Occupational health in the workplace has long been something of a Cinderella service. Health Editor Madeleine Brindley speaks to Dr Sally Williams at Corus’ plant in Port Talbot about how the discipline is now being taken seriously.

THERE is a common perception that the state-run heavy industries looked after their employees’ general health and wellbeing.

This ideal dates back to the heady days of the industrial revolution when a handful of industrialists combined philanthropic ideas with business, in a bid to improve the social and living conditions of their vast armies of workers.

These include the likes of George and Richard Cadbury, who built their chocolate empire in Bournville, in Birmingham, on sound Quaker and social ideals, and Sir Titus Salt, who built more than 800 homes for his mill workers in Saltaire, also in Birmingham.

And then there was the eccentric figure of Dr William Price, one of the forgotten pioneers of health in the workplace – he is remembered first and foremost as the godfather of cremation – who initiated the first workers’ medical scheme in Wales for employees of the Brown Lennox chain works, in Pontypridd.

The decades of nationalism would embody a sense of the state looking after its workers – carrying on this philanthropic tradition – not least at a time when all the heavy industries were plagued by industrial diseases, accidents and injury.

Privatisation and the mass sell-off of the nation’s “jewels” ushered in a new perception that multi-national companies were more interested in making as much profit as they were able.

But that is beginning to change as businesses have started to take a pro-active stance to their workforce’s wellbeing, realising that health, productivity and therefore profitability are inextricably linked.

Nowhere is this new approach more apparent than in Port Talbot, where Corus, which dominates the skyline, has embraced the principles of occupational health both within its 28 sq km plant and in the wider community.

Dr Sally Williams, pictured, the regional medical officer for Corus, leading the occupational health department at the plant in Port Talbot, said:

“Once it was all about injuries and industrial disease – pneumoconiosis is now rare and we’re seeing the tail end of asbestos- related disease – but now we see the impact of lifestyle on people in work. There is also a lot of talk about a stress epidemic related to work, but it may be more about how we live our lives now. The way we look at occupational health is very different from 60 years ago.”

A graduate of Cardiff’s medical school, Dr Williams started working in occupational health 20 years ago, after first working as a hospital doctor and later training as a GP.

She said:

“I love medicine but I wanted to fit it around my young children – occupational health gave me a mixture of working with patients, community public health and the business aspect. You work for an employer and you have to think about medicine in a slightly different way – my role is really about determining whether someone is fit for their job and whether their job is fit for them.”

Before being head-hunted to join Corus two years ago, Dr Williams worked for a Canadian mining company, in Clydach and in Toronto, before being promoted to the company’s chief medical officer.
“It was fantastic experience seeing how different healthcare systems worked and I did a lot on corporate social responsibility, which is a growing concept,” she said.

“Then I came back to Wales, which was great for me. I came to Corus when it was going through a big change and it has been a great experience. I came to Corus because I was given the opportunity to help the company look at occupational health in a different way – the company had had occupational health since the British Steel days, but it was more reactionary, rather than being based on an employer partnership with community relations.

“And the new MD at the time Phil Dryden [now Corus divisional director, long products] wanted to change the management programme to incorporate everything to do with health.”

Occupational health in Corus has been “revitalised” – Dr Williams arrived as the company was still working in the shadow of the explosion at blast furnace number five, which killed three workers and injured more in November 2001. The company pleaded guilty to two charges of failing to ensure the safety of their employees and others brought by HSE under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 in December 2006 at Swansea Crown Court. It was fined £1.3m and ordered to pay costs of £1.7m.

Speaking after the case Terry Rose, HSE director for Wales, said:

“This must be a wake-up call for the industry. The process is centuries old but the risks need to be managed to the highest modern standards.”

Although the occupational health department will still provide an emergency treatment service, the bulk of its work is made up of return-to-work programmes, COSHH – control of substances hazardous to health – and other health and safety work and educating the 5,800-strong workforce and contractor workers about wellbeing and their lifestyles.

