A Guide To Finding A Post Surgical Massage Therapist
In a world of viral videos how do you know who you should see?
Think of post op massage therapists like margarine and butter.
You have the tik tok post op massage practitioners. They tell you they are professionals but have no license or training. They tell you pain is part of the process to look and feel good. Thats margarine.
Then you have the highly credentialed, legal post surgical therapists. These therapists have honed their skills to create painless and effective treatments that make you feel like yourself again. Thats butter.
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How do you find butter when there is so much margarine out there? Read the ingredients.
- The number one way to find out if someone is legit is to ask if they are a licensed massage therapist or nurse. If they are not or try to side step the question, run. If they seem questionable at all, ask them for their full name. Go to the board of massage or nursing in that state and look them up.
- Do they have a website? A location? Even a phone number? Many folks will set up an illegal post op massage business on instagram, make a lot of claims and take your money. Listen to your gut on red flags like lack of a business presence.
- Ask them about their training. First and foremost, they should be trained and certified in manual lymphatic drainage. What method are they trained in? Vodder is the most common, but you don’t have to know the methods. If that question causes them to pause, they probably did not do real training. Pro-tip: “Brazilian body sculpting” is not training in manual lymphatic drainage.
- Do they have post surgical training? Manual Lymphatic Drainage is the cream, the main ingredient. Knowing how to work with fibrosis, scars and other post surgery complications is the churn needed to turn that cream into butter.
- Do they cut open or drain incisions? No one, I repeat no one, should be touching your incisions who is not your trained and licensed medical provider. This means your surgeon, nurses or doctors. Not a massage therapist. If someone offering post plastic surgery massage tells you they will drain your incisions do not go to that person. If someone tries to do this during a massage (I’ve heard stories of it happening with no warning, even after being told the person does not do this) stop them. Get off the table. Leave.
There are many other smaller differences between butter and margarine, but knowing these main ingredients will keep you from making the wrong choice. Unlike mostly harmless margarine, seeing the wrong person can cause fibrosis, pain, infections and unideal healing outcomes. You’ve invested so much time, energy and emotion into your surgery. Finding the right massage therapist for your post op care will ensure you get amazing results that make that all worth it.
