This school represents new advances in MT education with a curriculum based on massage science and its clinical applications. Although the school is relatively young, it has already generated raving reviews and support from businesses and the medical community that hire its newly graduated therapists because of their impressive technical skills and clinical abilities. We want to emphasize that Jaci was still a student in MT school at the time of submission! Notice that the school requires students to collect and interpret clinical data correctly.
Thus, this clinical case is a perfect example of effective MT education based on science rather than personal opinions and anecdotic experiences. Finally, Jaci illustrated how soft tissue evaluation must be done by therapists who work in the clinical setting.
We are very proud that SOMI training allows therapists to help patients in very complex clinical situations and that our former students can share their expertise with new therapists. She presents with left-side chronic ear pain and headaches, which have been ongoing for over a year. The patient also complains about tension down the left side of her neck and into her shoulder. Initially, she suspected an ear infection and visited an ENT doctor, who reassured her that there was no ear infection, so no medications were needed.
Instead, the physician concluded that musculoskeletal dysfunction was the cause of her symptoms and recommended that she see a somatic specialist. The physician did not perform imaging or further testing. She did not have prior neck or head trauma. Initial Complaints At the time of evaluation, the patient complained about mild tension in her left neck.
However, she had taken ibuprofen roughly hours prior, and she takes NSAIDS daily to address her pain and discomfort. She has been getting full-body relaxation massages twice a month since June and noticed some decrease in intensity. However, this relief typically only lasts days after the massage, when her symptoms return to the previous intensity. The patient describes those symptoms as tension that starts as dull and aching, then compounds over time until it peaks as a sharp pulsating pain.
