There are a lot of health benefits of massage therapy. Some of them are help you relax, relieve stress and help improve range of motion.
To go much beyond that I would start to get into medical claims, which can get you into trouble. Only doctors can make medical claims, regardless of whether they are valid claims or not. Unless you are a doctor you cannot “treat” or “cure” a condition. As a massage therapist, I cannot name a condition because it might be interpreted as a “diagnosis” and I have to be careful about recommending anything because it might be taken as a “prescription”.
The quoted words are the ones we have to be careful of because they are terms reserved for doctors and cannot be used by a massage therapist. There are many more potential health benefits of massage therapy that kind of border on health claims that we can generally get away with, like relieve pain, boost immunity by improving lymph flow, reduce swelling, and relieve headaches and migraines. Those are some of the benefits listed on the ABMP at www.massagetherapy.com.
When I went to massage school we were cautioned about how we recommend our clients to drink more water. We don’t want to come across as prescribing water. While that sounds a bit extreme, it could matter depending on who your client is.
In addition to being a massage therapist, I am also a network marketer with a wellness company. The same rules apply to network marketing entrepreneurs as well, although a lot of them don’t know that because there isn’t any required training to start an MLM business. In some ways it is harder for a network marketer because in this business we are selling a product and it might sometimes be a little challenging to tell someone what something does without mentioning some of the conditions that it might be beneficial for. I usually start off with a disclaimer that I’m not a doctor and cannot diagnose or prescribe anything, then tell them what other people have experienced with the product.
My wife is studying to be a nutritional consultant and it is something she has to be aware of too. Fortunately she already knows because she has been a massage therapist for several years and involved in our network marketing business.
The thing about medical claims is that they aren’t always true. A doctor can diagnose a condition and prescribe a particular drug for it and nothing will happen. It could be an incorrect diagnosis or the drug just might not work for that person. So, based on that I don’t want to get into diagnosis and prescription anyway. Tell you client or customer upfront that this may or may not work for whatever they have going on. Instead of guaranteeing that something will work, offer their money back if they aren’t satisfied ( if you can ).
What are your thoughts on this? Write a comment below and let me know. Also, I would greatly appreciate it if you could take a moment and share this out to your followers on the social networks.
Wayne Woodworth
