{"id":3953,"date":"2025-01-28T08:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-27T21:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.amt.org.au\/?p=3953"},"modified":"2025-01-28T08:25:32","modified_gmt":"2025-01-27T21:25:32","slug":"when-massage-therapy-evidence-is-not-evidence-for-massage-therapy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.amt.org.au\/index.php\/2025\/01\/28\/when-massage-therapy-evidence-is-not-evidence-for-massage-therapy\/","title":{"rendered":"When massage therapy evidence is not evidence for massage therapy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Rebecca Barnett<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Is it possible to assert that \u201cmassage therapy evidence is not evidence for massage therapy\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sophist<\/strong>: It is<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Objector<\/strong>: How?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sophist<\/strong>: \u2018Massage therapy’ defines a practice; ‘Evidence’ defines research. Specifying research is not specifying practice. Hence, \u2018Massage therapy evidence is not evidence for massage therapy\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Objector:<\/strong> \u2018Massage therapy evidence\u2019 is not the same as \u2018no evidence.\u2019 Is not \u2018no evidence\u2019 the same as \u2018not evidence\u2019? But \u2018massage therapy evidence\u2019 is the same as \u2018evidence for massage therapy.\u2019 Why is \u2018massage therapy evidence\u2019 \u2018not evidence for massage therapy\u2019?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sophist:<\/strong> “If you want evidence for effectiveness, massage therapy evidence from allied health practitioners will do. If you want massage therapy evidence from massage therapists, evidence from allied health practitioners will not do. If \u2018massage therapy evidence\u2019 were the same as \u2018evidence for massage therapy,\u2019 then you want the same thing. If it were the same thing, then it would not matter whether the evidence comes from a massage therapist or an allied health practitioner. If it makes no difference, then evidence from allied health practitioners will do.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Objector<\/strong>: If massage therapy works, why does it matter who performs it for the evidence to be valid?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sophist<\/strong>: Evidence for massage therapy is only valid when the massage is applied by someone who is not a massage therapist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Objector<\/strong>: Why does it matter who performs the massage?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sophist<\/strong>: When an allied health practitioner applies massage, their professional standing lends credibility. But when a massage therapist applies massage, it is considered merely anecdotal or unscientific.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Objector<\/strong>: So, even if a massage therapist achieves the same results, their work is not considered evidence?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sophist<\/strong>: Correct. A massage therapist\u2019s work is seen as lacking rigour, while an allied health practitioner\u2019s massage is viewed as grounded in clinical expertise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Objector<\/strong>: But if the massage itself is the same, should the practitioner matter?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sophist<\/strong>: Logic would suggest it does not, yet perception dictates otherwise. Evidence is only acknowledged as valid when it fits the framework of allied health, even if the technique and outcomes are identical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Objector:<\/strong> Then how can massage therapists ever provide evidence for their own profession?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sophist:<\/strong> Only when their evidence is reinterpreted or validated by those outside their profession. Until then, massage therapy evidence remains evidence for the practice of others, not for massage therapists themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Objector:<\/strong> I see now. Massage therapy evidence is only considered true evidence when removed from the hands of the massage therapist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sophist:<\/strong> You understand well. Such is the paradox of perception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NDIS Policy: an inexorable pancake<\/strong>?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

OK. Firstly, I need to apologise sincerely to the Chinese philosopher Gongsun Long<\/a> for torturing the famous white horse dialogue<\/a> to within an inch of its life. In my defence, it seems a remarkably apt rendering of correspondence recently received from the outgoing NDIS Minister, Bill Shorten<\/a>, responding to a request for recognition of remedial massage within the NDIS. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Here is the key takeaway of Bill Shorten\u2019s letter:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For evidence-based therapy to be funded through the NDIS, there must be evidence that the therapy helps participants. Massage is funded as a support only<\/em> when it is part of a management plan delivered by an allied health practitioner. In other words:<\/p>\n\n\n\n