Show Notes
[00:00:00] Sherman Hu: Hi, everybody. Welcome to another ALTUS Chiropractic and Physiotherapy podcast. I have Van with me today. Van, how are you doing man?
[00:00:07] Van Hau Ngo: Good. How are you? Sherman?
[00:00:08] Sherman Hu: I’m very well. Hey, you are one of the new additions to the clinic in bringing a new facet, a new service to the brand. Because now, it’s ALTUS Chiropractic and Physiotherapy and Registered Massage Therapy.
[00:00:24] Van Hau Ngo: It’s just a long name. Hey!
[00:00:25] Sherman Hu: I know. Trang and I were laughing one time about how the brand is just getting longer and longer.
What is an RMT?
[00:00:32] Sherman Hu: Tell me for those that may not know, what is an RMT?
[00:00:36] Van Hau Ngo: So RMT actually quite simply stands for Registered Massage Therapist. It is a reserve title here in BC. We are health professionals regulated by CMTBC, which is our college. We are educated to assess and treat soft tissues, including muscles, connected tissues, tendons, ligaments, and joints. We are trained to use techniques as well, such as manual therapy, joint mobilizations, hydrotherapy, rehab [00:01:00] exercises, which are really good for patients and patient education. So we are committed to restoring and maintaining optimal health for our patients, with the use of our varying approaches and modalities.
[00:01:09] Sherman Hu: Good. Good. Are you saying that only BC has the term RMT and everywhere else in Canada doesn’t use that?
[00:01:16] Van Hau Ngo: So it’s a law here in BC. So if you aren’t registered with CMTBC, you can’t use that title as a Massage Therapist or Registered Massage Therapist. You can use like in Alberta or different provinces as well, as long as you are associated with the college there.
[00:01:32] Sherman Hu: Okay. So if you’re with the college in Calgary, you can be an RMT in Calgary, okay? I thought it was just only BC that had a claim to RMT.
What are the benefits of massage therapy?
[00:01:40] Sherman Hu: I’m sure there are many that do know, but for those that want it, coming from an RMT, what are the benefits of massage therapy?
[00:01:48] Van Hau Ngo: Massage therapy is an effective treatment and management to many health conditions including headaches, which is very common. Low back pain as well. Osteoarthritis, pregnancy, frozen shoulder, whiplash, and that’s [00:02:00] just to name a few. It can help improve circulation and relaxation as well as reduce stress, pain, muscle tension, and muscle soreness. So whether the condition is an acute or chronic state, massage therapy is a great option to help treat and manage your symptoms.
[00:02:14] Sherman Hu: Okay. That’s wonderful.
What can you expect during massage therapy?
[00:02:16] Sherman Hu: Now let’s say a viewer watches this for the first time. They’ve been a client at ALTUS. They’ve come in for chiropractic work, physiotherapy work, and now they’re going, “Oh! Hey, you know what? Van is there. I can try massage therapy at ALTUS.” What should they expect the first time getting a treatment?
[00:02:34] Van Hau Ngo: That is a great question. So if it’s your first time, just expect us to take a thorough health history. During this procedure, we will ask questions that may be relevant to your case, which will help create a treatment plan suited to your needs and goal.
[00:02:47] We will perform some comprehensive assessment tools as well. That could look like an active range of motion for a certain thing, or just palpation for certain muscles followed by treatments.
[00:02:57] Now you might be wondering what should I wear to my [00:03:00] first treatment as well? But so when you arrive at your first treatment just wear what you feel is comfortable and understand that during treatment you will be covered up.
[00:03:08] We may ask you to disrobe certain pieces of clothing that may be beneficial to the treatment, but only areas that you’ve consented us to treat will be exposed. So for example, if it’s your back causing your discomfort we will only ask you to remove your shirt before laying on the table.
[00:03:23] And we’ll leave the room as well, when we do that. And before any treatment occurs as well, we will always ask for your consent before proceeding. So if you feel most comfortable just keeping your clothes on throughout the treatment, that’s perfectly fine as well. We will work with you to provide you with the best treatment we can, and our goal is to keep the treatment safe, effective, and patient-centered.
[00:03:41] Sherman Hu: Okay Van. So if I come in for treatment in my Hello Kitty Onesie, promise me you won’t laugh.
