I am a sports massage therapist, and I am sometimes asked for a remedial massage. I believe that the sports massage I perform incorporates that remedial aspect.
Should I study remedial massage and get a qualification or can I make do with my ITEC Sports massage certificate to perform remedial massage?
do you think your clients really know the difference between the two. often its just term or something they have heard, and they may not be a sports person so dont think they need a sports massage treatment, but i believe that sports massage can benefit alomost anybody, just adapt the pressure you use.
if you believe you will benefit from training in remedial then take the course but i would surgest looking at other courses that will improve your services more.
only my opinion:p
I trained as a remedial massage therapist first and then sports massage. The techniques used in remedial massage, ie METs, STR, MFR, TPT, NMT, etc. can all be used in sports massage. But the big difference is that the sports massage course only really introduced the techniques and was more focussed on their application in a sports environment.
At least a third of the remedial massage course was given to posture assessment and the associated problems.
Sure, remedial and sports massage are very closely related, and different awarding bodies will have their own emphasis, but in my experience Remedial massage is a fantastic foundation for many advanced techniques.
However, the public seem to be in the dark about remedial massage. Many will ask for sports or deep tissue when they are really seeking remedial.
So IMO, we need to be flying the flag for remedial massage because it makes a massive difference to people's lives.
Myarka
I agree with Myarka. To quote from one of my previous posts on HP:
"as far as the UK is concerned, sports massage has been developed from remedial massage, rather than vice versa. Much of the growth in sports massage over the last 20 years was sparked by the formation of the LSSM in 1989, preceded by the publication of Mel Cash’s first book on Sports Massage in 1988. Mel’s background and qualification was in remedial massage and the back cover of that book describes him as a ‘remedial masseur’. If anyone wants more information about remedial massage in a non-sporting context, I would strongly recommend the American textbook ‘Basic Clinical Massage Therapy’ by Clay & Pounds (Americans seem to use the term ‘clinical massage’ for what we describe as ‘remedial massage’.) "
Techniques such as myofascial release are definitely remedial, but they aren't necessarily sports-related.
Alan