From the Editor's Desk

Whenever we’ve run articles about animal massage—be it for horses, dogs, cats or hippos—the response from our readers has been positive. After all, animals have muscles too, right? And don’t our beloved pets and ponies deserve to be relieved of pain?

They do; I also believe non-human animals deserve to live with dignity, and that torturing and killing beagles, mice and monkeys for most laboratory testing is unethical, particularly when that testing is for things like laundry detergent and mascara. (Of course, I do understand, yet with sadness, how lab testing leads to breakthroughs in drugs needed to fight diseases and conditions.)

In March, the European Union banned both the sale and import of any cosmetics containing ingredients tested on animals, a move that animal-loving people worldwide rejoiced in.

We can all choose to vote with all our dollars, refraining from buying any products, including cleaning products, cosmetics and body-care products, that have been tested on animals or contain animal ingredients. (As a dog owner myself, it distresses me that beagles are used most often in lab experiments, because they are so trusting and compliant.)

Companies that don’t test products on animals are those that tend toward natural and organic ingredients, which makes their products that much better for our own health, the environment and the creatures we share this planet with.

ZuZu, the makeup I have used for years, for example, is cruelty-free, vegan AND has improved the appearance of my skin. The product lasts much longer than conventional makeup does, and if I accidently get a bit in my eye, it doesn’t burn in a nasty way like Maybelline does. Plus, I can rest in the knowledge that no beagle died for my beauty routine.

Here are some good sources for more information:

• Go Cruelty Free

• The Coalition for Consumer Education on Cosmetics

I feel so depressed and disbelieving right now. I just posted a news article to MASSAGE Magazine‘s home page, “Massage Therapists Report from the Boston Tragedy.” Yesterday, as we all know all, two bombs were detonated near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring more than 170.

Before the news out of Boston yesterday, I was excited about the Boston Marathon and the money that Team Massage Therapy Foundation Running for Research would raise for the Massage Therapy Foundation. Now, the joy of this event has been replaced for so many people, myself included, with shock, anger, fear—and grief.

I cannot understand how anyone could possibly conceive of placing a bomb anywhere, knowing innocent people would be killed and maimed. But I also feel confusion and sadness when the response to events of this type of horror are met by so many people with the refrain of “We will hunt down the perpetrator and enact vengeance. We will bring pain and death to you.”

I want to see greater peace in this world, in my lifetime. And I don’t believe we will ever create peace if we operate from a mindset of an eye for an eye. Yes, find who did this. Of course, put that person in jail. And please, put attention and resources on peaceful solutions to conflict. They do exist. The xenophobia and racism that run rampant after an event such as this will not help create lasting safety in our world. As the great teacher Mahatma Ghandi said, “Hatred ever kills, love never dies—such is the vast difference between the two. What is obtained by love is retained for all time. What is obtained by hatred proves a burden in reality for it increases hatred.”

A couple of days ago I was happily sweating in the sauna at my gym, when two men began a conversation about “Obamacare.” I felt like I had been sucked into the Fox News channel—or perhaps these gentlemen were fueled by the sauna’s hot air as they engaged in an increasingly heated conversation about the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which mandates health insurance for all eligible Americans.

What the debate came down to, as debates of this nature so often do, was whether or not tax dollars should be used to help fund public programs.

“You Democrats are all alike,” one of the men growled. “You want to take my money away and give it to people who can’t take care of themselves.”

When I heard this I felt shocked and saddened, because I value compassion and generosity. As a healthy person who has the opportunity to work, I am happy to have my tax dollars go toward supporting the health of less privileged folks. Taking care of others is, to me, the honorable thing to do.

But that’s just me. There are plenty of people who aren’t inclined to extend a helping hand—and that’s precisely why President Obama and his team felt we needed this legislation. (I know know my viewpoint won’t be popular with everyone, and I welcome comments and opinions in response to this post.)

What I am particularly interested in related to the ACA is the inclusion of a section on nondiscrimination: Section 2706 prohibits insurance companies from discriminating against health care providers—including those licensed as complementary health care providers—relative to their coverage and participation in health plans. That means when scheduling a medical appointment, a consumer can choose to see a licensed massage therapist, doctor of Chinese medicine, chiropractor or other complementary care provider, just as she would choose to see a podiatrist or general practitioner.

