THE BOOK Review
How easy it is to use Table of Contents Reviews and Testimonials The Book

BC Massage Practitioner Review
Fall, 2002, Vol. 21.6
Review by Scott Larke, RMT

At first glance Clinical Massage Therapy is both inviting and revealing. I was tempted to browse endlessly through the vast compendium of treatments, but when common sense eventually prevailed and I consulted the index, I became aware of the comprehensive and organizational strengths of the authors. Accessing information is quite expedient. Aside from the standard index at the back, the book has a "contents at a glance" area on both cover flaps for a quick overview of the pathologies. Most of what I need is simple, concise information that I can immediately apply to my treatments. This is certainly what I found. The format, specifically layout, type and illustrations, make the book very accessible visually. The font is easily readable with lots of space and highlighted essential concepts. First there is a definition of the pathology, then a detailed description followed by a symptom picture, objective information, special tests, treatment plan, general and specific goals and a patient self-care plan and goals. This is followed by treatment frequency and expected outcomes. Basically, no bone is left unturned!

The book opens by reviewing the history and basic techniques of massage. This is particularly fascinating for its explanation of our origins. Did you know that nurses in Britain formed the Society of Trained Masseuses in 1895? This group eventually became the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists!

Another introductory area I found very informative is the section of non-Swedish massage techniques. Everything from craniosacral to joint play is discussed in concise terms with great illustrations to facilitate a wider range of knowledge for therapists who don't use a particular technique.

The "Treatment Foundations" section is an area of particular interest, as the basic concepts of stress reduction, spasm, trigger point work and edema set the stage for the following chapters on very specific treatments. The information on active inhibitive stretching is concise and valuable; however, it is listed in the index under remedial exercises and could be overlooked.

It is said that you are as good as your library. I need to refresh my thoughts on treatment strategies with regularity, particularly if I haven't encountered the pathology lately. With that thought in mind I found the musculoskeletal and overuse injuries section to be an excellent compendium of well organized information that has immediate usefulness clinically. Assessment techniques with differential diagnosis and specific acute and chronic strategies encourage comprehensive treatments.

Areas of treatment that we generally utilize less directly as massage therapists, but are imminently important to our knowledge base, are covered very completely. Conditions of the central and peripheral nervous system, respiratory and circulatory pathologies, gastrointestinal concerns and systemic conditions including cancer, AIDS, diabetes and fibromyalgia are covered in an assessment and treatment format. It is valuable to have such accessible information at one's fingertips in a single manual.

One area of the book I found especially helpful is the appendix "Special Orthopedic Testing". All special tests are listed regionally and described succinctly. Many special tests are named for the person who developed them such as Edens, Adsons, Phalens, and Obers. At times it is simply more expedient to look them up than to try and figure out who did what!

The binding of the text is quite light and may or may not withstand the constant use that I anticipate this book should get, but all in all the great layout and simple illustrations make for convenient clinical reading.

Occasional differences in information when compared to standard orthopedic texts such as Mcgee or Hertling and Kessler, proved more of a slightly different take on precisely the same concept. Subjects are well researched with references and bibliographies. When I first perused this text I was quite excited to find such a complete compilation of clinically valuable material in one book and I'm not surprised that it has become the standard text at the college level for general orthopedic courses.

This tome certainly fits the bill in providing the most complete and extensive body of clinical treatments ever formulated specifically for massage therapists. It is much more applicable and useful for my practice than the Merck manual and ever so much more expedient than accessing the information from a variety of diversified texts. My only regret is that this manual wasn't available a decade ago. Clinical Massage Therapy is a fabulous addition to the knowledge base of our profession - everyone should have a copy.