Hand Maintenance Guide For Massage Therapists

This abbreviated version of Hands Heal, Third Edition is a practical guide to documentation in wellness massage. It is designed for massage therapists who do not provide therapy that would require physician referrals or insurance billing. Hands Heal Essentials offers wellness charting guidelines for energy work, on-site massage, and relaxation and spa therapies, along with sample completed forms and blank forms. Crucial information on HIPAA regulations is included. A front-of-book CD-ROM includes the blank forms for use in practice, a quick-reference abbreviation list, and a quiz tool to review key concepts. Faculty ancillaries are available upon adoption.

Comprehensive, authoritative, research-based information to help manual therapists prevent injury, enhance their practice, and prolong their careers. Includes practical information, advice and suggestions on good body mechanics, designing the workspace for greater comfort and safety, protecting vulnerable parts of the body by finding alternative techniques, staying in shape with a conditioning program designed by a doctor of physical therapy specifically for manual therapists, and recognizing and treating early symptoms to keep them from turning into injury. Written by a leading expert with over 13 years of experience and a certified professional ergonomist with over 17 years of experience, with contributions by a doctor of physical therapy with over 20 years of experience. Written in an accessible, easy-to-read style, this all-new second edition includes over 80 illustrations and photographs and has been endorsed by many prominent members of the manual therapy community.

This book describes the theory and application of massage techniques, their physiological effects, indications and contraindications, and how massage is therapeutically applied in the treatment of many common conditions.

This textbook guides massage therapists through each step of delivering a spa treatment—from consideration of the indications and contraindications to scope of practice issues, supplies, room set-up, specific procedure steps, and ideas for integrating massage techniques, spa products, and enhancing accents. While wet-room treatments are discussed, the focus is on dry-room treatments, which can be delivered in a wider variety of settings. More than 250 full-color photographs illustrate each technique and treatment. Treatment Snapshot boxes provide a quick overview of the treatment before the detailed step-by-step procedures section. Sanitation Boxes offer clean-up and sanitation tips. Sample Treatments include promotional descriptions, product recommendations, and recipes for creating inviting smell-scapes.

Congratulations on deciding to become a massage therapist! This is one of the most appreciated professions because of the satisfaction you will deliver to others. Massage therapists are high in demand no matter where you live, and the need is only growing with time. More and more people are realizing the true benefits of incorporating regular massages in their routines, thus making it part of their lifestyles. Not only are you guaranteed a lucrative career as a therapist, the jobs are also abundant and only growing. Massage therapists help individuals relieve pain caused by day to day stress build-up, body tightening, injury or illness. Many people these days have incorporated regular massages in their lifestyle routines to proactively mitigate physical problems, maintain good posture and just feel better. A massage therapist’s role is very important and extremely meaningful, which is why the demand for this service has continuously increased over time. It has become one of the most popular careers sought after by many today. Most practicing therapists are employed by hospitals, clinics, sports facilities and smaller private companies that are everywhere. In addition, many massage therapists work independently as either business contractors or in private homes. No matter where you live, there will always be demand for your services and thus several options near you that offer these jobs. Whether you are just now starting your career in the massage field, or want to grow your existing career, this book’s goal is to help you meet your objectives. In the next few chapters you will find information about the requirements you need to become a massage therapist, information on massage therapy schools, online schooling options, jobs, salaries, career growth and more. There is an extremely high demand for massage therapists. With increased population growth, awareness, health consciousness and active lifestyles, the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) expects massage therapist jobs to grow another 20-30% in the next couple years. Because of the growing demand for massage therapists, many are becoming more interested in this professional career. Unfortunately, most do not know what the requirements are, how to get into the field and how to thrive in a profession that is saturated with so many other therapists. Similarly, many others who are already practicing as massage therapists do not know about the options to advance their careers through either additional training, the appropriate networking opportunities, diversification, specialization and more. All the best to you and here’s to your career success! Table of Contents Foreword 1. Introduction to a Career in Massage Therapy 2. Three Things You Should Know Before Becoming a Massage Therapist 3. How to Find the Right Massage Therapy School for You 4. How to Find Information on the Best Massage Therapy Schools 5. Characteristics of the Best Massage Therapy Schools 6. Why You Should Select an Accredited, Certified Massage Therapy School 7. Are Online Massage Therapy Schools Legitimate? 8. The Main Differences Between Local and National Massage Therapy Schools 9. What Is the Cost of a Good Massage Therapy School? 10. How to Ensure You Get a Top Quality Education 11. How to Apply to a Massage Therapy School 12. How to Apply to a Massage Therapy School 13. Courses Offered in Massage Therapy Schools and Continuing Education 14. The Importance of Massage Therapy Certification 15. Skills Needed for a Successful Career or Business in Massage Therapy 16. Three Main Subsets of Massage Therapy Jobs: Clinical, Sports & Spa 17. The Process of a Successful Massage Therapy Job Search 18. The Need for Liability Insurance When Practicing Massage Therapy 19. Why You Need to Pursue Continuing Education for Massage Therapy Summary

Learn effective communication to become a vital member of the healthcare team! As a part of the health care team, massage therapists need to understand how to effectively communicate, be it with a client, other health care providers, insurance professionals, and members of the legal field, and understand the measurement tools and documentation forms they will encounter as they practice. Hands Heal is the only text that provides crucial guidance on taking client histories, setting functional goals, and documenting treatment outcomes. In this new, updated fourth edition, author Diana Thompson relies on her vast experience as a massage practitioner, research consultant and educator to create a comprehensive resource on communication, insurance billing and case report writing for massage therapy students and practitioners. Key features of this exciting new edition include: A new chapter provides detailed instructions on how to complete a case report Crucial information on HIPAA, and relevant CPT and ICD-9 codes A variety of sample forms, including: intake forms, measurement tools, SOAP charts and wellness charts, and forms to track insurance billing For practicing massage therapists, these sample forms will be of immediate value in putting concepts into practice.