Just before beginning this blog post, I was  on the phone with  Alyssa Wostrel, executive director of the Integrated Healthcare Policy Consortium, which is working to educate U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) regional directors on the nondiscrimination section in the ACA. Section 2706 stipulates the inclusion of licensed practitioners of complementary health care in insurance coverage.

Still, the ACA may not be implemented consistently from state to state.

Wostrel said Bastyr University is assisting the IHPC by researching which states have enforcement mechanisms in place and which do not—but that until the HHS issues guidance, or rules, on implementation, we can’t know how well section 2706 will be put in place.

The ACA website is due to go live in October, so there are just about six months until that guidance will, hopefully, be in place.

Whether you support the passage of “Obamacare” or not, if you are a licensed massage therapist you could see an increase in clients come January 2014.

Many massage professionals want nothing to do with insurance reimbursement; yet, the ACA means more people could have access to massage. Many questions remain unanswered—including whether certified and registered massage therapists will be covered, and whether or not coverage is automatic or if L.M.T.s need to sign up to participate. MASSAGE Magazine will continue to cover this topic as it moves forward.

In the meantime, a relaxing sauna is sounding good right about now … I just hope the Fox News guys hang out in the hot tub instead.

As a massage therapist, your sense of touch is invaluable: Touch allows one to feel muscle tightness, congested lymph, inflamed fascia and more. Now, the human sense of touch has caught the interest of researchers, who are busy creating tools and processes that replicate the sense of touch in order to improve human-machine interfaces.

This research isn’t intended to create an army of robots who squirt oil, perform petrissage and intone “now roll over” in a Siri-like voice—but human-machine touch interactions do have many potential uses that could affect our experience of life.

Mechanical engineering professor Katherine Kuchenbecker, Ph.D., of the University of Pennsylvania, presented a TED Talk recently on this topic, called “Haptography: Digitizing our sense of touch.”

Her research focuses on capturing how objects feel and recreating that experience. The way it works is, as a person moves her body through the world, an engineer can measure that motion and then present to the user sensations that match up with what she might feel in the real world.

More to the point: “I can fool you into thinking that you’re touching something even though there’s nothing there,” Kuchenbecker says.

In her research, she has a person use a handheld tool that has sensors inside it to measure force, motion and vibration—while the person is dragging the tool across a piece of canvas, for example.

That data is programmed into a tablet computer, so when a person uses a stylus on the tablet, she has the illusion she is touching the real surface, just like if she dragged the stylus back and forth on that real piece of canvas.

Another type of research Kuchenbecker’s involved in measures the kinesthetic sense, which helps people learn how to move their bodies in order to master specific movements, such as those involved in a sport.

Some of the applications experts say Kuchenbecker’s work can apply to include online shopping (so you can see what that polyester dress really feels like); computer gaming; robot-assisted surgery; stroke rehabilitation; sports and exercise; museum exhibits (go ahead—”touch” Marie Antoinette’s robe); medical education; and personal robots.

Wait … personal robots?

If someone named Siri opens a massage practice in your town, be sure to let me know.

Congratulations to Massage Without Borders (www.massagewithoutborders.org), which the organizers of the World Massage Festival have named as the recipient of the 2013 Aunty Margaret Humanitarian Award.

Massage Without Borders is near to my heart; it is an organization of volunteers who are coordinating fundraisers to raise money to help massage therapists in financial crisis due to natural disasters, health concerns or other challenges. Founder Gloria Coppola saw a need and she went into action to fill that need. I am touched and inspired by Massage Without Borders’ grassroots outreach and how its volunteers are stepping up to help colleagues.

When I first spoke with Gloria, who is also an educator and owner of Massage Pro C.E, back in November, Hurricane Sandy had just devastated portions of the East Coast. It was the hurricane that spurred Coppola to rally vendors, organizations and individuals to join together to donate funds and equipment to massage therapists wiped out by Sandy.

The award is named for Aunty Margaret Machado, who was a master practitioner and instructor of lomilomi massage. “People came to her from all over the world and attributed miraculous cures to her work,” notes the World Massage Festival website (http://worldmassagefestival.com). “Winners of the Aunty Margaret Humanitarian Award have freely shared their expertise and compassion with the industry.”