“We all want a healthy, productive workforce, which is fit for work,” said Dr Williams.

“We try to run rehabilitation programmes, so if someone is on an NHS waiting list for an operation, it doesn’t mean that they can’t do anything – we want to use people who have skills in alternative ways, because the longer people are away from the workplace, the harder it is to get them back.

“We run physiotherapy here, we have counselling services, we have some specialist drug and alcohol programmes. We work with the carers’ associations, with managers, with HR and the unions because it is all about keeping people in meaningful work.

“We employ people who would normally come to work but not those with significant disabilities because of the nature of the work. We see all the legacies of diseases in the community in our workforce – heart disease, cancer – Corus is not immune to these, although the problem is lessened because the workforce is healthier.”

Dr Williams is particularly proud of Corus’ “pioneering” drugs and alcohol work – the company’s relaunch was inspired by Welsh Assembly Government figures which said that one in five people in the community around the steelworks has been affected by alcohol or drugs, either directly or they know someone who has been affected.

“We’re seeing this mirrored in the workforce, although that doesn’t mean that everyone is an alcoholic or has a drug problem, maybe they know someone – a friend or someone from school. We have been working, with the West Glamorgan Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse on getting the right information to those who need it at the right time and because we are working in partnership, there is no waiting time.”

The company now employs three locally-based drugs and alcohol misuse counsellors who divide their time between Corus and the community.

Dr Williams added: “If we can rehabilitate people and get them back into work as near as possible to the job they were doing, then that’s a win-win situation.”

Newswise — Summer, in all its blazing, sunny glory, is back! There’s plenty of time to get out on the fairway with your golf clubs or onto a court with your racquet. However, this also means there’s time for a sports injury to put an end to your summer fun. Golfer’s elbow, climber’s finger and runner’s knee are just a few of the problems that can plague the boys (and girls) of summer.

Dr. William Levine, chief of sports medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, recommends the following rules of the game to avoid athletic injuries:

• Your best bet is to prevent injuries before they happen. First of all, start slow. Don’t expect to be in the same playing condition that you ended up in last fall, even if you have been maintaining your fitness level. New activities require muscles and joints to respond in a different way. This may result in minor soreness while your body adjusts. If you push yourself too hard too soon, that minor soreness could turn into something more serious.
• Don’t forget to warm up. Although you may feel warm in good weather, you still have to give your muscles a chance to go through the motions and get blood pumping to all the necessary areas. Gentle stretching before finishing your activity will help those hard-working muscles retain and improve flexibility.
• For tennis elbow, runner’s knee, and similar injuries, try R.I.C.E. — Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation. Rest means that the injured area is not put through any undue strain. When icing a body part, apply the ice in a covering so that it is not in direct contact with the skin. A cotton handkerchief covering the ice is helpful. Ice the affected area several times a day, for about 20 minutes at a time. Compression is applying pressure to the injured area to stop bleeding (if any is occurring) or to reduce swelling. Elevation helps in these respects as well. Compression and elevation are to be used in the case of acute injuries, such as a twisted ankle.
• Take frequent breaks. Even tennis pros rest between sets. Taking a rest doesn’t mean that you have to completely stop all activity, although it may be advisable sometimes. Just rest the body parts that are working hard and are susceptible to injury.
• The single most important thing you can do is pay attention to your body. Don’t ignore the little aches and pains in the joints and muscles. They are early signals that could help you prevent more serious injuries.

Read the full article at http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/540555/

Many computer and ergonomic websites now provide valuable information on guidelines for sitting and working posture. Many human resources personnel are being trained in ergonomic basics. However, there are times when everything at the workstation looks right but the worker continues to suffer from repetitive strain pain. Here are a few tips to fine-tune your ergonomic intervention.

