Massage therapy is a physically demanding career. It requires a lot of effort on a therapist’s part to relieve the aches and pains of their clients. This doesn’t mean that the therapist has to suffer for their patients. With a little attention to self-care, it is possible to avoid the aches and pains that massage therapy can create in therapists. There are three ways that massage therapists can participate in self-care that will improve their professional and personal life.

First, let’s start with the base level of self-care. Get quality sleep, eat nutritious meals on a regular schedule, and stay hydrated. While this should be obvious, these are always the first things to slip when times get stressful. Self-care is an invaluable priority in your daily life. 

Second, use proper body mechanics to reduce the physical stress on your own body. This will minimize the risk of soft tissue injuries such as repetitive stress injuries or cumulative trauma disorders. Position yourself with your feet pointed toward your client, with knees slightly bent, and make sure your hips, shoulders, and head are also aligned. When possible, you should evenly distribute the work amongst your fingers, hands, forearms, and elbows. Exceptions might be a contact hold or warming up superficial tissues. 

Third, set boundaries around what you can physically do. When it isn’t possible to reduce your number of clients, it may be possible to change up the modalities that you’re performing. Doing the same treatments all day every day is more likely to lead to repetitive stress injuries. Learning and practicing different types of massage therapy allows you to work in different positions and move in different ways throughout the day. 

Clients are looking to you for advice on how to better care for their whole self, not just their muscles. Show them that you participate in basic self-care, know how to use proper body mechanics to reduce physical stress, and set boundaries by limiting the number and varying the types of certain types of massages that you do in a day. If you’re looking for an opportunity to help people heal through massage, Hand and Stone is the place for you. Our open positions and their requirements are available at https://handandstonecareers.com.