At Hands on Health, Raleigh and Cary massage therapy and wellness, we would like to put you at ease...perhaps these Frequently Asked Questions about therapeutic massage will help!

1. Do I have to be in pain to receive massage therapy?

No, ideally it is best to receive massage therapy on a maintenance basis so that you can help prevent chronic muscle problems. Frequent, regular treatments are only indicated when treating symptoms relating to a chronic pain complaint.

2. How long will I have to continue medical massage treatments?

Treatments take between three and six 1-hour sessions for less severe conditions such as neck tension and eight to twelve sessions for more severe conditions such as chronic low back pain. Several factors determine how long the results last and how soon you start feeling them: 

• The severity of the condition that is being treated
• How long the condition has existed before starting muscle therapy
• The frequency of the therapy, especially at the beginning of the therapy
• The general state of your health and your age
• Cooperation with following proper flexibility instructions

3. How frequently do I need to visit my massage therapist?

In order to effectively treat soft tissue conditions, therapists recommend 2-3 medical massage sessions per week for the first two weeks. As the results last longer, sessions are spread out to once per week by the 3rd or 4th week, move to maintenance level at 2 times per month, and, finally, once per month. As a maintenance strategy, most people choose to return for two to twelve sessions per year to help keep their tissues healthy and to prevent further pain and dysfunction.

4. Do I need a physician's referral for medical massage?

No. However, we recommend that you consult with a physician before seeking medical massage therapy for severe complaints for two reasons:

(a) your condition should be diagnosed by a doctor so as to prevent you from receiving misguided therapies

(b) you have a better chance of receiving insurance coverage for this therapy.

5. Why do you offer relaxation massage at your medical massage practice?

In addition to feeling good, there are physiological and medical reasons that one might seek a relaxation massage. Unhealthy or "burnout" stress is one of the hazards of living in a culture that is overstimulated by excessive work and home pressures or by the need to stay hyper alert while driving a vehicle. Additionally, we overuse stimulants such as caffeine to keep our stress engines fueled. Over time, our bodies wear out and we begin to present with chronic stress symptoms such as sleep disturbances, tension headaches, multiple pain patterns, fatigue, anxiety, and digestive problems. Relaxation massage helps stimulate the part of the brain that controls deep sleep (this is a crucial time when the body's tissues are repaired), digestion, decreased heart rate, and deep and slow breathing. Seen in this light, relaxation massage IS medical massage when the intention is to calm and restore the body as a whole. Given the fact that many of us desire to live in a healthy body/mind state in this stress-oriented culture, we might want to respect all the ways we can restore our body's self-healing functions.

6. What is the difference between your medical massage therapists and your maintenance/relaxation massage therapists?

All of the licensed therapists at Hands on Health are qualified to perform maintenance and relaxation therapies. The difference between a medical massage therapist and a maintenance/relaxation therapist is experience and training. Before a therapist can advertise as a medical massage therapist in our practice, the therapist has to undergo training that involves on-site supervision and one-on-one medical massage training sessions. They must also demonstrate their competency in 4 categories:

A. treatment planning  
B. positive client feedback and results  
C. specific hands-on technique 
D. application of medical massage course content.

Massage therapy licensure requirements do not meet the requirements set forth by Hands on Health’s commitment to medical massage therapy. New therapists are initially screened to determine whether or not they will become a permanent practitioner in the Hands on Health group practice. Until a therapist can demonstrate competency as a medical massage therapist, he or she has many opportunities to practice techniques with willing clients at the reduced maintenance/relaxation rates.

7. When do you refer to other professions?

Why wait when a combination of therapies often speed-up desired results? For severe conditions, we recommend a combination of either physical therapy and medical massage or chiropractic and medical massage. Taken together, these combinations of therapies can significantly advance positive results.

8. What is the difference between medical massage therapy and physical therapy?

Massage therapy and physical therapy are two distinct disciplines. Our medical massage therapists explain the similarities and differences as such: physical therapists incorporate massage into their physical therapy treatments and they use a wide variety of instruments, stretches, and strength routines to treat physical conditions. Physical therapists tend to have less massage therapy training than do massage therapists. Additionally, physical therapists use massage therapy for a smaller portion of time during their therapies, referring out to massage therapists for manual therapy sessions that last longer than 15 minutes. Because both professions understand the beneficial roles of the other, massage and physical therapy are very complementary.

Sometimes our therapists see clients where physical therapy or chiropractic has, according to our clients, "not worked". In these cases our therapists find that massage therapy prior to returning to physical therapy or chiropractic helps these modalities achieve longer lasting results.

9. What is the difference between chiropractic and medical massage therapy?

Too simplistically stated, chiropractors use manual bone adjustment techniques that take pressure off of nerves and joints. Massage therapists use soft tissue massage techniques to help take pressures off of nerves and joints. Massage therapists do not offer bone adjustments; it is out of their scope of practice. 

10. Does insurance cover massage therapy?

As of 2006, Hands on Health practitioners have begun to see more and more health insurance companies reimburse for our medical massage services. It takes an assertive customer to get the company to reimburse for medical massage, but it has happened. As a treatment modality, medical massage should be covered, but there are limited instances when it is automatically covered. During your first visit, please ask us for an insurance reimbursement document. This document will help you navigate the complex system of insurance reimbursement. Please understand that insurance reimbursement will only be considered by the insurance company or adjuster for medically necessary massage.

Please contact us if you are involved in a personal injury claim, motor vehicle accident, workman's compensation claim, as we may be able to financially assist you during your treatment time with us.

Flexible spending accounts such as MSA, HSA, flex spending often allow you to use such a program for massage therapy treatments. Check ahead with your company. A prescription for massage may be necessary and can be obtained from your general practitioner.

Finally, many customers ask if we are involved with deep discount programs such as BCBS alternative medicine discounting. No. We strongly value the treatments we offer and set the price accordingly. We find it short sighted and one sided that insurance companies would ask us to discount our services for their clients but refuse to cover these services. We have seen too many people improve who have otherwise struggled within the services presently covered by the insurance system and, therefore, believe that insurance companies should cover medical massage treatments just like many companies cover physical therapy and chiropractic treatments.

We do have a satisfactory alternative for those who are in need of financial assistance. We recommend that you see one of our well trained therapeutic massage practitioners.

11. Why is it a bad idea for me to ignore my infrequent neck spasms and pain?

The concept of pain threshold explains the body's ability to bounce back and forth between being symptomatic one day and feeling fine the next day. For example, tension headaches that come and go. A body can put-up with a certain amount of soft tissue damage before pain threshold becomes symptomatic. It often takes 5-10 years for an untreated soft tissue neck injury from a car accident to start causing symptoms such as chronic jaw problems and daily headaches. Ignoring these pain threshold symptoms makes recovery take much longer, costs much more to the patient, and can cause irreversible pain problems that involve the joints and bones.

12. Can massage therapy improve muscle balance?

Yes, manual therapy does improve muscle tone so that when your muscles are at rest, they are neither contracted (shortened and weak) nor taut (over stretched and weak). Although manual therapy does not directly improve muscle strength, a healthy, relaxed musculature with adequate blood flow has a greater ability to build and maintain strength and healthy posture.

We hope this question/answer content has been helpful to your understanding of our Hands on Health wellness practice. Please contact us if you have further questions.