Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/1234356
Every now and then I am called upon to act as a consultant or expert witness in litigation cases where a massage therapist might have injured a client. My work in this arena has made it glaringly apparent that our profession lacks a comprehensive list of body areas where massage therapy must be conducted with extra care and expertise, with rationales for why or what adjustments might be necessary. This article is offered as a remedy for this situation. of endangerment sites leans heavily on our profession's oral traditions about safety. What I learned about endangerments comes from what my teachers learned, which came from their teachers' teachers, ad infinitum. As such, we don't have a deep evidence base on which to build this important information. It isn't possible to conduct clinical trials to validate or disprove endangerment sites, but we can look to the medical literature for case reports that link massage therapy to client injuries. This represents only a tiny portion of all instances of course, but it may help us prioritize our understanding of potentially vulnerable areas. An overview on the published research about client endangerments can be found in my Pathology Perspectives column in this issue on page 30. In addition to published research, I drew input from the Entry Level Analysis Project (ELAP) and the Massage Therapy Body of Knowledge. Then I harassed and harangued several core curriculum educators and continuing education providers to look over the final list for their input. My thanks go out to all my colleagues who were so patient and generous. THE TOPIC