Massage Therapy: Alternative to Opioids

Massage Therapy: Alternative to Opioids

Deaths and overdoses from prescription opioids—like oxycodone and hydrocodone—have quadrupled since 1999 according to the Centers for Disease Control. These drugs are often prescribed by doctors following surgery or illness, but they carry real risk of overdose, addiction and abuse. With these alarming statistics, many health organizations are seriously considering other methods to manage pain.

The American Massage Therapy Association has engaged with several health agencies concerning massage therapy as a specific alternative treatment for pain management. Working directly with state of West Virginia—one of the areas most effected by rampant opioid use—AMTA helped create a program that reduced prescribed opioids for pain, and they put together a list of alternative approaches to pain which includes massage therapy.

As massage therapy becomes more recognized as a complement to healthcare treatments, the number of massage therapists has seen a boost. This popular career offers independence for practitioners: giving them the ability and flexibility to determine their schedules, their places of work, their clients, and more. Plus, if they are passionate about healthcare, they now have a way to practice the healing powers of touch in an environment they care about.

If you would like to learn more about joining this growing field and becoming a massage therapist, take that first step and give The Soma Institute a call to learn more. Soma offers an 11 and 15-month Clinical Massage Therapy Program designed to train students in all the fundamentals of massage therapy. Call a knowledgeable Career Counselor today, at 1.800.694.5314.