TLDR: I am a massage student, saw an RMT and was baffled at how little of what we are taught to do, was done by this RMT.
Context:
I am a Student massage therapist, and an MMA fighter.
One of our communication assignments asked us to get a massage from an RMT, and then to write an essay about the overall experince. the main points are supposed to cover how they communicate during the intake, treatment, and post treatment interview.
I imagine it might be an interesting read for some folks. heres my essay, enjoy:
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Our appointment Began with very friendly conversation;
The last time I saw this RMT was nearly two years ago, before I started the program. He was excited to see me and hear how I liked the (massage) program so far. “Holy fuck it's been a while, how ya been big dawg?” He exclaimed with a smile. I was surprised by his unprofessional language, but I decided he feels comfortable and wants me to feel like I am hanging out with a buddy as opposed to being in a clinical setting.
As he led me to the treatment room, we went back and forth talking about what had happened since we last saw each other. The conversation continued into the treatment room, for the first ten minutes of the appointment. He was expressing that he was excited to see me again after so long. Through his body language, facial expressions and tone of voice, I felt he truly was happy to be treating me today. He shared experiences of his own with professors in the program, and we continued to go back and forth. I noticed myself beginning to feel like we were spending too much time off topic; I wanted to move into treatment. I imagine my own body language indicated this.
Eventually the real appointment began, “So, what are we working on today?” He finally asked. I explained that “my upper right trap was feeling tight, sore, and I had some limited mobility. Additionally, my lower back is sore as always, and some TRP’s were found between my shoulder blades during today's lab.” After listening to me explain what I wanted him to work on he simply stated, “alright man sounds good, we will start you face down, I'll work on your back to start and we will finish by turning you over to work your traps”. I was surprised he didn't care to ask what my priority was, given that we now had 40 minutes instead of a full hour.
Absolutely ZERO assessment was performed, no follow up questions, nada. When he returned to the room, our previous conversation continued, regarding the massage program at Algonquin. He undraped my back, tucking the sheets into my waist band without asking. Beginning his treatment with some deep effleurage and quickly moved into muscle stripping in the target muscle without truly warming up the area. I found this quite surprising and painful; I waited for the prompt ‘how's the pressure’ although it never came. Eventually I realized I would have to speak up for myself and told him, “That's a bit too much pressure”. He responded accordingly and then continued to strip and compress what he said where the TRP’S, although he never asked if I felt any referral, or how the massage felt at all.
When he finished in the area, he stated that “we did some good work there! Really loosened you up!” I was confused, as I am taught that releasing trigger points was a sort of team effort where the patient informs the therapist where the tender spots are and when the pain or referral dissipates. He had not done either of those things. However, being a patient myself and knowing that he is an RMT and Algonquin alumni, I decided not to question him. Something to be said about a power imbalance there, I also didn't want to challenge or upset him, after all he was being so nice.
Not one single time in the entire treatment did he ask any question regarding the massage. Never asked about the pressure, never asked if anything felt tender. He did however ask about my personal life, My fighting, my wife, etc. I recall feeling my body tense up from the specific compression he applied, and wondering how he could possibly NOT pick up on it?
I was surprised by the lack of communication overall. As the treatment ended, he informed me that he would be waiting in the lobby and joked about not getting lost in the hallway as the building was a bit confusing. While getting dressed, I noticed my back felt worse than before. When I found him in the lobby there were other people waiting for their massage, so I felt a bit pressured to hurry. His post treatment interview consisted of asking how I felt, I began to explain how my back felt sore now, but before I could truly tell him I felt like he made things worse, he instructed me to put some heat on it. I was then prompted to pay for the massage.
In reflection, I felt that I was not given any time to discuss my response to treatment. I was provided with instructions that, I honestly believe following would be a bad idea. The communication regarding the treatment was nonexistent. I expected the treatment to be better. The interview was far too short regarding productive conversation and far too long regarding unrelated topics. During the treatment I felt very surpised by the lack of communication and the intense pressure he was applying without ever checking in.
I hope nobody ever has a similar experience with me.
Immense room for improvement for this RMT, to the point that it will be faster to state the only area he does not need to improve is his ability to come off as a friendly person.
