I have an injury to my knee. Was hit by a truck while riding. The force broke my patella - but has resulted in a lot of scar tissue. I am looking for a massage therapist to help clear some of it away. I am currently seeing a physical therapist to work on other issues with the knee.
Question is…what sort of qualifications should I look for? And how does one research if a prospective therapist has these credentials?
It varies from area to area, but here in Ontario we have RMT’s (registered massage therapist). In order to practice they must complete a two year course, pass board exams and be registered in the province.
In some places anybody can call themselves a “massage therapist”. Check it out in your state/province, but you’re usually safe if they have the RMT designation.
I’m not associated with the business, but this is what I understood when I asked the question to my massage therapist. In the States, you have to be licensed in your state (LMT). They should have this on their card, phone book, etc. This is a general massage license (swedish, etc.) NMT’s are neuro-muscular massage therapists. They do a lot of deep tissue massage, which is what you want here to remove the scar tissue. With that said, I’ve been going on and off to a therapist that practices mayo-fascial (sp?) release, which is basically using massage with range of motion to rip away the scar tissue affixed to the muscle, and restore it to normal. The trademark name of this is Active Release Therapy. It is very effective in bringing muscles, ligaments, and tendons to completely heal. I’ve used it on my hip flexor with great results. Hope this helps.
Mac…
first of all good luck with the injury. Remember you have one body and a million ways to fix it, it is a matter of finding the right form to fix it. I don’t care if your therapist is fresh out of school, so long as you feel at home and see results. I would ask around first for a referral from your fellow athlete. If you don’t have a fellow athlete to ask, the following will help you in the selection process.
JohnIV mentioned Myofascial Release which is actually a from of Rolfing (Rofing is a series of 10 sessions that produces amazing changes, way too intense for me to handle, but VERY amazing). MR does some amazing changes without the 10 specific sessions. ART incorporates bone movement too, MR only focuses on Soft tissue. If you have access to an ART practitioner this would be top of the food chain (education and skill and hours more than anything out there).
NMT is good for trigger point work. If someone has this skill and not the others, their knowledge of how the body works will still probably be enough to help you.
Deep tissue/sports massage is also a key term.
As for qualifications…the basic answer is check with your state (as both Cerveloguy and JohnIV mentioned). Every state is different. Schooling and requirements vary widely from as short as 6 months to as long as 2 yrs. Not all States require the license number in advertising - they don’t even HAVE license numbers.
Some states are county by county and you could set up a practice as long as you have a business license. Massage is not Nationally controlled (although there is now a National Exam that didn’t even exist when I graduated), it is state controlled. Call around to different establishments and ask.
If you haven’t had ‘fix it’ kind of work, take baby steps. EXPECT to be sore for the following 24-48 hrs (like you worked out for the first time) and let your Therapist know what your training regimen is, and how much freedom they have with pushing the envelope. LOTS OF WATER…make sure you down water to flush out the toxins. Just like active recovery day, it isn’t a bad idea to get some movement in post-massage…gentle movement not hammering kind of training.
By getting hit by a car, don’t just focus on the busted patella…the whole body went through the impact, concentrate on the patella, but the body is compensating for the injury so that has to be addressed too. A typical first session with me would include going over your goals, body reading your posture & checking your range of motion (or lack of) and doing a general flushing of the body first treatment with concentration on the knee. I would also like to know your past treatment for it, if you have x-rays I wouldn’t mind looking at them (only bc I have some training with this), and directives from your PT or other Drs. It would be handy to know time frame of your race season or special event trying to get back to, so that goals can be aligned. Second treatment we would have to evaluate how the outcome was for you and then narrow down the focus. Feedback is huge, without it you won’t get optimum care. Some places have limited time. When I have a new patient in my one office I create time for intake, in the other establishment it is a day spa and although athletes are sent to me there, I am very limited on my time and am forced to use treatment time while I am working on you to get the important information. Arrange your thoughts and if need be write them down.
If you have any specific questions, feel free to PM me. You are basically shopping around for an artist, when you find the one you jive with, you will know it 
I PM’ed you.