MASSAGE Magazine had the privilege of co-sponsoring Massage Without Borders’ first major fundraiser, an online auction that raised more than $4,000.

The first recipient of funds was Monique DeLozier Frost. Her story is told in the April issue of MASSAGE Magazine, along with an announcement of Massage Without Borders’ next fundraiser (“Massage Without Borders Announces Art Auction”), which takes place May 12 to 18.

“It’s hard being a giver, someone in the healing profession, to not be prepared to help others,” Monique told me. “If I wasn’t affected, I’d have been at the soup kitchen or moving furniture out of homes—but when you’re a victim yourself, it’s hard to wrap your head around being there for others.”

Thanks to Massage Without Borders, therapists like Monique will be able to pick up, move on, and get back to helping their clientele.

Connect with Massage Without Borders via its website or post your congratulations on its Facebook page.

Offering retail products is a growing trend for massage therapists. Our recent reader survey proves that out!

If you are one of the growing number of massage therapists who sells products in his or her practice, I would love to speak to you for an article I’m writing for MASSAGE Magazine. Please send me a message here, or at kmenehan@massagemag.com, or call me at 831-338-3434. If you prefer, answer the questions below and email your answers to me. Thanks!

- What products do you sell in your massage practice?

- How do you inform clients that you have products for sale?

- What is some general feedback from clients, when you offer products to them?

- Why do you sell products in your massage practice?

- What are the benefits to clients of being able to purchase products from you?

- What are the financial benefits to your practice, of product sales?

- Your name:
- Your city and state
- Number of years as a massage therapist:
- Massage specialty/focus (Swedish, Rolfing, etc):
- Massage school graduated from:

I just bought my first half-price facial. For the low price of $37, I’ll soon be slathered in a glycolic peel product, and I can’t wait.

I have gotten quite a few offers from what I’m calling mass-marketing services, or local-deal websites, lately, things like Groupon and Living Social.

These companies, and others like them, offer a deal of the day that members can purchase. At the end of the day, the deal is no longer available, and whoever purchased the deal has a certain time period in which to use it. The company that offered the deal – in the case of my half-price facial, a day spa in the San Francisco Bay Area – is obligated to fulfill all the pre-paid services.

I’m really curious whether this model could work for massage therapists. I am starting to see massage sessions posted as deals of the day lately, but would fulfilling, say, 100 half-price massages be worth the potential new clients garnered by participating in such a deal?

How many massage therapists would a business need in order to make this worth its while? If you or a colleague is participating in a site like Groupon or Living Social, please let me know how that’s working for you. Leave a comment here, or contact me at kmenehan@massagemag.com. Thanks!

A friend of mine suffers from fibromyalgia, and I don’t use the word “suffer” lightly. Her body oftentimes feels like its in a vise, she’s told me. She is stiff, fatigued and in pain much of the time. May is National Fibromyalgia Education and Awareness Month. You can use the publicity in place for this event to inform fibromyalgia patients about the benefits of massage to their condition. This link to the MASSAGE Magazine article about this event includes links to research on touch for fibromyalgia that we’ve covered.

In consumer-research news, academic researchers have found that purchasing a massage brings more satisfaction than buying products.

But then, we already knew that, right? Perhaps this report can be spun in massage marketing materials, to help confused clients know where their money is best spent.

A new report out of Cornell University shows that consumers found that satisfaction with “experiential purchases”—from massages to family vacations—starts high and increases over time. In contrast, spending money on material things feels good at first, but actually makes people less happy in the end.

This is according to researchers Thomas Gilovich, Cornell University professor of psychology, and Travis J. Carter, Cornell Ph.D. ’10.

“When it comes to material things, Gilovich and Carter found shoppers often second-guess their original buying decisions, comparing what they bought to other people’s purchases or to better deals they missed,” according to a Cornell press release.

“But buying experiences provides greater satisfaction as time goes on, in part because of selective memory and because a consumer’s experience is highly subjective, making it much harder to make negative comparisons. Consumers also find it easier to decide on experiences, spending money on the first option that meets a set of expectations rather than painstakingly comparing all options.”

I am seeking massage therapists to interview for a feature article on green/environmentally friendly practices. To participate, send me an email at kmenehan@massagemag.com. Thanks!