Introducing Olivia, me, and a stunning statistic
Posted: 6/8/18
New beginnings are always full of promise and excitement.
We just got a new puppy, Olivia, who is bringing joy and a bit of chaos into our lives.
This, my first blog post, is another exciting beginning. One that shouldn't require a call to the carpet cleaner!
Going forward, I'll be sharing about my life's obsession: How to advance massage therapy in integrative health care.
But first, an introduction.
I'm a massage therapist, with 35 years in this amazing profession. My practice is focused on post-surgical work, but I see patients with everything from chronic illnesses to spinal cord injuries to strokes.
In 1988, I opened a large medical massage clinic. In the 1990s, I wrote books on SOAP charting and consulted on research. I also chaired the Massage Therapy Foundation, funding research internationally in the new millennium.
Most recently, I co-edited a book on pain management and created Hands Heal EHR, an electronic health record system for massage therapists.
I've got a head full of statistics and ideas I can't wait to share with you.
Here's one that's truly stunning:
Only 54% of opioid overdoses are unintentional
That tells me that people really struggle with the dependence on prescription pain medication. For some, there's enough physical and psychic pain that they'd rather remove the struggle altogether.
We know pain. Massage therapy is now included in the list of federal and state recommendations to alternatives for prescribing pain medication.
Make yourself available to pain clinics, cancer centers, and other biomedical providers that aren't familiar with prescribing massage therapy.
We can be part of the solution.
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