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Myths of Massage
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Lt's dispell the myths of massage. Some myths have been handed down through generations of massage therapy students.
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Latest Activity: Aug 15, 2018
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Comment by lee kalpin on December 2, 2010 at 12:39pm
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Thank you Gary, and the same to you. I enjoy this site, and others with similar goals because it presents a great opportunity for massage therapists from all over the world to share information and have discussions. Of course "discussion" does not mean that we will always agree, and in my mind, that's okay. We learn by debating, kicking ideas around, but never kicking each other around!!!
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Comment by Gary W Addis, LMT on December 2, 2010 at 11:28am
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Lee, thanks for the polite, respectful tone of the discussion.
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Comment by rudy m smith on December 2, 2010 at 11:19am
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http://www.brucelipton.com/
a better link
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This is in response to Gary. You said in your post " "If the information cannot be found in an accepted science text, then it is probably not valid." I'm certain that tens of thousands of massage therapists will disagree with you"
I don't know how the profession of massage therapy is progressing in your part of the country, but here there is a big focus on Evidence Based Massage Therapy. In fact, there is an excellent web site by that name which includes postings of the latest research studies. I highly recommend it to everyone on this site as it's very educational. While not every practitioner will agree with everything that is published (in books or research studies), most of us think it's important to be aware of this information and to understand it.
When you say that tens of thousands of massage therapists would disagree about the importance of referencing their practices to accepted texts and research, you point out a difficulty that the profession is experiencing. We are wanting to be accepted and respected in the health care community, yet many of our members believe in and practice "modalities" for which no scientific basis can be found. This tends to decrease credibility with the other professionals we need to work with.
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Gary, your example of muscles losing tone when the person is under anesthesia is a good one. It is not the muscles that "know" their accustomed tone, but the brain.
If the muscles are permanently detached from their connection to the brain, (because a motor nerve is damaged) they will permanently lose their normal muscle tone. A person who sufers a Lower Motor Neuron Lesion will have flaccid muscle tone with no strength, and the muscle will eventual waste
If there is an Upper Motor Neuron Lesion (damage to the relevant part of the brain), the muscle will more likely have spastic tone and go into permanant flexion (see people with CP)
When we talk about muscle tone being determined by the brain, many people picture this as being a cognitive function, that we have to think about it to make it happen. All these functions happen at the level of cells and neuropathways
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I listen with interest to all of you and all of the pros and cons surrounding muscle memory validity.
Just recently they learned that it IS NOT the nucleus in a cell that gives it life/brains, rather they learned it is specific protiens which attach themselves to the cells which give it life.
When a person who has a variety of shortened muscles (problems) is put under general anethesia their muscle (problems) go away, this does not include scar tissue or adhesions. When the person is removed from general anethesia the muscle problems slowly return. Some way some how the muscles "know" their pre anethesia states/conditions and return to them. It could be said that the tonus simply returned to their muscles as increased electrical activity returned. The average male tonus operates at somewhere between 68-72 mhz cycles per second per second. Under anethesia electrical activity can drop to extremely low levels - below 20 mhz cycles per second/second. It could be that what many people define as muscle memory is just realy a given area of dysfunctional tissue returning to the electrical potential it had prior to being sedated or stimulated via massage. I do know that the brain can associate very specific injury sites with very specific responses do to injuries creating repeated stimulation (noxious stimuli) for long periods of time - or - even short periods of time if emotional trauma was attached to the speciic injury site. In most cases the terminology being used by body workers lacks "concise" descriptive nouns and pronouns. (p)tomatoes (p)tomatos al gore take a bow. If you want to get to the bottom of muscle memory you will need to talk about specific conditions before and after body work and incorporate some kind of methodology for measuring the "responses" you refer to as memory.
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You call it soup, I call it stew. Semantics. By whatever methodology, the fact is that muscles do indeed remember.
I find your friend Mike to be condescending. And both of you wrong on a number of levels. I don't know everything he knows--but the reverse is undoubtedly also true. I know about the human body.
You said, "If the information cannot be found in an accepted science text, then it is probably not valid." I'm certain that tens of thousands of massage therapists will disagree with you. I don't need to understand quantum mechanics in order to accept the validity of the science. Likewise, I don't need to understand the mechanism of therapist-to-client-to-therapist energy exchange to know that it happens. I don't need to understand it in order to open my mind and therefore my body to experience the wonder of it. I am a mere student, but even I know that you are depriving yourself if you cannot embrace the unscientific, spiritual aspect of massage and bodywork.
Lee, no offense intended with any of my comments. I wish you a long and prosperous career.
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Okay, I would like to add another myth - I don't what number this one is, as we've had quite a few. This one came up today in a phone call from a client who asked for lymph drainage to get rid of her cellulite.
Oh, how I wish it were true! I would be first in line for treatment.
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I would like to add this comment to the discussion. I taught in massage colleges for 15 years, and I encouraged all students to do two things.
One - was to question what they were told by their teachers. I find that too many therapists today still believe myths they were taught in massage school , years ago, and they have never questioned them
Two - ask for references from respected text books. If the information cannot be found in an accepted science text, then it is probably not valid.
If students wanted to challenge exam questions, I always insisted that they show me the textbook reference. All our courses were taught from accepted textbooks.
We are striving in the massage therapy profession to practice Evidence Based Health Care. If we expect to be a profession that is respected by the other health care providers, we must be able to back up our claims with text references and references to the latest research. "Research" performed by the originator of a modality in support of that particular modality is not accepted by the scientific community.
And please, read back through this group posting to see the other "Myths of Massage" that have been talked about prior to this.
Some of these Myths are still being taught in massage schools.
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Gary - this is a reply from Mike - the last that I will forward.
There is a basic knowledge gap, which is understandable, since you are still a student. I learned from reading books that are available to anyone. I highly recommend "Physiology" by Guyton, which is a standard text in the health care world. I try to use the proper terminology when possible to avoid miscommunication. I find the reckless use of the word "muscle memory", "memory of the immune system" etc. confusing at best. If an adhesion is present, why call it memory? If it is scar tissue, why call it memory of a trauma?
I do believe in the therapeutic value of psychobiology but I do not believe that Reiki, cranio sacral, or any energy work has legitimate therapeutic value. There is a ton of research that meets legitimate research criteria and they do not find therapeutic value in energy work other than placebo effects. Reports on research are available on the internet.
I read some of the other contributors contributions. They do make some good points. Some adhesions and scar tissue have therapeutic value if left alone. An overstretched ligament may never return to its original length, thus leaving a joint unstable. Scar tissue may restrict some of that laxity and thus provide support that would otherwise be lost. Spastic paralysis of a stroke patient may mean they can walk (albeit with a limp) which is better than not walking.
I also agree that going megadeep to the point of causing your patient unnecessary pain is just cruel and ineffective. By taking the time to understand the physiology, you understand that 32 mm Hg pressure or less can solve most of the obstacles you run into. It is not necessary to go medievel on your patients.
You have your belief system and are resistant to letting it go. So I am okay with letting it go, too.
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Mike
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