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Each month, I send out a newsletter with general health information or massage-specific information. I get all of it online. Amazing databases and search engines are available for public use, both on general health issues and some devoted to massage and bodywork. I’ve included the sites I use most commonly to research specific conditions, new research, and general information on health issues. I strongly suggest researching health issues and conditions online before going in to speak with your physician. Not only will you be able to have a basic understanding prior to meeting with the doctor, you will also be able to ask intelligent and pertinent questions that you might not otherwise know to ask. At the end of the article, I list several newsletters that I find very useful for general health information and for massage-specific information.
There are two general massage sites focused on consumer-type information. Each site is sponsored by one of the two main associations of bodywork and massage therapists. Both contain access to lists of different types of massage and contain information on the benefits of massage:
Many online databases and search engines exist to enable users to research health information. Some of these include access to information about massage and research, or are focused on complementary and alternative medicine approaches.
Several search engines and databases include access to many different national health archives. Many of these are government agencies or national associations which correlate health information and provide public access to databases. Although they usually contain access to abstracts, to get the actual content of some of the medical journal articles, you may have to use your local library to get access to the specific information. Some of the most useful ones I’ve found follow:
This site contains useful information on pain – both approaches to the treatment of pain, and explanations of different types of pain.
The American Physical Therapy Association website contains a number of free brochures for public consumption. These brochures are very useful because they explain the anatomy and the physiological cause for certain types of pain and range of motion problems in specific body areas. Although they do not address massage specifically, the base information they include helps illuminate the physical problems manifested in a particular body area. In addition, they also include strength and stretch exercises where appropriate.
Two great massage newsletters are listed below. One is geared toward consumers rather than massage practitioners – the To Your Health newsletter. It contains general information about massage and alternative therapies. The second newsletter listed contains information of use to both consumers and to massage therapists themselves. The Massage Today newsletter has articles on massage in the news, new therapies, and current research in the field that is accessible to consumers while being technical enough for practicing massage therapists:
Both WebMD and Medscape produce excellent newsletters on health issues. WebMD newsletters are geared toward consumers, while Medscape newsletters tend to be more technical, and focus on providing information for health care practitioners. Both sites contain many different types of newsletters and have ample choices for you to select. I find both levels of information very helpful – both for myself, and as reference material to discuss with my clients.
Interest in acupuncture has continued to rise, and a good reference site for acupressure points is on the Qi Journal Website. It includes a means to look up charts of acupoints, and also search for the right points to use for certain conditions or symptoms.
There are hundreds more websites and databases available online – and this list only scratches the surfaces. As you follow links from page to page, it is easy to find websites which focus on the information you need, but it’s also important to evaluate the source of information critically. Not all websites purporting to contain medical information are based on concrete medical and scientific data, so check out their sources of information to see if it looks reputable.
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