Listening to your symptoms can help you prevent chronic injury.
by Clare La Plante
Pain happens, but chronic, long-term injury doesn’t have to. Lauriann Greene, who coauthored Save Your
Hands! The Complete Guide to Injury Prevention and Ergonomics for Manual Therapists with Richard Goggins,
learned the hard way in 1993, when she was finishing up at the Seattle Massage School and doing her externship at a
physical therapy clinic.
Greene, a former professional pianist and orchestral conductor who had, ironically, written her graduating
research paper on repetitive stress injuries among musicians, began to feel pain in her wrist and hand. It was
likely the beginnings of wrist tendonitis, she says now. "I continued to work anyway," she adds.
Although she finished school, the pain proved debilitating. "When I got out, I could not practice because it
brought back symptoms," she remembers. It took her three years of physical therapy, occupational therapy and plain
old resting before she didn’t have pain every day. Today, the symptoms still flare up when she types too much or
practices massage.
So instead she researches, teaches and writes about injury prevention. And one thing she’s learned: Most
therapists will get symptoms in the course of their careers. It’s how you listen to them—or not—that makes the
difference.
Taking Care
According to the 2006 survey "Musculoskeletal Symptoms and Injuries Among Experienced Massage and Bodywork
Professionals," conducted by Greene and Goggins, 77 percent of practitioners reported some form of pain or
discomfort from their work during the previous two years. Sixtyfour percent had sought medical treatment for
symptoms, and 41 percent were diagnosed with an injury. Ongoing symptoms were present in 67 percent of the
participants.
This pain showed up primarily in the back, neck, shoulder, elbow, hands, wrists and thumbs, with ailments such
as tendonitis or tendonosis, osteoarthritis, shoulder bursitis and tension neck syndrome, among many others.
"Nearly everyone has symptoms because [massage therapy] is physically demanding," says Greene. "It’s not so much
about working while you’re injured. Rather, if injury happens, how do you deal with your work?"
Your first line of defense is to take care of yourself. Life offers its own physical challenges on top of ones
you’ll find at work, and so your overall health affects how your symptoms will play out.
Massage therapists need to pace themselves by not overscheduling their days, and eat anti-inflammatory foods
such as flaxseed, leafy greens, blueberries and turmeric. Getting enough sleep and finding time to relax are also
important.
Taking care of yourself extends beyond the hours you spend at work, too. You need to protect your hands and
joints while doing everyday tasks, from lifting children to opening jars to gardening. "Your body doesn’t care
where you are exposed to risk factors," says Greene. "It’s a cumulative effect."
For example, avoid heavy lifting using only one hand, use carts instead of carrying heavy bags and use furniture
glides to move furniture. You should also push instead of pull, use lumbar support while driving and avoid cradling
the phone between your shoulder and ear.
Additionally, don’t forget to get your own bodywork, which is vital to injury prevention. Suzanne
Scurlock-Durana, certified massage therapist and author of Full-Body Presence, likens the bodyworker’s
life to one of a racehorse, not a workhorse. "We need to take care of ourselves like racehorses, feed ourselves
well and get massaged," she says. "Our bodies are our instruments."
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American Massage Therapy Association®
