Massage therapists start Foundation to help those in need - Sarasota Herald-Tribune

[massage]

Medical massage helps patients suffering from chronic pain

By Toni Whitt JefferiesCorrespondent
Charles Claybaker was hurt in a helicopter crash while serving in Afghanistan in 2010, his injuries including a crushed pelvis, shattered ankle and tibia, a dislocated hip and compressed and damaged discs in his back. An Army Ranger, he was in the elite fighting forces, so giving in to his injuries and the resulting chronic pain isn’t an option.

Since his initial recovery from the trauma, he has worked with doctors and physical therapists to be able to walk again and handle the resulting chronic pain without narcotics. Still, he wants to do more.

“I don’t like being 33 years old and walking with a cane and knee brace,” he said.

He works with doctors and physical therapists at Bay Pines Healthcare run by the Veterans Administration. They offer a traditional approach to treating his injuries, including traction and physical therapy exercises. Those weren’t working, so Claybaker’s wife reached out to Manual Therapy Foundation, a nonprofit that offers medical massage to qualified clients, in hopes that the therapy might help bring his pain levels down to a more manageable level.

Nancy Strand and Shea Shulman started the Foundation after opening their massage therapy business. They had a massage therapist trained in treating patients with lymphedema, which causes swelling in the extremities. Strand and Shulman became certified in the techniques and started treating patients, some at reduced rates because they couldn’t afford the treatments. Strand taught patients how to manage their symptoms, so they didn’t have to come in for treatments when they couldn’t afford them.

Soon they had others requesting help with treatments for all kinds of medical problems. They wanted to help everyone, but couldn’t afford to serve so many in need. Shulman, who has a medical massage certification, came up with the idea of creating a nonprofit so that the business could treat more patients. The only problem was, she said, she knew nothing about raising money.

A simple idea

The pair started in 2015 with a simple idea: They raised their rates by $1, which went toward a “Pay it Forward” fund to help people who couldn’t afford medical massage. They filed their 501 (c) (3) in 2016. Since then they have launched other fundraising programs, such as an online auction, which helped them raise $1,000 last year.

Shulman has also begun teaching other massage therapists about medical massage and working with doctors’ offices to let patients know about their services. She is hoping to get other area massage therapists trained in medical massage so that more people can benefit from the therapy. She is bringing Dr. Ross Turchaninov, a physician who started the Science of Massage Institute and offers medical massage certifications, to the area this summer to lead a seminar on medical massage.

The Manual Therapy Foundation has an online application for patients seeking assistance. The Foundation charges fees on a sliding scale based on income. Patients can pay fees ranging from $5 to $65 through the program. Donations help cover the cost of the therapy. The patients are required to invest something financially because Medical Massage and Lymphedema Therapy require a commitment that patients do their part in the therapy, which may include stretching exercises, techniques to prevent the onset of a problem, or following specific instructions.

Claybaker learned that massage, along with yoga, made his pain more manageable than traditional physical therapy. The VA has not adopted treatments such as massage and acupuncture, so Claybaker has to pay out of pocket for those treatments.

Claybaker’s wife Kandice found the Foundation through “Hands for Heroes,” Strand said. She contacted the Foundation, sending “a very heartfelt letter asking if we could help Charles,” explaining that they couldn’t afford the regular massage sessions. Strand and Shulman said they thought they could help with his pain and they had a Foundation that could offer financial assistance. Claybaker came in for an assessment and then started the treatments.

He is learning how to live with less pain. After his first massage therapy session, he felt so much better he said he did too much — which simply meant walking throughout downtown St. Pete without his cane. He is learning to take things a little more slowly so that he has a long-lasting recovery and can back off the frequency of his treatments.

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