The HEMME APPROACH Massage course was written for therapists who plan to become advanced Massage Practitioners, this course provides an excellent overview of what the HEMME APPROACH is, how it applies to soft-tissue therapy, and how to use it. In addition to receiving 115 hours of continuing education credit, practitioners who complete this course will be able to understand and apply the basic concepts and techniques that separate the HEMME APPROACH from other approaches to soft-tissue therapy. This program focuses on useful principles and workable techniques more than on general background information and medical theories. Even though most of the principles used in HEMME APPROACH courses are based on research that is widely accepted by doctors who practice physical medicine and rehabilitation, the soft-tissue techniques that HEMME APPROACH recommends are often more detailed and more intensive than those commonly used by medical doctors. Despite a large amount of medical research that supports the value of using soft-tissue techniques, most medical doctors limit their practices to medication and surgery. Since they seldom use soft tissue manipulation as part of their normal practice, most medical doctors do not have an interest in learning or developing sophisticated soft tissue techniques. For this reason, the soft-tissue techniques used in the HEMME APPROACH are often more sophisticated and more effective than those used by most medical doctors. By definition, the HEMME APPROACH is a scientific method that helps practitioners identify, evaluate, and treat soft-tissue impairments. Most impairments are caused by internal or external trauma and are characterized by pain, limited range of motion, and weakness. Soft tissue refers to any human structure that is not bone, such as muscles, tendons, or ligaments. The standard forms of manipulation used in the HEMME APPROACH are trigger point therapy, neuromuscular therapy, connective tissue therapy, and range-of-motion stretching. These four types of manipulation address all four types of tissue found in the human body: nerve tissue, muscle tissue, connective tissue, and epithelial tissue.
HEMME APPROACH is different from most other medical approaches to soft-tissue therapy for three basic reasons: balance, scope, and clinical value. Despite a common tendency for many approaches to focus on evaluation more than treatment or treatment more than evaluation, the HEMME APPROACH recognizes that evaluation and treatment are equally important and both are required to produce positive results. By working together in harmony, evaluation and treatment can (1) identify real problems (evaluation), and (2) offer genuine solutions (treatment).
Scope refers to the comprehensive nature of any approach used for treating soft-tissue impairments. The human body is a complex interaction of parts that produce many complex problems. Since the problems are often complex, no single tool, such as trigger point therapy or neuromuscular therapy, can be expected to deal with every single situation. By using four methods of manipulation—trigger point therapy, neuromuscular therapy, connective tissue therapy, and range-of-motion stretching—in addition to modalities and exercise, practitioners can increase their chances of being able to treat a wide variety of conditions caused by soft-tissue impairments.
The clinical value of any approach to soft-tissue therapy is not a matter of scientific theory or academic discussion, but rather a matter of practical results. Regardless of source—physical medicine, osteopathy, chiropractic, or Swedish massage—the concepts and techniques used in the HEMME APPROACH produce positive results. Even if medical science cannot always explain why they work, most HEMME-APPROACH practitioners and other competent clinicians would be quick to agree they do work.
The final feature that makes HEMME APPROACH unique when compared with most other approaches is the realization that soft-tissue therapy is both an art and a science. As an art, soft-tissue therapy requires the caring and competent use of human touch and as a science, it requires empirical knowledge, logic, and creative intuition. To practice soft-tissue therapy without integrating the art with science can only reduce the quality of treatment and prevent soft-tissue therapy from reaching its full potential. Approaching soft-tissue therapy from a medical and scientific perspective does not limit the options someone has to practice soft-tissue therapy, it creates opportunities for exploration, creativity, and achievement.
David H. Leflet