1. Ergonomics is about the worker interacting in his work environment. During their ergonomic evaluations, employees often tell me that they showed up at work one day and had a new piece of ergonomic equipment sitting on their desk. No observation or training was offered. Equipment was purchased because the employer was told that this particular piece of equipment would stop injuries and save the company money. Although in some cases this approach may work, it can often backfire. Employees who are not trained, who do not have the opportunity to provide feedback and offer suggestions, and who are treated in a one-size fits all manner will often reject the equipment or receive equipment that they do not need. These make for expensive paperweights and do nothing to solve potential problems. Make time to get to know the employees, talk to them about what they feel the issues are, observe their working habits, and treat each one as an individual. Since they are the ones performing the job, they will have some valuable feedback to provide and will help guide your intervention.
2. Listen to the worker. Begin with the proper ergonomic set-up. However, ergonomic guidelines are just that – guidelines. What works for one person may not work for another. Keep an open mind and listen to what the employee is telling you. He or she knows what a certain set-up feels like while you can only observe.
3. Give ergonomic adjustments some time. Any piece of new equipment or new arrangement will take two to six weeks to adjust to properly. Productivity may temporarily decrease during this adjustment period. Don’t make alterations to a work station during a busy output time or the employee will become frustrated with the inability to perform at normal speed. As familiarity and comfort with the new set-up improves, productivity should reach prior levels. And as pain resolves, productivity will most likely increase. If after one to two weeks the employee reports an increase in pain, the new ergonomic changes may not be appropriate for that employee.
4. Observe the worker performing job tasks. In spite of a good workstation set-up, people can still manage to perform activities awkwardly. For example, I observed a woman who would perform a two-key function by tucking her left thumb under the palm to hit the far left control key while simultaneously spreading her index finger to the far right function key. She continued to have left thumb pain and carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms. This was frustrating for the employer who had provided an ergonomic keyboard and right-handed mouse (the employee was right-handed and her right symptoms did improve with the ergonomic equipment). While extreme habitual movements may not be common, they certainly contribute to repetitive strain injuries and would not be discovered except with observation.
5. Look at typing style. Typing style and habits can contribute to repetitive strain pain. Stiff fingers, tense fingers, swiveling at the wrist to activate the mouse or to stretch for keys, planting down on the wrist rest, and many other idiosyncratic typing styles can all cause injury.
6. Look at things from a different perspective. Many times I would have missed potential causes of injury if I had not walked around employees and looked at them from various positions. Wrist deviation may become more obvious if observed from a diagonal perspective. When looking at an employee from behind, you may see that one shoulder is higher than the other, or that the employee is bumping into equipment placed at the side of the desk. Look under the desk for clutter that may be limiting the employee from getting in close to the desk.

Marji Hajic is an Occupational Therapist and a Certified Hand Therapist practicing in Santa Barbara, California. For more information on hand and upper extremity injuries, prevention and recovery, visit Hand Health Resources.

via Bella Online, published with permission from author.

]]> http://www.grangephysio.com/news/fine-tuning-your-ergonomic-intervention.html/feed 0 http://www.grangephysio.com/news/physio-is-key-to-full-recovery.html http://www.grangephysio.com/news/physio-is-key-to-full-recovery.html#comments Mon, 24 Mar 2008 10:09:09 +0000 Richard Spink http://www.grangephysio.com/news/physio-is-key-to-full-recovery.html via Midland Free Press

(NC) – When Toronto orthopaedic surgeon John Theodoropoulos is talking to patients about shoulder surgery, he explains that the procedure will only get them 50-per-cent better.

what I do is only half the battle – physiotherapy will take care of the other 50 per cent

Not that he’s anticipating a poor outcome, “But what I do is only half the battle – physiotherapy will take care of the other 50 per cent,” he says.

Patients prescribed an antibiotic wouldn’t expect to improve if they skipped doses, or didn’t take the medicine for the full period. When it comes to bones and joints, says Angelique Berg, executive director of the Canadian Orthopaedic Foundation, physiotherapy is frequently the prescription.

