As a massage therapist, you want your clients to have the best experience possible, leaving happier and feeling better than when they arrived.  But how do you feel at the end of the day?  If you’re experiencing pain anywhere in your body from giving a massage you’re not using your body correctly and could end up with a repetative stress injury.  Using proper body mechanics with each massage will prevent pain and injury and ensure longevity in your career. 

 How Do I Know if I’m Using Proper Body Mechanics

While in front of a mirror make sure you watch how your body moves as you perform different massage techniques. This will help you become more aware and enable you to rethink your approach if something doesn’t feel right. Many massage therapists focus so much on their clients and very little on themselves during a massage.  While this is certainly important, it is equally important to pay attention to your own body.

In massage therapy, body mechanics is being able to position and move your body to give the most effective massage possible with very little effort and strain to the therapist.  One way to do this is to use proper stances. When performing long, gliding strokes along the length of the client’s body, as with effleurage, use a stance similar to a lunge. With your lead foot in front, bend your knee slightly and point your toe in the same direction as your hands are moving. Your rear foot is pointed slightly off to the side to provide stability.  When performing short distance strokes such as petrissage or kneading, a stance with your feet hip distance apart and toes pointing forward.  Always keep shoulders down and relaxed.

Minor adjustments in your approach to massage can make a big difference.  Here are a few things you can do prevent injury to yourself.

• Wear supportive and comfortable shoes that you can stand in for long periods are a time.
• Wear loose, non-restrictive clothing that will allow your body to move freely. 
• Adjust the height of your massage table to your own height. This allows you to use leverage and apply more of your body weight rather than depending solely on your upper body strength.
• Full body stretching as well as stretching your wrists, hands and fingers before and in between sessions will keep you flexible and your muscles relaxed. 
• Vary your techniques.  There are many types of massage techniques to choose from. To reduce muscle fatigue, alternate between the different modalities to avoid overusing one particular set of muscles or joints.

Don’t Do Anything that Causes You Pain!

Author of the popular book on injury prevention, Save Your Hands by Lauriann Greene, suggests that therapists have a realistic approach to their work by pacing themselves and knowing their limitations to prevent injury and stay healthy. Being able to recognize what works for you is the best way to prevent injury to yourself.

Now that you can see it in yourself in the mirror, learn how to feel it during your session!

For more information on injury prevention and body mechanics, be sure to check out the following books.

Body Mechanics and Self-Care Manual
, by Marian Wolfe Dixon

Dynamic Bodyuse for Effective, Strain-Free Massage
, by Darian Pritchard

Hand Maintenance Guide for Massage Therapists: The Art of an Injury Free Career
, by Shogo Mochizuki