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Massage and the wheelchair bound person

I am a student of massage therapy and just passed my MBLEX. I am soon to be licensed and want to open my own business with mainly doing Swedish, Deep Tissue and Hot Stone Massages. My problem is Im concerned about wheelchair bound individuals as I touched a little on it in school but Im a little uncomfortable getting them on and off the table. I would have no problem massaging them in wheelchair but I desire to get more training through CEU's with this if it is offered. Was this a concern with you when you first started out and how did you handle it. What suggestions could you offer me concerning this situation.

Thank you for your answers.

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Permalink Reply by Janice Melvin on March 22, 2012 at 8:09pm

I am sorry about the IM chat, my computer crashed and I just came back on.. I probably felt the same way, I have been doing massage now for over 17 yrs. I have see it all. I worked at the local resorts for most of my career and you get to see lots of people that way. . I got only a few people in wheelchairs who asked for massage, They usually will get themselves on and off the table, but you can ask them what they would like you to help them with. they are use to and they would usally tell me, that they would do it. The issue might be about disrobing which most of them probably won't because its just to difficult to do in the small space, unless they have someone to help them. If you want this as a niche then, yes by all means, get some extra training so you feel more confident in any situation that may come up. Working with seniors, they seem to be in wheelchairs a lot or walkers.. But if you are starting out, the best way for your business to grow is to figure out your niche, who do you like working with. Think about your hobbies and likes and start there on the niche. this will grow more and more in time as you get more clients and find your likes and dislike with who and what you want to work with. I hope that helps.