sports massage therapists

[adatly]

Hi all

why is everyone on here knocking sports massage therapists.

we provide a valuable service to our clients, we provide a service that other therapist dont bother with cant be bothered with or are not as skilled at.

im currently having treatment from a physio due to a leg operation, she admits that my profession is better at dealing with muscles than there's, she says they will almost never perform massage on a client and if they do it may only be friction techniques, they just dont cover it much in their degree.

we (sports massage therapists) are a profession in our own right, we do our course take our exams and receive our diplomas, hopefully

i think the reason so many sports massage therapist tag themselves as sports therapist is we get labelled as just massage therapist, which we are defo not, we are classed as the same as a someone who works in a spa or beauty salon doing therapeutic massage, we provide much more than that, we drop the massage tag to give our profession a more professional title, and to move away from the masseur image. Although i do find that dropping the sports tag gets me more clients as i treat a lot of non-sports people.

There is alot of talk about changing our name to reflect our trade, maybe we cant see the woods for the trees, what i mean is we need to look at it differently and from an other angle. Instead of changing the name, lets promote the work we do, people need to know what we do who we can treat and what we can treat, maybe its as simple as that.

people go to physio's if they have an injury they never think to try anything else because its all they know. If their back it out they go to a chriopractor. If people knew more about sports massage they may never get injured or pull their backs. Having regular massage will help good muscle condition.

lets promote the good work that sports massage therapist do and provide, and stop knocking our profession, ok we are not a physio or sports therapist we are a sports massage therapist and proud of it.

regarding getting recognised by the governing bodies out there, we just need to promote what we go and not compare with other therapies. you dont compare a plumber with an electrician or a bricklayer but you need them all to build a house. We all have our different fields and should be promoted as such.

Stopping knocking sports massage therapist and help promote instead, fighting between us will do our industry no good in the long run. The goverment, NHS, and health services, like Bupa etc etc need to recognize us all. We just need to convince them that we help the public back to fitness and thats what is important at the end of the day. My clients wouldnt be without my services now and respect what i do for them.

We are all different so stop comparing and embrace the industry and work together to promote sports therapist, sports massage therapist.

 

[Mac Daddy!]

from my point of view, it is when SMP begin to take on cases they should really refer onto a more trained person.

You can't compare several workshops-which some SMP do-to high quality training.

And is there standardisation of sports massage? Not really, I could set up a school and produce therapists, they wouldnt be very good as I have no formal training in teaching or delivering, but they could still be called sports massage therapists.

I agree you do a sterling job, but for the one good SMP you find, there are 4 others who are terrible and tar the name with their ugly brush

 

[qfegkuysisciijecq]

Hardlly worth a reply easier just to cut and paste




Pot kettle black

 

[Tunner Babs]

for those SMP who are not trained well enough or who do take on cases that they should refer, and if they dont provide the clients with a quality service, well...the clients will not come back get a bad name for themselves and be out of work. we dont need to fear the poorly trained and just focus on ourselves.

plus i have dealing (as a client) with many physio's NHS & private and to be honest the service i got from them was useless and no worth the £40 for 30 minutes which i paid for. Even a top physio in Coventry who teach's students to become physio's miss-diagnosised me, i had a torn ACL and she never spotted it even after 3 treatments, my surgeon spent 2 minutes with me a told me what i had done.

so someone who had degree's from Uni been working in the industry for years and is also a lectureer for other physio's didnt do a good job for me.

its about the person, if they work hard within their profession and are passionate they will provide a good service. if they clients are happy thats what is important.

i for one have lost faith with physio's, and many of my clients are not happy with the service they get, they much prefer a hands on approach which is what they get with a sports massage therapist.

We all have our place in the industry, we should work together to improve the awearness of the benefits of SM & ST

I took a sports massage diploma and so im titled as a sports massage therapist and thats that. if you done a sports therapy course then you're a sports therapist, they is no problem.

i advertise my self as a Sports Massage Therapist with speciality in;ultrasoundtaping & strappingpersonal trainingnutritional advicesports coachingplus a few other subjects which i have qualified in.

people just need to be made awear of what we do. the weak will fall away and those that have good enough skill will stay. lets stop fighting between each other and promote promote promote whats good about SM & ST

there will always be good & bad therapist regardless of their training

 

[paczka2-tramadol-6.2]

thanks for the enlightning post.

Just to mention-there will be standardisation of sport therapy-hence the HPC regs-refer to every post regarding it.

lets put it a simpler way. Would I refer any of my family to a diploma qualified therapist after the shambles I have seen produced? NO

Would I send them to a degree therapist, yes.

My personal opinion from personal and professional experience. Its a like it or lump it post.

