I studied for my ITEC Level 4 in Sports Massage Therapy in 2017.
Last week, I received my ITEC Level 4 Certificate in Sports Massage Therapy. I then subsequently gave it to my parents who got it framed professionally for me for my birthday! Which is for the best, as my VTCT Level 3 Certificate ended up getting very... well, creased. Eek :/
Level 4 is the second highest vocational qualification specifically devoted to Sports Massage available in the UK (other than going through a degree pathway), and it was tough! I studied at St.Mary's University, Twickenham (UK) and it was an intense course, so despite only it only taking 3 months to complete, it was essentially a years worth of college work condensed into a few months, including a hell load of practicals and evidence work. The main difference between Level 3 and 4 was the ability to learn methods to assess and improve a client's condition, rather than just maintain.
It taught how to assess for a range of problems to help develop a decent treatment plan, for individual sessions and longer term. Level 4 has provided me, and hence PowerKnapp, the tools not to only massage a client, but to understand their condition more thoroughly and then apply a variety of techniques to aid their recovery including TriggerPoint Therapy, Soft Tissue Release and Muscular Energy Techniques.
And, argubaly most importantly, it educated and explained how to assess for injuries and issues that are beyond our abilites, such as fractures, tendonopathy/tendonitis and various ligament/joint injuries. This is important because delayed appropriate treatment or even sports massage itself could antaongise the problem further. Moreover, there are practitioners, namely physiotherapists, who will be better equipped to deal with such problems more effectively.
After all, the aim is to help people. If I can help, I shall. But if you can't help and you know you can't, being honest and referring them to the correct service is not only the decent thing to do, but paramount for their health and recovery.
So what did ITEC Level 4 in Sports Massage require? I had to write an essay on the pros and cons of various heat/cryotherapy treatments, as well as a minimum of 25 hours of case studies. 25 x one hour sports massages is easy. But writing up each session with contraindications, assessment protocols, what the outcomes of those assessments may imply and construct a subsequent treament plan, all in the detail to the expectation of the examiners... well, it made each case study a hurdle, both mentally and time wise.
Then there was the exam. My first ever practical assessment ever, whereby someone is looking over my shoulder and asking me questions all whilst I treat a faux-client of my choice. They would ask about what I was doing and why, whilst also asking questions about the anatomy of the body, that was irrelevant to the areas I was treating. It was tense, but I sailed through in one piece!
Looking back, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was by far my favourite qualification to date. It was challenging, but every aspect of it was informative and relevant to me and my massage skills - plus the group were generally pretty fun to learn with. Don't get me wrong, the intensive style was hard. But ultimately it was an invaluable experience for me and my business and now Portsmouth has one very capable masseur at it’s arsenal!
Should you do the ITEC Level 4 Sports Massage Qualification? Yes. Level 3 is an excellent starting point for understanding the basics, allowing you to practice and aid in people's recovery. But Level 4 will really give you the knowledge and insight to assess and give more relevant/useful advice on clients issues. It will help you to formulate better, more specific treatment plans. It also provides you with new techniques to deliver a more thorough massage, as well as allowing you really hone in effectively on specific problem areas. And, lastly, it gives you the invaluable tool to know when you can no longer help, and hence when you need to refer a customer to a more rehab orientated physiotherapist.
And through thick and thin, you get a bit of paper with your name on it ;)
Roll on Level 5! :D