“After surgery, the patients who aren’t doing well are invariably not going to physio, or doing the wrong things in it,” says Dr. Theodoropoulos.

Laying on the couch and just letting time heal won’t work, he says. Without exercise, you lose muscle tone and bulk, and your joints get stiff.

Before she even considers shoulder or knee surgery, Dr. Jennifer Fletcher, an orthopaedic surgeon in New Brunswick, sends her patients for physio.

“With rotator cuff strains, for instance, 80 per cent of people get better just with appropriate physio,” says Dr. Fletcher.

It’s vital, she says, to have a qualified physiotherapist instruct you in the appropriate exercises, and then to follow the regimen at rehab and at home – no shortcuts.

The other ingredient for success? Patience.

Dr. Stewart Wright, a Toronto orthopaedic surgeon, notes that acute injuries can “settle down” in two to three weeks, and broken bones in a cast can heal in about six weeks.

“But soft tissue injuries can take 12-to-18 months to heal completely,” he says. “You need to stick with rehab, and do your part for full recovery. The investment you make up front will pay off.”

]]> http://www.grangephysio.com/news/physio-is-key-to-full-recovery.html/feed 0 http://www.grangephysio.com/news/comfortable-portable-computing-the-ergonomic-equation.html http://www.grangephysio.com/news/comfortable-portable-computing-the-ergonomic-equation.html#comments Tue, 04 Mar 2008 11:46:28 +0000 Richard Spink http://www.grangephysio.com/news/comfortable-portable-computing-the-ergonomic-equation.html via usernomics.com

Guidelines for comfortable portable computing …

“… While experts predict a steady increase in notebook sales through the end of 2010, consumers often don’t consider the compromises in comfort that are made when using such a computer. Based on academic research and years of manufacturing experience, Ergotron has published a white paper, Comfortable Portable Computing: The Ergonomic Equation, aimed at providing valuable, easy-to-use guidelines to help people achieve comfortable, more productive portable computing.


Using a portable computer improperly can increase one’s risk of future health problems from neuro-musculoskeletal disorders. “The purpose of the white paper is to educate people on the risks associated with portable computing, and to let them know that they don’t have to jeopardize their health and well-being when using a portable,” explained Pete Segar, Senior Vice President of Engineering and CTO of Ergotron. By applying basic principles set forth Ergotron’s “Ergonomic Equation,” anyone can achieve comfortable computing.

The Ergonomic Equation consists of three simple considerations: Neutral Posture, Voluntary Motion and Restorative Time.

First, one must consider Neutral Posture, which is the position the human body assumes naturally and comfortably. It expends the smallest amount of energy and results in the least amount of bodily stress and related fatigue.

The second consideration is Voluntary Motion, which works in conjunction with neutral posture toward maintaining a body in balance with itself and its surroundings. It refers to movements the body makes naturally to prevent strain and fatigue.

Finally, Restorative Time balances stressful activities with restorative activities. These could include a variety of actions, such as a walk to the water fountain, or deep-breathing exercises practiced periodically throughout the day.”

continued at ergotron.com »

]]> http://www.grangephysio.com/news/comfortable-portable-computing-the-ergonomic-equation.html/feed 0 http://www.grangephysio.com/news/new-program-trains-physios-with-physio-assistants.html http://www.grangephysio.com/news/new-program-trains-physios-with-physio-assistants.html#comments Tue, 26 Feb 2008 11:46:26 +0000 Richard Spink http://www.grangephysio.com/news/new-program-trains-physios-with-physio-assistants.html via canada.com

Institute sets up shop in basement of continuing care facility

Jodie Sinnema, edmontonjournal.com
Published: Monday, February 25

EDMONTON – Lindsey Rayner first met Richard Boswell last year when she helped with his dinner at CapitalCare Dickinsfield.
Now, she’s hoping to become a licensed practical nurse and is being trained in the basement of the continuing care facility as part of a pilot project that better links nursing students with patients who need continuing care.
The project is part of a new partnership between CapitalCare, NorQuest College, Capital Health and the University of Alberta to create the Institute for Continuing Care, Education and Research.

