How Often Should I Be Getting Treated?

Something which has been brought to our attention of late is the increase in unscrupulous ‘therapists’ who insist on their clients returning for multiple treatments, often with very short time frames between visits and performed with high frequency over an extended period, often for many months.

Over prescribing treatments simply for the sake of gaining repeat bookings is not only unethical, it can be as damaging as not having any treatment at all, and in some cases, can actually cause long term damage to joints, muscles and nerves especially if the therapist is not suitably qualified.

The treatment plan should be something which both the therapists and the client are comfortable with to resolve the muscular and joint issues in question over a reasonable timeframe. And your therapist should be prepared to refer the client on to another health professional should they feel they are unable to alleviate the condition. If your therapist is unable to resolve the condition after a reasonable number of treatments (3 treatment visits would be reasonable for minor muscular conditions due to repetitive tasks) then you should be asking why.

If you are told that you need to come back every week for the next 4 months, the alarm bells should be ringing as this kind of treatment plan is likely to cause more harm than good.

Some complex conditions may require some additional treatments and possibly work in conjunction with another health professional to resolve the condition, for instance a chiropractor or physiotherapist may be engaged to perform structural or postural corrections and the massage therapist then compliments this treatment with soft tissue manipulation and other therapeutic or remedial techniques to help maintain the correction over the longer term.

Maintenance plans are generally scheduled at 4 – 6 week intervals in most cases however some patients, such as those engaging in competitive or professional level sports may require more frequent treatments. The key is to listen to your body and decide when you feel you are in need of a maintenance treatment, not because someone told you that you needed one based upon their booking calendar or availability.

Lastly, make sure your therapist is suitably qualified and has a current membership with one of the complimentary health regulatory bodies such as the M&MA, ANTA, IAAMA or similar, has current insurance for both product and professional liability and malpractice and also has the ability to claim on private health insurance (the funds covered will vary depending upon the qualifications but having this is a good indicator of whether they are legitimately qualified or not as the health funds require very rigorous checks before issuing provider numbers).

For further information on how to ensure you have the right therapist for your needs feel free to message us or give us a call and we will be happy to discuss possible treatment options.