Clarity needed in listing massage therapists

Media release – August 30, 2007

Clarity needed in listing massage therapists in yellow pages – national president says

Massage New Zealand (MNZ), the national organisation for massage therapists, is battling with Yellow Pages to switch the heading of massage parlours to another term like adult services, outgoing president Barry Vautier said today.

The public perception of massage therapy is rapidly changing and the association of the word massage with massage parlours and the sex industry has changed a lot in the last few years, he said.

``But we still have a yearly battle with the yellow pages to change the heading of massage parlours to something like adult services, as they have done in every state in Australia.

``This is important for us as some therapists still get sex calls because of the “misnaming” in the Yellow Pages.’’

The public still needs education about the benefits of massage. But it is changing. Massage is the fastest growing sector of the complimentary health industry in the western world, he said.

Vautier made the comments today on the eve of the first ever Massage New Zealand national conference opening in Wellington tomorrow.

The Massage Institute of New Zealand was formed 22 years ago and the Therapeutic Massage Association was launched four years later.

The two associations merged in April this year to form Massage New Zealand (MNZ).

``So this is MNZ’s first conference with about 500 members. I would guess another 500 practitioners don’t belong to an association.

``We strongly recommend to the public looking for a therapist go to someone who is a member of MNZ.

``Massage is becoming more popular as people become more discerning about their health care in this information age and as the results speak for themselves.

``Therapeutic massage is applied for the beneficial effects on the nervous and muscular systems and for the circulation of blood and lymph.’’

It was also used for injury rehabilitation and could reduce inflammation related pain caused by arthritis, tendonitis and many other muscular conditions.

Vautier said almost all top sportspeople now get therapeutic massage as well as politicians, business leaders and famous celebrities.

Whether the massage industry goes down the route of regulation as a registered provider to the public health sector is open to debate by our members at this time.

Fees would increase dramatically but therapists may have access to public money (Insurance, ACC).

Currently anyone can call themselves a massage therapist without any qualification and may have learnt massage off a video.

``It’s these “cowboys” who give massage a bad name as they sometimes operate under the guise of providing sexual services, or just operate without a code of ethics and unprofessionally.

``Therapeutic massage has come a long way as a viable health modality in the last decade. There are now over a dozen massage training schools in NZ providing diploma qualifications.’’

Green Party MP Sue Kedgely opens the three-day conference tomorrow.

ENDS

© Scoop Media