Reclining Chairs or.....Luxury-Style Treatment Tables???
Posted November 2nd, 2007 by Skip
Upon hearing that most CA type clinics use reclining chairs instead of the normal massage tables, acupunks are sometimes suprised. I mean, why question the idea of a flat somewhat cushion-y table to needle people on? Then they are really surprised- and somewhat suspicious- when we tell 'em that the chairs are actually more comfortable to the patient. "That's not the way acupuncture is practiced in polite society," is what I see behind those furrowed brows.
Well guess what. Seems like CA is state of the art in treatment surfaces (surfaci?)as well. Now I know most of you are college football fans so you probably also have heard of the University of Oregon's state-of-the-art locker rooms. Thanks in part to alum Phil Knight (you know- the owner of Nike)giving tens of millions to the U of O athletic department (maybe make that hundreds of millions) the Ducks have a locker room that blows away the competition. Nothing even in professional sports even comes close to the way the U of O players are treated, which arouses more than a little acid green envy from rival teams (In your face University of Spoiled Children!)
So given the facilities are top notch it goes without saying that the treatment tables are also cutting edge. So what do they use? Really, REALLY sturdy massage tables for those 350 pound linemen? NOT SO FAST MY FRIEND!. They use...well let's have Stuart Mandel, crack reporter for Sports Illustrated describe them in his own words:
"During our time there, three different players were sitting on luxury-style treatment tables (let’s just say they could double as Lazy-Boys), one of them getting a massage."
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/si_blogs/football/ncaa/2007/11/on-orego...
Ahem. Toot toot.
Love my chairs, but
Gotta keep some tables.
I simply haven't (in six months of community acupuncture) been able to completely dispense with back treatments. Nor would I like to.
Even on the days when my tables see no action at all, I like knowing I have the option, should I in my best judgment need it, to give my client the best treatment possible.
Re: Reclining Chairs or.....Luxury-Style Treatment Tables???
I love my chairs! The other day I had my tool box out and was working underneath an original LB with brown corduroy fabric, replacing the swivel pedestal with a non-swivel. I felt like a grease monkey tuning up my race car during the pit-stop, she's all greased up and ready to go for Monday's race! Yahoo! I'm lov'in it...even if I don't know what the heck I'm do'in have the time!
Re: Reclining Chairs or.....Luxury-Style Treatment Tables???
When I converted to a community acu clinic I gave my former patients the option of table or chair, not one of them picked the table, not one. I have not used the table once in 6 months and have a whole lot of happy patients!
Julie O.
Re: Reclining Chairs or.....Luxury-Style Treatment Tables???
Very timely that you should write about this Skip. I remember being a bit dubious at first about the idea of treating patients in recliners. It's funny how we can become very snooty like Dr. Seuss's Sneetches.
"That's not the way acupuncture is practiced in polite society," is what I see behind those furrowed brows....as you say.
Freed of that narrow mindedness, I'm able to more openly observe what it is that clients prefer. Certainly most people love the recliners, which is a good thing for CommuniChi because that's all we have.
Each chair has its own personality and wear pattern, and fits with each body type differently. It feels good to have rescued a pile of recliners from the landfill and put them back into the service of healing.