We get the real opportunity to have one-on-one contact and the closeness with the residents

“We get the real opportunity to have one-on-one contact and the closeness with the residents,” said Rayner, 18, who now sees Boswell, 49, and other residents while on school coffee breaks. Students see trends and issues facing the residents and take that knowledge back to classroom.

Farther into the nursing program, she and 25 other students will move upstairs to practise their skills at the bedsides.
“We can ask them real questions,” Rayner said. “You get the real impact.”
She also believes the residents enjoy seeing young people going into the nursing profession.
“With the opportunity to see the students, they will be having a sign of hope that they will be better taken care of,” she said. Rayner began the diploma program in January.

Joan Crawford, 66, has even taken the opportunity to go into the basement to watch the NorQuest students.
“We know that there is continuing education going on and, hopefully, some of these will come work with us,” said Crawford, who used to be a licensed practical nurse herself. She said Dickinsfield is sometimes so short-staffed she helps feed other residents.
Iris Neumann, chief executive officer at CapitalCare, said she hopes the new institute will encourage more people to consider a career in continuing care.

“Continuing care is not about the glamour of saving lives but helping people live their lives,” Neumann said.
The Institute for Continuing Care, which does not yet have a physical space, will first find an interim director to coordinate grant proposals and build a knowledge base. It will start up research projects, such as one that is placing physiotherapists and physiotherapy assistants in the same clinical practice together to enhance interdisciplinary teams.
Eventually, the institute plans to have its own building with a continuing care centre where student nurses learn under the best teachers.

]]> http://www.grangephysio.com/news/new-program-trains-physios-with-physio-assistants.html/feed 0 http://www.grangephysio.com/news/mangalore-students-urge-oscar.html http://www.grangephysio.com/news/mangalore-students-urge-oscar.html#comments Tue, 26 Feb 2008 11:41:13 +0000 Richard Spink http://www.grangephysio.com/news/mangalore-students-urge-oscar.html via mangalorean.com

By Team Mangalorean
Photographs: Rajesh Shetty



Mangalore, February 23, 2008: Various group of students including the ones that study Physiotherapy and members of Dakshina Kannada branch of Indian Association of Physiotherapists (IAP) have appealed to the Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment Mr. Oscar Fernandes to amend the physiotherapy council Bill introduced in the Parliament and which will be soon coming to Rajya Sabha.

Mr. Fernandes was in the city to inaugurate the students convention organised by the district unit of National Students Union of India (NSUI) to commemorate the centenary of Satyagraha movement by Gandhiji here today February 23, 2008.

Asking him to amend the bill the groups stated that major sections of the bill, especially the one pertaining to definition, had to be corrected. They stated in a memorandum to the minister that the definition in the bill was not helpful for growth of physiotherapy Instead they wanted the minister to help set up a common council for physiotherapists and occupational therapists. The memorandum observed that both were different professions and needed to be governed by independent councils.

Dr. U.T. Ifthikar Ali, convener of the Mangalore branch who spoke to the minister stated that these issues were before the Government for a long time and they should be acted on now he added.

The bank pigmy collectors association who also put forward their problems told Mr. Fernandes that the pigmy collectors, under the aegis of All India Bank Deposit Collectors Workmen Union, were not given the workmen status on collectors working for banks as per a Supreme Court order in this regard. H.D. Ashok Kumar, general secretary of the Dakshina Kannada unit, said some bank managements were thinking of closing down the pigmy scheme. The State Bank of India had approached the Apex Court in this regard, they said.

