With our ever-growing technology, there is an increasing epidemic of loneliness and isolation in our modern society, which can have a major impact on our social culture. Part of what we can do as therapists is create a safe place for people to experience touch which is sadly lacking in our modern society. And the best part, it doesn’t have to be filled with fancy techniques to be helpful!

“Touch: The Need For Comfort In Times Of Isolation” – Heather Thuesen

For any athlete a warm-up before and a cool down after competition is important. However, the way we have done it for many years may not be the best way, and could even be causing harm. Research has told the Australian ballet that strengthening in end ranges to be more valuable than stretching.

“Why The Australian Ballet Dancers Quit Stretching” – Lara Bianca

I love this post because it preaches simplicity. All too often as therapists, we think some huge detailed exercise prescription is necessary to help a patient. But, you know what will help them more? The exercise they will actually do, and quite frankly…the simpler, the better.

“Less Is More…Some Thoughts On Exercise Prescription” – Mike James

Have you ever felt little nodules around the iliac crest on a patient? Turns out these have a name, and there is a possibility it could contribute to a patient’s pain experience.

“What In The World Are Back Mice” – Whitney Lowe

It’s one of my favourite words and one of the most important things we can instill in our patients. Resilience.

“Resilience” – Adam Meakins

As business owners, it’s almost inevitable, we’re going to get the odd negative review (but hopefully rarely). But, is there really much we can do about it? While something called the “Consumer Review Fairness Act” may limit what we can do, there are still some options.

“Why You Can’t Stop Negative Reviews: Understanding The Consumer Review Fairness Act” – Erin Jackson

I’m sure it’s seen everywhere in health care, but it feels like we may face pseudoscience a bit more than others? At least it feels this way to me. So, why do so many people fall for it, and what can we do about it? A number of things, but working on our communication is a good start.

“Why People Fall For Pseudoscience And How Academics Can Fight Back” – Sian Townson

We shared one of her articles last week and she’s at it again with this great post on helping people with something called a “Window Of Tolerance” so we can understand how to work within a person’s tolerance, depending on what they are facing.

“The Window Of Tolerance And Massage Therapy” – Jennifer Fleming

This is great to see! Great that some organizations are changing with up to date research for the betterment of patients. They are opposing the use of degenerative disc disease as a diagnosis for back pain as this is a normal part of aging and not related to a disease.

“AAOMPT Opposes Use Of ‘Degenerative Disc Disease’ As Diagnostic Term For Neck, Back Pain” – Kate Anderson