To help treat painful conditions that plague your client's musculoskeletal system, consider taking a home study course in orthopedic massage. The techniques learned through a course in orthopedic massage can easily be added to your practice to help treat your clients' painful conditions that affect the soft tissues of the body.

The classes teach how using soft-tissue manipulation can treat painful conditions in the body's muscles, tendons, ligaments, joint capsules, fascia, nerves and cartilage. Orthopedic massage requires extensive training--and if treated by an unskilled therapist, the results could be harmful to the client.

Many orthopedic massage home study courses, which can easily be found through a simple online search, include topics that cover the treatment of subscapularis tendinitis, tennis elbow, lateral ankle sprain, patella tendinitis and Achilles tendinitis. 

Before treating any condition, the therapist must conduct a client assessment to determine if any serious pre-existing medical conditions could affect your client. A trained therapist needs to determine if soft-tissue pain could be the onset of a stroke or heart attack, both of which can present as muscle pain at first. Also, conditions like some types of cancer can be exacerbated by massage therapy.

The home study courses also delve into teaching about massage techniques and musculoskeletal

A recent case study measured the effectiveness of orthopedic massage in the rehabilitation of post anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS). In their treatment, massage therapists focused on lymphatic drainage, myofascial release, neuromuscular therapy including trigger point release, muscle energy techniques and cross-fiber friction, according to the 2008 study.

Orthopedic physical assessment tests were used on the female athlete subject to measure the effectiveness of the therapy. Therapists also relied on the woman's reporting of pain level and function.

Ultimately, the results of this study showed a decrease in pain levels, hamstring flexion contracture and lateral tracking of the patella, the study said. Orthopedic massage was determined to be an effective complementary therapy.

Researchers noted that studies in the field are limited because finding a group of like subjects is difficult, as many injuries are unique.

Make sure to check with your national and state licensing bodies to make sure the courses your select are acceptable for continuing education credits.

--Jeremy Maready

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