DCC President Ramanath Rai, NSUI former president Ramesh Chennithala, Vinaya Kumar Sorake, Jayaram Shetty, B.A. Moideen, Vijay Kumar Shetty, UT Khader, District Congress President MA Gafoor, President of Youth Congress wing Bondala Jagannath Shetty, DCC Minority wing president Moideen Bawa, INTUC President Rakesh Malli, DCC Vice President Ivan DSouza and other congress leaders including Kallige Tharanath Shetty, Sadashiv Ullal and MG Hegde were present.

]]> http://www.grangephysio.com/news/mangalore-students-urge-oscar.html/feed 0 http://www.grangephysio.com/news/the-therapeutic-relationship-for-massage-therapists.html http://www.grangephysio.com/news/the-therapeutic-relationship-for-massage-therapists.html#comments Sun, 17 Feb 2008 10:12:16 +0000 Richard Spink http://www.grangephysio.com/news/the-therapeutic-relationship-for-massage-therapists.html via massagepracticebuilder.com

One of the least talked about concepts in massage school is the therapeutic relationship that occurs between the massage therapist and the client. Cidalia Paivia in her book “Keeping the Professional Promise” says:

When a massage therapist and a patient come together, the therapist and patient enter into a therapeutic relationship. What distinguishes the therapeutic relationship from other relationships is its very special purpose and goal, which is to serve the needs and interests of our patients.

The Therapeutic relationship’s primary function is to facilitate the health and well-being of our patients, ensuring that we bring our full presence and commitment to this experience.

When people come to us seeking help with their condition or distress, what happens is that a power differential is created. People come to us thinking we can ‘fix’ or help them. They think that we hold the answers to relief from their symptoms. They are vulnerable because they are in pain or under stress. The act of seeking help recreates an old pattern of relating to someone in power which is based on our early relationship with our parents or major caregiver. Since no caregiver is perfect and able to provide for all of our needs we are left with holes in our essence and we seek to fill these in most relationships especially one where a person is actually seeking help.

On the other hand the “helpers” have their own issues and reasons why they feel compelled to be the helper. While on the surface many help because it brings more meaning to the helpers lives, helping is also a great way to really learn more about oneself. Rachel Remen in her article “in the Service of Life” talks about helping in this way:

Serving is different from helping. Helping is based on inequality; it is not a relationship between equals. When you help you use your own strength to help those of lesser strength. If I’m attentive to what’s going on inside of me when I’m helping, I find that I’m always helping someone who’s not as strong as I am, who is needier than I am. People feel this inequality. When we help we may inadvertently take away from people more than we could ever give them; we may diminish their self-esteem, their sense of worth, integrity and wholeness.

Because the nature of touch can bring up so many deep and unconscious feelings and emotions in clients and the massage therapist, it is important that a massage therapist have an understanding of what happens in a therapeutic relationship and understand how what they do and say can influence the relationship.

The therapeutic relationship is based on the massage therapists ability to stay present with a client and not judge, fix or otherwise hinder the client’s process of healing. It requires that the massage therapist have a clear idea of what their own needs are and learn to get their own personal needs for appreciation, validation and to be needed met in other areas of their lives so that they can become and stay more present with the client for the clients healing process. Working within the therapeutic relationship requires that you be able to give empathy for the client. To be able to give empathy, one needs to have met their own needs for empathy first by doing the grief work that is related to not getting your needs met and working with a skilled peer supervisor or mental health counselor to rewire the brain and body for empathy.

Since so many of our needs are really unconscious, it is important to begin to become aware of our own needs and learn to take care of them outside of the therapeutic relationship so that we can become more present to witness the healing process in clients.

So often massage therapists find themselves crossing the boundaries between friendship and clients, wanting to fix a client, wanting to give more, getting paid less, giving advice and acting in other ways that will actually foster a client’s dependence on the massage therapist. The massage therapist will often start sacrificing their time and energy in order to help a client or so they think. There is such a fine line between helping and when helping is actually hurting that it is near impossible to distinguish until it is too late. The massage therapist will end up feeling resentful, burned out, facing physical injuries/illness which may lead to career ending events.

