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Here is an interesting discussion on turf wars from Massage Therapy:
Quote:
There are several issues that California Alliance of Massage and Bodywork Schools (CAMBS) considers as critical for massage schools to be aware of and on which to provide feedback to Senator Figueroa (Senator.Figueroa@sen.ca.gov). One of these is an attempt by the California Chiropractic Association (CCA) to severely limit the ability of massage practitioners and therapists to use passive stretching.
The CCA recently proposed the following restrictions which they would like to see added to SB 412.
(1)…"Massage" does not include the prescription of legend drugs or controlled substances, spinal joint manipulation, movement of a joint beyond the normal physiological active range of motion for that joint, the diagnosis of illness or disease, or treatment for which a license to practice medicine, chiropractic, physical therapy, or podiatry is required.
(2) Notwithstanding (1), A massage therapist and massage practitioner may move a joint within its normal physiological range of motion for that joint if under the prescription of a medical doctor, doctor of osteopathy or doctor of chiropractic.
This means that joint movements would require a prescription from a doctor, and that massage therapists could not move a joint into a true stretch, but only to the active limit of the range of motion. Massage therapists have been doing stretches safely for decades, and it is commonly and safely taught in massage schools. Keith Grant provided a great deal of data to the CCA and to Senator Figueroa backing up the ability of massage therapists to use stretching safely.
CAMBS is in strong agreement with the following statement by ABMP President Bob Benson regarding the restriction on movement of any joint beyond the active range of motion. We believe that it is extremely important for schools to express to Senator Figueroa support for ABMP's and CAMBS's stand.
Bob Benson: "While I appreciate the CCA's effort to make suggestions, their proposal is unacceptable. Its implementation would narrow the scope of practice already existing for over 30,000 individuals now practicing massage in California, specifically by limiting massage therapists' abilities to move a joint within its normal physiological range of motion only to instances in which a medical doctor, doctor of osteopathy, or doctor of chiropractic has prescribed such work. A total of 36 states have now adopted statewide massage licensing or certification statutes; none of the 36 definitions of "Massage" contained within those statutes include scope restriction language such as CCA is proposing. Also unacceptable is their proposed elimination of the adjective "spinal;" removing that word would expand the prohibition to all joint manipulation rather than the intended "spinal joint manipulation."
"The massage community has made an extensive, good faith effort to examine research, patterns of practice, resulting records of injuries sustained or absence thereof. That information has been shared with CCA's duly appointed representative. While a subsequent verbal exchange of views occurred, no contradictory scientific or pattern of harm evidence has been forthcoming from the chiropractic community. We believe the absence of such information reflects the reality that for many years massage therapists have been safely working within the realm of "normal physiological range of motion for a joint."
"The massage community has made significant changes in its proposed definition of "Massage" within SB 412 to try to accommodate concerns expressed by the chiropractic and physical therapy communities. While I can only speak on behalf of Associated Bodywork & Massage Professionals' 10,300 California members, I anticipate that other massage community voices will share the view that we will simply have to agree to disagree with the chiropractic community on the definition language."
What should you do now? Write to Senator Figueroa and tell her that active and passive stretching have always been a part of massage, that there is no evidence that massage therapists cause any harm to the public by stretching their clients' joints during massage, and that stretching is taught in massage schools in a safe manner. Massage therapists will actively oppose any bill that would take away part of the accepted scope of practice for massage.
Re: Chiropractors trying to control Massage Therapy
I was a deep tissue/myofascial technique massage therapist (hospital, home office and integrated practice) for 14 years. California, to my knowledge, does not have a state license to define nor defend the practice of massage therapy. It is a vast expanse of land and money where one can hang a shingle with the minimum of training, though to credit the general public, those "practitioners" don't last long in the trade. There is no way to define the practice of massage for a state without a licensing board, whether or not it restricts one's definitions. In my home state of NC, the physical therapist lobbyists, funded by insurance payment and MD association, made it impossible for massage therapists to form a state board in NC until 2000. We fought them for 9 years in order to gain autonomy. I helped do that and I'm proud of it, but like the nursing board has control of massage therapists in VA, I think it's idiotic for another profession to attempt to regulate what they consider to be an "aspect" of their own profession. I don't recall pretending to be a nurse in my practice, nor do I remember my mother, a nurse for 37 years, complaining about all of the massage she had to do in the ICU. None, to wit.
I am a chiropractic student, now, with a BA in lit, a BS (conc. in human biology and human osteology), a massage career behind me and an interest in foot health. I'm also about to turn 40 so I'm quite a bit older than my fellow students and my interests are, thank God, different from theirs. I looked into podiatry school, but as a chiropractor I will feel more comfortable if I decide to teach gross anatomy. I'm enjoying the other forums, however am disturbed to see derogatory remarks about chiropractic on this site. Were it not for the mention of podiatry in the articles, one might think he was reading a chiropractic page - we seem to have many of the same identity issues as specialists and are likewise regarded askance by the medical community. I chose chiropractic because I do not care to deliver a baby, cure strep infections, nor repair hernias. I do like to restructure. I am not a surgeon. I can read an ECG and perform neurological assessments. I do not correct a deviated septum. I do adjust the cuboid. Do you see? We are specialists, as was pointed out about podiatrists in a previous post, like ophthalmologists, like podiatrists, like the most highly trained technician in the world, perhaps -the dentist! Persistence will see each of our professions through.
~and now back to paretic gait analysis...