By Melanie Gillians, RMT

1. Don’t wait till December to utilize ALL of your benefits. As much as we looove massage therapy, it is not beneficial to get massages back-to-back. In fact, this can be harmful to your tissues as you need to give your tissues time to heal. Try booking your regular maintenance appointments once a month. Also, December is the busiest time of year for massage therapists, so even if you wanted to use all of your benefits in the last month of the year, chances are, there may not be enough room in the appointment book.

2. Most people are unaware of what their coverage is. Talk to your insurance company prior to booking appointments to see what you are covered for. By checking prior to booking any appointments, you can get a better idea how much you have to spend, what health care modalities are covered, and what kind of treatment you can obtain. Here at the Integrative Health Institute, we like to refer clients to our co-workers when we feel that additional modalities would be beneficial to add to your treatment plan. We are looking out for your best interest and your overall health and wellness; wouldn’t it be nice to know if you have naturopathic medicine, chiropractic, osteopathic, and counselling coverage?

3. Talk to your massage therapist about the best way to book appointments throughout the year in order to get the best results from treatment. Sometimes, massage therapists recommend additional treatments. As much as we would like to believe we have magic hands, some things take time and patience, especially when it comes to addressing musculoskeletal issues. Your massage therapist can give you an estimate on how many treatments it can take to address a specific issue and they can also help you to space out your appointments throughout the year in order to get the maximum benefits of receiving regular massage therapy.

4. Remember what time of year is specifically stressful or hard on the body. Save some extra coverage for those times of year. If you are super stressed out around the holidays or suffer from seasonal depression, perhaps saving a couple extra massage therapy appointments for this time of year would benefit you. If you are a summer sports fanatic and enjoy participating in the occasional marathon, baseball game, or beach volleyball sessions, perhaps saving some extra treatments for those tired and overworked muscles would be beneficial for you.

5. Pre-book your appointments with reception. We will send you an email before each appointment to remind you of your upcoming treatment. If you need to change the date, just give us 24 hours notice, and we can move your appointment. Just think about it… you are having a particularly stressful week when you get an email from the Integrative Health Institute reminding you of an upcoming appointment. You probably wouldn’t have booked the appointment, but you say “why not! I’m feeling extra stressed out this week”. You come to the clinic and spend one hour lying comfortably on a massage table, enjoying pure relaxation and serenity. You leave feeling as though the stress has melted away.

Melanie Gillians is a Registered Massage Therapist who graduated from the Canadian College of Massage and Hydrotherapy. She is registered with the College of Massage Therapists of Ontario and is a member of the Registered Massage Therapist Association of Ontario. She has completed continuing education in pregnancy massage, infant massage, and sports massage.

For Melanie, massage therapy has proven to be extremely rewarding. We live in a stress filled society, so taking a moment for peace and serenity will help our bodies experience a heightened sense of health and well-being. For more information about Melanie or her massage therapy practice at the Integrative Health Institute, please contact mgillians@integrativehealthinstitute.ca