The Value of Massage Therapy by Andrew Wolfe,LMP

Health care is on the minds of most people, whether they have it, need it, or don't have the right policy due to financial infeasibility, to acquire or maintain it. Unfortunately when it comes to health, if you don't invest in it now, you pay for it later, as the investment of our bodies seem to yield higher rates of health issue returns to our lives as we age. As it stands now, preventative health is not recognized under most health insurance policys unless it comes in the form of exams in the context of a physical and or lab testing, which is a great start to establish a good base line of health.
But so much of our health is within the content of what we utilize it, in the continuum of the human condition of life, environment (acquired as outside environment or internal from stress, poor body mechanics, and just wear and tear) as well as genetics. We all, at some point in time in our lives, experience the decline of the body system; be it, an injury, thereby requiring surgery and rehabilitation,or age, in the form of compensation, compression, genetics, habits and accumulation of repetitive motion, dysfunction, actions ,traumas and toxins.
When we treat the body what are we affecting? Is there a model, and is it holistic in it’s approach? Does this model exist within the insurance model?
When we treat the body we in essence, should be treating the individual, not just isolating the dysfunction, disease or trauma. After all, these ailments do not, nor should they consist in the total ness of any one being ;it is just the experience they are expressing in their life at the current time. Disease, is as the word is broken down, is really the lack of ease in the body. It is out of balance.
When it comes to insurance coverage, it is a model to achieve functionality prior to any onset, outside of what was once normal.
I have not seen a model demonstrate the value of direct hands on attention to an individual with the time of equal or great power, than massage therapy. And yet it still comes up short, in regards to reimbursements and acknowledgment of in the medical field. I would like to challenge any person to dispute this fact, and yet no health care professional would consider taking 1 hour to be with their patient and really connect with them, where they see them not just a disease or diagnosis but as an individual. I have heard that it is not cost effective to spent that length of time on each patient. Therein lies part of the problem, yet every practitioner has the right to extend their services and acquire the ability to make a living at their trade. Policies are in place to reach the maximum amount of patients in the most cost effective means, especially when the population and aging health concerns are on the rise. Who reaps these benefits and who pays for these policies? Think about this the next time you cost compare time, experience, cost of doing business and your health.
Andrew Wolfe, LMP is a licensed massage practitioner based in Arlington Washington and has 23 years of full time private practice and can be reached 360-653-4657 or http://www.harmonymassagetherapy.com. Check out his face book page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Andrew-WolfeLMP-Harmony-Licensed-Massage-Therapy/145287564494