Mark C Freeman Therapy - Corrective Soft Tissue Therapy blog

Most massage therapist aren't necessarily the most traditional folks you meet in life.  Even if they've started out from some defined archetypal path, at some point they've taken a turn to arrive at being a Massage Therapist.  Ask your therapist how they got their start in massage and I'll bet you'll get a good story! I grew up in Portland, Oregon in a working class family, playing organized sports, and boy-scouting with my younger brother.  I attended a technical high school where I majored in radio broadcasting, went on to university and eventually landed a job in corporate America.  This all seems run-of-the-mill working class until I sprinkle in some of the details!  Through Scouting, at age 13 I took my first 100 plus mile backpacking trip.  I had two more before age 18, and on these trips in addition to the miles, mountains climbed, long introspective meditations, and life threatening weather survived, I learned a lot about how the body works. ...

We refer to most medical professionals by their title or specialty: Doctor, Dentist, Radiologist, Nutritionist, Physical Therapist, etc.  Why are massage therapists so sensitive about being called "Masseurs"?  Doctors put up with short hand like "Doc", "M.D.", or "G.P."; specialists like Radiologists or Physical Therapists are also shortened to "Rad-Tech" or "PT", so what's wrong with "Masseur"? Dictionary.com defines Masseuse as "a woman who provides massage as a profession or occupation".  Still, what's the problem!?  Digging back into the history of how words and titles are used it's clear why body workers today prefer their proper title of Massage Therapist... During WWII many women were pulled/pushed into the work force in factories, the classroom, and in particular into healthcare as nurses.  As nurses these women applied massage to their patients for the pain management benefits of...