The presence of a massage therapist depends on their own awareness of themselves and the reasons why they feel compelled to help. Our early childhood is where it all starts. Our self esteem is developed at an early age. We begin projecting our unrecognized feelings on others shortly after birth. When our early needs for nurturing, appreciation and acceptance were not met, we see ourselves as less than worthy and it is reflected in all of our actions and reactions. When our own needs for empathy and mirroring are left unmet from early childhood, they often get in the way when we try to help others. We can learn to be of service more when we take the time to receive the empathy that we need for ourselves.

As a massage therapist, we owe it to our clients to do our own personal growth work and fill in the holes left by the wounds of our past. Learning about ourselves and setting clear boundaries in a massage practice can take you much farther in building your practice than any marketing plan. The clearer you get about who you are, what you are doing and why, the clearer your relationships with your clients and potential clients.

]]> http://www.grangephysio.com/news/the-therapeutic-relationship-for-massage-therapists.html/feed 0 http://www.grangephysio.com/news/touching-massage-human-or-machine.html http://www.grangephysio.com/news/touching-massage-human-or-machine.html#comments Mon, 04 Feb 2008 09:45:26 +0000 Richard Spink http://www.grangephysio.com/news/touching-massage-human-or-machine.html from Robert at learn-massage-online.com

Which would you rather be touched by? A human being or a machine?

Recently I ran across this article…

http://www.charlotte.com (archived)

It was suggesting that robots are beginning to replace human beings at certain spas. And that a new invention could be paving the way. Makes for a nice story and PR release, but give me a break.

As a professional massage therapist, I have tried and used many machines for ‘relaxation’ and NONE of them come even remotely close to the value of two warm hands and the rest of the human being attached to those hands. The electromagnetic distortion alone created by those machines is enough to cause me more stress, not less.

I have sat in those massage chairs that are designed to heat, vibrate and shake and cajole you, and they can begin to allow for the physiological relaxation response, but that’s about it. I certainly don’t feel like I do after a REAL live massage.

It’s quite ironic, one of the reasons we carry so much stress is that the majority of us sit behind machines all day. Now we’re going to go to a machine and have that machine work our muscles and relax us? Not me. Give me a real live person any day. You can feel the energy or resonance of compassion and caring and universal love from another human being. A machine doesn’t care.

When two people touch each other, there is an exchange of energy. Literally. In one of my classes I show people the energy ball. It’s a little plastic ball with two metal strips on it. I stand in a circle of about a dozen people all holding hands. Except I have one finger on one strip of this little energy ball and instead of holding hands with the person next me, they are also touching a strip on the energy ball. Guess what?? It lights up and makes a noise. In fact, one person anywhere in that circle can stop holding hands with the person next to them and the energy ball light goes out. It’s a great metaphor to show that we’re all connected. And that we transfer energy to and from each other.

And in complex ways that we certainly don’t understand and shouldn’t have the arrogance to think we do. Considering all the different possible frequencies and harmonics involved in that energy exchange, that we don’t even think about or for the most part aren’t even aware of, it’s truly a mind boggling experience. Just simple human touch. And actually we transfer energy just being close to one another, but that’s a different topic.

If you’ve ever had a massage and paid attention to the exchange of energy flow between you and your therapist, then you have an idea of what I am referring to. You can tell, even with your eyes closed, what your therapist is sensing, whether or not they are paying attention to you, whether or not they are focused, whether or not it’s going to be a great massage or they’re still working on the basics. You can feel how well the energy is flowing through them and where the restrictions are in them. Try it and see for yourself, next time.

Massage is so much more than a mechanical response. It’s one of the oldest healing art forms. It truly does involve body, mind and soul. And the information and energy you can perceive through your hands is and always will be more than a machine could even begin to offer.

So my vote might be a little biased, but for my money, give me a real live person any day of the week.

]]> http://www.grangephysio.com/news/touching-massage-human-or-machine.html/feed 0