 

[Adan T]

@ total therapy

i have used many degree qualified therapist from sports therapy to physio's and some of them are not worth the paper their so called degree certificate is printed on.

there will always be good and bad therapists regardless of the training. perhaps you should take your issues about sports massage with the training providers, and not the therapist themselves. I agree with you that the industry perhaps does need better standards, and that a diploma in sports massage should contain the following..... so all course providers meet this standard of training. Yes a weekend course or a couple of work-shops arenot the way to give out diplomas.

but like i said earlier, spending 3 years at uni gaining a degree doesnt mean your a star therapist.

i know a top physio in my city who mis-diagnosised me, after 3 treatments she still didnt find that i had torn my ACL a waste of a £100 on my part.

we are a seperate profession (sports massage) from sports therapists, but we should still promote and work together

 

[Wtf]

Oi, thats my line

 

[star69]

My personal opinion from personal and professional experience. Its a like it or lump it post.[/quote]

just picking up on an earlier post, my NHS trust employ STs and have done for over a year, not a pilot scheme.


I am just so pleased the industry is pulling together as demonstrated on these fora

 

[gasan bakri]

 

[Spock (rhp)]

I'm glad it is enlightening

A lot of 'sports therapists' do seem to have a rather uninformed misdirected, elitist 'holier than tho' attitude (not really suprising with the b*ll they are consistantly fed with from their PA the self appointed lead body for sports therapy in the UK (sic)

I'm glad you are not one of them


Other than the PS 'mantra' on what basis is this obsession for a 'Degree'?

I have mapped the SST Standards of Proficiency to existing QCF Level 4 Sports Massage courses and other than nutrition there is not much difference (other than some gratuitously embelished terminology)

Just because if it takes longer to complete, does it make it better?

So if the content is the same what is the difference bewteen an SST 'Degree' and a QCF Certificate (it doesn't even need to be a Diploma to match it)?

 

[suspended]

just picking up on an earlier post, my NHS trust employ STs and have done for over a year, not a pilot scheme.




Gary, out of interest what are they doing exactly for the NHS, what level of training do they have and which trust is it?

Dan

 

[the tall ginger one]

I'm glad it is enlightening

from their PA the self appointed lead body for sports therapy in the UK (sic) Aren't they all self appointed

I'm glad you are not one of them


Other than the PS 'mantra' on what basis is this obsession for a 'Degree'?

I have mapped the SST Standards of Proficiency to existing QCF Level 4 Sports Massage courses ) Not another one

Just because if it takes longer to complete, does it make it better?

So if the content is the same what is the difference bewteen an SST 'Degree' and a QCF Certificate (it doesn't even need to be a Diploma to match it)?

 

[Backwater Charlie]

(other than some gratuitously embelished terminology)


Hi DFNU,

pot kettle black

Bullsh17 would have sufficed

BGFL

 

[misz.deterr]

@ DNFU here here

ive not found much difference either. i learnt about nutrition on my sports massage course, ive also gained several advanced exercise qualifications. & im nearing the end of a sports psychology course at Warwick Uni.

but all these diplomas, certificates, qualification still only tag me as a sports massage therapist. if SM is always put down as sub-standard treatments we will never get work from NHS or health care providers like bupa.

i do a hard days work providing an excellent service to my clients, and for these ST to keep put my profession down they are putting me down also.

SMP sould be used by the NHS, after an op on my leg i could of really done with a SM to help with my muscle development.

to be honest a degree, diploma, certificate or a pretty badge on your chest dont mean a thing, if your good at your job thats all that matters. what are the ST so scared of.

I know poeple who have a sports science degree, been to uni for years, and are no way near as good as me at what i do.

 

[Demsmierda]

Gary, out of interest what are they doing exactly for the NHS, what level of training do they have and which trust is it?

Dan[/quote]



Errrrrr Dan ? Sports therapy

East midlands

 

[La chick]

Errrrrr Dan ? Sports therapy

East midlands[/quote]

Yeah more specific on the trust. Details...details!

They have been employed as Physio assistants then?

 

[smackxgarden]

Though not all proclaim themselves as the 'lead body' (judge, jury and executioner?) nor have the gaul to make this statement to a goverment representative with no evidence to support it

Other than to massage () the ego no answer as to why a 'degree' is better then?

 

[Angel in the Snow]

I suppose it all depends on what you want to achieve personally. I want to do a degree and hope to start one this year. Maybe you should ask the major sporting organisations in this country who employ graduates. Not sure how many employ diplomates at the top end of sport. Do you have a degree?

 

[dzkdkzih]

well its good to see we have stayed on track from the original post

here to promote the good work us sports massage therapist do, that we should encourage the awearness of our profession, to be integrated with health care provider private and NHS

we do a valuable service that is needed out there.

 

[Aly C]

how do you explain course providers that produce course on sports therapy levels 4 & 5 which are only a month or so long or bridging courses that are just a few weeks long, you are able to call yourselve a sports therapist after these courses and they are recognised within the industry