Massage therapists can choose to use home-study courses in numerous ways. They can be used to pursue personal educational interests, expand your knowledge of the profession or increase your business knowledge. All will help benefit your clients.
Home-study courses are often geared to specific massage techniques for specific ailments and diseases. By determining your clients’ needs, you determine what modes of massage can best suit them. Massage techniques can be used to treat depression, cancer, fibromyalgia and chronic pain.
By learning theses benefits and techniques in the privacy of your home or office through home-study courses, massage therapists can easily implement these tools into practice.
Below is a glimpse of some of the home study courses offered.
Massage for fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain disorder that can affect nearly anyone’s physical, mental and social dispositions. With massage for fibromyalgia, some of the courses offered cover such topics as signs, symptoms and causes of fibromyalgia, diagnosis, treatment, massage techniques and modalities. In some courses, materials also cover coexisting conditions, topical balms, salves, along with stretches and exercises.
HIV/AIDS
HIV and AIDS are autoimmune diseases that attack the body’s immune system and can cause the client great pain. If not handled properly, the diseases can be a danger to the massage therapist.
Some of the courses for HIV and AIDS offered also include diagnosis, treatment, transmission, standard precautions for preventing infection, contraindications for HIV-Infected clients, bodywork modification, emotional impact to the practitioner, research findings, along with references and resources for further study.
Oncology massage
Oncology massage aids in easing a wide array of symptoms that persist from chemotherapy and radiation treatments that cancer patients endure.
For oncology massage, basic home-study courses include topics that cover cancer and neoplasia, the causes of cancer, current medical treatments for cancer, general guidelines for massage therapists, cancer types, skin health, specific massage oils, therapy protocol and cancer massage precautions.
As always, make sure to check with your national and state licensing bodies to make sure the courses you select are acceptable for continuing education credits.
–Jeremy Maready