[00:03:48] Van Hau Ngo: Oh yeah. I won’t laugh. No judgment zone. For sure.
What to do to prevent future injuries after massage therapy?
[00:03:52] Sherman Hu: So is there anything I can do then with getting massage therapy treatment, anything I can do to prevent [00:04:00] future injuries?
[00:04:00] Van Hau Ngo: Yeah, of course. So through massage therapy, we provide treatment to soft tissues and management of your health conditions. A really important thing too is to help prevent future injuries is to help just use other aspects of therapies as well. You can use seeing a kinesiologist or a chiropractor or a physiotherapist, but a really important thing to maintain good health for your joints and your muscles is like giving you home care that may include strength exercises, some stretches, some modifications to your everyday activities, hydrotherapies so that could be heat or cold that may help reduce your chances of future injuries and prolong your physical and mental health.
[00:04:39] Sherman Hu: So if I continue with my MMA fights, then I can’t prevent future injuries, cause I’m gonna get hurt every round, every time I’m in the ring.
[00:04:47] Van Hau Ngo: There’s definitely a lot of things that you can try too, right? With massage therapy, we can always help treat certain things that are very sore to help reduce the soreness for you too.
[00:04:55] Sherman Hu: Yeah. Yeah, that’s great. I’m joking about the MMA. I would never enter that ring.
[00:04:59] Van Hau Ngo: I thought you were [00:05:00] literal.
[00:05:02] Sherman Hu: I actually wanted to say WWF.
[00:05:05] Van Hau Ngo: Oh yeah.
How often should one consider going for massage therapy?
[00:05:07] Sherman Hu: So how often should one consider going for treatment with massage therapy?
[00:05:14] Van Hau Ngo: Right. It depends on patient to patient as the needs and goals of patients may vary as well. So it’s best to consult with your RMT to find out how frequently you should be getting a massage. However, I find that a combination of alternative therapies as mentioned before can go a very long way with many patients, including myself to achieve their goals and get back to what they love doing. And here at ALTUS, we can offer you the service to attend to your needs, to get you back to your best self.
How much does massage therapy cost in BC?
[00:05:37] Sherman Hu: Okay. I know there are viewers who are watching this going “Okay. That’s great. But how much does it cost? Do you offer direct billing? Is there insurance coverage?”
[00:05:47] Van Hau Ngo: Oh yeah. Yes, of course, we offer direct billing to major health insurance companies such as Pacific Blue Cross, Green Shield, Sun Life, and Manulife There’s so much more. You can always give us a call here at ALTUS. [00:06:00] If you have any questions regarding your insurance provider, we’ll be happy to help you and let you know if we can direct bill at the time of booking your appointment with us.
[00:06:07] Sherman Hu: Okay. This is just me being super curious. Does the college set standards for pricing, whether across the board or whether prices fluctuate, whether in Fraser Valley versus Vancouver, how does that sort of play out?
[00:06:20] Van Hau Ngo: That’s a very good question too. I’m still learning the business aspect of being an RMT, I find that locally here, we always match each other almost. But generally, I find that most of the cost here in BC varies between like 115 to 125 currently right now.
[00:06:37] Sherman Hu: Okay. Give or take $10.
[00:06:38] Van Hau Ngo: Yeah. Increasing a little bit. As I noticed, because the last time I checked, I was only charging 120 and then people were also increasing their prices, so I had to match theirs as well.
[00:06:48] Sherman Hu: Okay. I see what you’re saying. That’s great. As we wrap up today’s episode, Van. Thank you so much for sharing so much great intel.
Visit ALTUS Chiropractic and Physiotherapy for massage therapy sessions
[00:06:54] Sherman Hu: Any final words for those viewing and considering massage therapy?
[00:06:59] Van Hau Ngo: Yeah, sure. [00:07:00] If you’re looking for a massage therapist, I am taking new patients as well as the other RMTs here at ALTUS Chiropractic and Physiotherapy… and Massage Therapy… just kidding. But we are always taking new patients, even including ICBC as well. And we will be helping you to get back to where you wanna be at.
[00:07:18] Sherman Hu: That’s wonderful, Van. Thank you so much. And thanks for viewing another episode of the ALTUS Chiropractic and Physiotherapy podcast. Stay tuned next week as we bring you more.
