Why my remedial massage therapist performs assessments

Have you ever had a remedial massage before & wondered why the therapist has asked you to stand still while they examine the posture of your body and perform an assessment? If you work in a job that requires you to sit for a long period of time, your body slowly shapes itself to stay comfortably in this position. If you then go to move you may experience pain because the body is moving outside of its favoured position. An example of this is tight hip flexors! These are a group of muscles in the front of your hip. With the help of a remedial massage therapist, they can help to reduce your pain through stretches & other manual therapy techniques!

Assessments help your therapist determine the source of the problem!

Assessments aren’t always postural! If you are experiencing pain when you lift your arm above your head, an experienced practitioner wants to compare before and after. A remedial therapist will note the movement and the degrees to which you can move before you feel pain or restriction. This will give them a clearer understanding of which muscles are causing the pain. Because a lot of these muscles attach close to each other on the arm, the therapist may use special tests which can help isolate specific muscles. massage-shoulder-assessment This determines whether the problem muscle is on the front of your body such as in the pectoral muscles. If the pain is on the side, it may be due to the rotator cuff muscle group. Or if in the back, it may relate to muscles attaching to the shoulder blade or spine. To summarize:
  • Remedial Massage therapists treat muscular tightness, sprains & strains which may cause restriction of movement.
  • These conditions are determined through assessments.These are made up of different tests and observations that help the therapist notice limitations in movement & cause of pain.This enables the therapist to devise a treatment plan appropriate for your condition.
  • Re-assessment help show both the client and therapist whether the treatment has been effective.
If further treatment is required, the massage therapist may need to see you again. In complex cases, they have the option of referring to an Osteopath or another primary healthcare provider. This is not a waste of time as the assessment and treatment information will be passed on to another health practitioner, helping them narrow down to a solution!

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