Remedial, Sports, Deep Tissue, Swedish, Advanced, Medical – Why are there dozens of names for a massage treatment using oil?

Massage treatment continues to grow as a popular therapy to maintain the health of bodies, to treat injuries or to mange excessive stress and tension. However there has also been an increase in the different titles for massage treatments and qualifications. There is one simple reason this happens : To sell massage course to massage therapists!

Here in Glasgow many of our massage teaching colleges like to have a progression in their courses so they can keep teaching their student for several years – Swedish this year, remedial next year, deep tissue the year after, then therapeutic injury massage the year after. Rather than calling this massage year 1, massage year 2 etc, it is more glamorous to have a title and helps the college to get more bookings.

At our clinic we always arrange a trial treatment from therapists that want to work with us and over the years we have found that the title of their qualification really doesn’t matter. We have had treatments from “sports massage therapists” who know almost no anatomy, treatments from “Swedish massage therapists” who are incredible, massages from “deep tissue qualified therapists” who moisturised our skin and not much else. We now know that the title does not matter!

So what does matter when you are looking for treatment/massage therapist?

We know what matters:

1.  that the therapist cares for their clients,

2.  that the therapist keeps adding to their knowledge (whether they add a new title or not),

3.  that the therapist starts with a good training and basic knowledge behind them,

4.  Finally if you prefer a deeper/lighter pressure then that the therapist has the awareness and ability to adjust their depth to the clients needs.

 So how does this help you?

If you are near our Glasgow clinic then these are the questions we answer before a therapist can join our team – so you can confiently book with one of the massage therapists in our clinic . If you aren’t able to visit us then what you need to do is:

1.  Ask people you know in your local area for recommendations and hopefully one or two people will stand out as the “go to” massage therapist.

2.  Look for a local clinic that specialises in natural healthcare. Their job is to have great therapists. You can even ask about the reception staff about the experience and background of the therapists and how busy they are.

3.  Finally consider asking contacting someone such as a local reputable acupuncturist or similar therapist to ask who the best local massage therapists are. They will probably know and be happy to tell you.

I hope this helps and we hope you find a great therapist.

Graham