How to choose a massage therapist in Florida

Yes, and before the first session rather than after. NCCIH opens its list of 6 things to know about massage therapy with a warning: don't use massage therapy to postpone seeing a health care provider about a medical problem. A massage that eases your back pain for a few days can quietly talk you out of getting something checked that needed checking.

If you are unsure whether massage is right for you, NCCIH suggests raising it with your health care provider, who may also be able to help you choose a therapist. Mayo Clinic, which treats massage as an integrative therapy, gives the rule that comes with that category: tell your doctor you are trying massage and keep up your standard treatment. Massage runs alongside conventional care rather than replacing it.

Your doctor knows things the therapist does not: whether you are on a blood thinner, whether an ache in your calf could be a clot, whether your bones can take pressure. Passing that on costs you one short conversation.

Anyone with a condition that pressure could make worse. Mayo Clinic names 6 situations that call for a word with your doctor first, from a recent heart attack to severe osteoporosis; they are listed below. For everyone else, NCCIH says the risk of harmful effects appears to be low, and that massage therapy appears to have few risks when performed by a trained practitioner.

The serious harms are rare but documented. NCCIH cites reports of 3 kinds: blood clots, nerve injury and bone fracture. Some of those cases involved vigorous techniques such as deep tissue massage, or people already at higher risk of injury, such as elderly people. With cancer patients, NCCIH notes, therapists may need to modify their usual approach, sometimes using less pressure in areas made sensitive by the disease or its treatment.

So tell the therapist about your health conditions, your medications, recent surgeries, and any area that is healing or tender. Mayo Clinic makes the same point about cancer care: a therapist treating someone with cancer has to take special precautions, "so finding a skilled therapist is important."

No. Mayo Clinic says you should not feel significant pain during a massage, though some forms can leave you a bit sore the next day. If the therapist is pushing too hard, ask for lighter pressure during the session. A good therapist wants that feedback and adjusts right away.

The research points the same way. When NCCIH summarized the evidence on massage for fibromyalgia, where a 2014 evaluation of 9 studies found the benefit depends on continuing therapy for at least 5 weeks, it flagged the review authors' view that the therapist should not cause pain. NCCIH also notes that a 2010 review found massaging preterm infants with moderate pressure may improve weight gain. At the other end of the scale, vigorous deep tissue work turns up in the rare reports of clots and fractures.

You can ask for that on any massage, deep tissue included. Our Deep Tissue Massage reaches deeper layers of muscle without always using deep pressure, and you choose the level. If a therapist argues when you ask for less pressure, that tells you something about the therapist.

NCCIH's tips read almost like a script: ask about the therapist's training, experience and credentials, how many treatments your situation might take, what each session costs, and whether your insurance covers any of it. These are the questions the federal health agency on the subject tells you to ask, so no good therapist will mind them.

Ask about style too. "Massage therapy" covers many techniques, and NCCIH names 5: Swedish or classical massage, which it calls the most common form in Western countries and the core of most training programs; sports massage; clinical massage aimed at specific goals such as releasing muscle spasms; and the Eastern traditions Shiatsu and Tuina. The right style depends on what you want from the session.

If a practitioner gets cagey about training, credentials or cost, that tells you something too. Here is how to choose a massage therapist, in order:

For several conditions, massage may help you feel better, often for a short time. NCCIH says much of the research on massage is preliminary or conflicting, though a fair amount points toward some benefit for pain and other symptoms. Knowing the specifics keeps you from paying for promises no therapist should make.

For low-back pain, NCCIH calls the evidence weak, and the guidelines split on chronic pain. The American College of Physicians, in its 2017 guidelines, listed massage as an option for acute and subacute low-back pain, but not for chronic low-back pain. A 2016 Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality evaluation of 20 studies found massage helpful for chronic low-back pain, and graded the strength of that evidence as low.

Mayo Clinic reads more positive on stress and mood: several studies found a decrease in stress chemicals such as cortisol, and massage releases endorphins, the body's natural painkillers. Mayo also notes that in most studies people report improved overall well-being, and points to ordinary reasons: a quiet, pleasant room, the structured manipulation of muscle and tissue, and caring human touch. Its summary fits in one line: a massage may help you relax, but it can't cure everything that ails you, and done incorrectly, it could hurt you.

Before your next booking, do three things. Look up the license. Send your doctor a one-line note that you are trying massage. Write down two or three of the questions above to ask on the phone.