| Medical Massage | Relaxation Massage |
commercial context | health care system | personal service industry |
customer relationship | patient | client |
dominant paradigm | scientific, problem-solving | intuitive, nurturing |
reason for treatment | medical necessity | client request |
focus | functional outcomes | client satisfaction |
termination of care | maximum medical improvement (usually) | when client’s needs are met or change |
primary massage treatment techniques | clinical massage techniques like myofascial treatments, deep tissue massage, cross-fiber friction, neuromuscular “trigger point” technique, and muscle energy technique | relaxation massage techniques like Swedish, deep tissue, circulatory massage, and craniosacral |
pricing | rates set by UCR and RVU | rates set by the consumer marketplace |
billing services | yes (discount for payment at time of service) | no (all payments due at time of service) |
payment | can take 30-90 days or longer | due at time of service |
tipping | never/rarely | often |
therapist accountable to | - patients
- certification boards
- referring providers
- other HCPs involved with case
- insurance companies
- health care networks
- attorneys
- courts
- independent medical examiners
- auditors
| - clients
- certification boards
|
| Medical Massage | Relaxation Massage |
time spent on documentation, coordination, and communication | 15-30 minutes or more per session | 1-5 minutes or less per session |
training | basic 500-hour massage certification course plus advanced training in - orthopedic assessment & treatment protocols
- pathologies and contraindications
- medical terminology
- pharmacology
- documentation
- communication skills
- advanced anatomy
- kinesiology
- medical terminology
| basic 500-hour massage certification course |
experience | need clinical and professional experience and/or an internship | can start practicing right after graduating from massage school |
receiver’s emotional state/level of proactiveness | didn’t ask to be injured, may be depressed, anxious, or otherwise distressed by both the injury/accident and/or ensuing work, life, and health complications | proactively seeking care, typically healthy and active |
physical demands on practitioner | can be heavy – orthodpedic assessments, muscle energy techniques, myofascial treatments, cross-fiber frictioning, and other injury-treatment techniques can be hard on your body | may be lighter – Swedish and some other techniques are less demanding, but deep tissue massage can be hard on your body |
emotional demands on practitioner | can be heavy – patients can be disengaged, distraught, or otherwise unengaged or difficult to engage | typically light and/or manageable |
client education | may be OK (therapist should ask the prescribing referrer about this), but shouldn’t contradict what the rest of the medical team is saying | OK within scope of practice (“drink plenty of water,” “do that stretch I showed you,” “put an ice pack on it,” etc.) |
marketing model | business-to-business networking with referring providers, health care networks, etc.; many legal and ethical considerations regarding referral relationships, etc. | consumer marketing (much like a tax preparer, hair dresser, real estate agent, etc.); gift certificates, referral discounts, and other consumer marketing practices are OK |
| Medical Massage | Relaxation Massage |
