Massage Therapists: Be Your Own Body’s Best Advocate
As a bodybuilder, the most important title you have is not CMT (Certified Masseur) ~ it’s “YOBBA” ~ The best defender of your own body. Working as a bodybuilder, the very essence of his job is to be an advocate for the health and well-being of other people’s bodies. His hands and his touch are literally defenders of the bodies of his clients. In the process of doing your job, especially if you work at a resort, you are bombarded with exotic insects from all over the world during what is usually the busiest and of course the most profitable part of your year ~ “High Season” . .” The survival instinct and your boss urging you to overcome it can be hard to fight, but in my experience, the best thing you can do for yourself and your future is to be your own body’s best advocate and stay in bed and drink plenty of fluids. There’s a reason that’s the conventional wisdom ~ because it works.
There is nothing better than a new year. You get a new slate, a blank page on which to write your story, one that may not have gone as planned the year before. I like a new year and appreciate that every twelve months we have an automatic renewal. For most of my life, the end of the year has usually meant some kind of cold or flu, ruining the holidays or at least making them more stressful. Fortunately, though, by the time the new year rolls around, the yearly cold or flu is a vague memory. For the last eight years or so I have been lucky enough not to suffer from any kind of pest, annual or otherwise. This new year, I’m afraid I haven’t been so lucky.
For two weeks I have been battling an unfortunate case of the flu that turned into bronchitis and is now a nagging nagging cold. It amazes me how much mucus a body can produce in the process of an upper respiratory infection ~ I think I’m on my 7th or 8th box of tissues. For probably two or three weeks before that, I struggled with “something” trying to land on me. Tired of the feeling of being on edge, I finally said out loud: “If you’re going to catch me, then just catch me!” Naturally, as soon as I gave the flu permission to invade my body, it did~ the next day. I know better than to give my brain permission to make my body sick. I’m thinking this is the last time I’m going to do that. Next time I’ll say, “I’M NOT SICK!!”
As I battled this super bug ~ my first in a long time ~ I was reminded of a very dark time in my bodywork career when I couldn’t do what was right for my body and allowed myself to succumb to the pressure of my workplace and my bank account. I did not advocate for my own health and I paid dearly for my negligence.
About eight years ago, I came home with a nasty bug that I may have picked up during a weekend workshop in Arizona, or had been exposed to before I went. However, under extreme pressure to work as soon as I could and longer than I should in my busy spa, that virus soon turned into walking pneumonia and then, horribly and inexplicably, turned into a medical nightmare that nearly killed me. in the process. I also ended up having to quit a job I loved and lost all my savings because I couldn’t work full time for almost a year. I won’t go into detail about my medical nightmare because it’s a long story that needs to be fully told for the whole process to make sense. Long story short, I’ll just say that due to a combination of overwork, stress, and careless and arrogant doctors, I miraculously experienced something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.
It is important for massage therapists and bodyworkers to be their own bodies’ best advocates for the health of his monkeys Whether saving your thumbs or hands, your elbows, your shoulders, your back or just staying in bed when you have a cold or flu, you they are the best defender your body has. No one else will care about protecting your body more than you. Unfortunately too many spas or massage establishments care about only one thing ~ his bottom line. They will push a therapist as hard as they are allowed~ by the therapist ~ produce, often far beyond what a therapist’s body is capable of.
In my case, not only did I have pressure from my spa to come to work early and work too many bodies each day, but I also put pressure on myself. I was extremely lucky to work in a situation where I made a lot of money~ I mean a lot of money that all therapists dream of making ~ and I was worried that if I dared to take a few days off to recover I would lose too much money this week. So my spa and I contributed to my final demise. By putting a week’s pay and my spa needs first, I lost much more than a week’s pay. I lost almost an entire year of full-time work because my body was too weak to handle more than one or two sessions a day, a few times a week. I also calculated that combined with my lost savings and my lost job, that week’s pay I was so worried about cost me about $65,000 that year! What a lesson I learned, right? My own body’s greatest advocate put her bottom line first.
It is very difficult for me to write about this experience in my life because it is a haunting reminder of how a stupid and myopic decision on my part endangered my health and livelihood. But it’s important for me to remember and share with others as an example of what not to do when faced with a decision about your health and the well-being of your body.
As I mentioned earlier, as a bodybuilder, you will come into intimate contact with exotic insects that your clients bring to your massage parlor. Sometimes they may simply be unconscious carriers, but too often they are sick themselves, selfishly putting their own comfort ahead of their therapist’s health. In obvious situations, you have the option of wearing a protective mask, or if your client is glassy-eyed and running a fever, you have an obligation to them and to yourself to cancel the session. I have worked through many sessions wearing a protective mask, telling my clients that I cannot afford to get what they have. When I suffered through allergy season, I also wore a mask even though I knew I was not contagious because I wanted my clients to know that I cared about their health and well-being. It is possible to advocate for the health of others while still being your own advocate.
When I was a new therapist, just starting out, I worked for a luxury hotel spa during the SARS scare. A group arrived from Toronto and one of my guests had an obvious cold and cough. I panicked because we didn’t have any masks available and I was afraid to cancel the session because I didn’t want to lose my job. It was a very stressful session for me, not to mention the next few weeks while I waited for SARS to kill me. That’s an example of a spa putting their sick guest ahead of their therapist ~ and of a therapist putting something/anything ahead of their own body’s safety. As I mentioned, I was a fairly new therapist and I was more concerned with my work than my own body. I did not fully understand my responsibility and obligation as an advocate for myself to protect mine health.
As I continue to fight my new year bug, I hope that by sharing my past experience I can make an impact on other bodyworkers and how they view their role as advocates for their own bodies. I cannot stress enough how important it is for you to be your own body’s best advocate. No one has more interest in protecting your health and well-being than you, except, of course, your family. If you are too sick to work, don’t. If you are injured, do not work injured. Remember, the decisions you make today will not only affect tomorrow. By being your own body’s best and most persistent advocate, you can virtually guarantee health and longevity in a tough but rewarding career where you can also continue to advocate for the health and well-being of your clients.