MBLEX Exam: Preparing for Client Assessment, Reassessment, and Treatment Planning

Initial Client Assessment

It’s entirely up to a massage therapist to remain informed and up-to-date regarding their clients’ changing needs. Whether it’s a change in the client’s regimen plan or new medical status, a professional massage therapist will have to be focused enough to organize and prioritize short and long-term goals.

The main focus of initial consultation is to ensure that the client is given the benefit of the doubt to express any relevant concerns regarding the treatment.

Required Forms

When it comes to the initial consultation, a majority of the massage therapists fill out an intake form for their clients, which primarily records their current medical history, previous medical information, injuries, and surgical procedures.

Consent forms are also attached to the intake form and have all the general information, like date of birth, address, and phone number.

Many massage therapists also frequently use SOAP (subjective, objective, activity, plan) form to record the individual activity for each session pertaining to their clients. Subjectively and objectively, the massage therapist notes the description given by the client and makes necessary observations.

After the session, the massage therapist lists down procedures performed on the client and notes down what future activities should be performed for each session.

Postural Assessments

It’s through anterior assessment that a massage therapist gets insight into the client’s physical shape and differentiation of each visible feature. The massage therapist typically examines any change or variation at the front part of the client’s body.

Once the client’s anterior assessment is complete, the massage therapist moves on to posterior assessment that examines the following:

• the client’s shoulders for possible formation of a line parallel to the ground
• the symmetry of the spine with the midsagittal line
• leveling of the pelvis in connection to the height

Ultimately, the massage therapist conducts a lateral assessment to see if the client’s head is well-positioned and whether or not the knees are in vertical alignment with the joints. The sole purpose of the lateral assessment is to find any issues that may have been missed in the posterior examination.

After the postural assessments, the massage therapist eventually conducts the client’s gait assessment including the walking style and posture.

The professional massage therapist won’t just note down the client’s postural details from the front, back, and side but would also encourage the client to walk as naturally as they can.

Palpation Assessment

Palpation is important because it assesses the client’s temperature, texture, movement, and rhythm. In simple terms, palpation is the use of touch to identify the client’s bodily characteristics. It’s either performed on a superficial level or deep on both sides of the client’s body.

Deep palpation, however, may be severely painful and the massage therapist should proceed, depending on the needs of each client.

The temperature of tissue will indicate whether the client’s blood circulation is cold or warm. There’s a possibility that the tissue may be cold due to ischemia.

And the texture of the tissue can be analyzed by assessing the firmness of each muscle. Also, contrary to a healthy muscle that yields easily, a tense muscle will have knots and resist the slightest of movement.

Motion Assessment

Motion assessment through movement and rhythm is a vital part of the massage therapist’s job. Active muscles would give the clients the benefit to move around their joints freely while passive motion assessment gives the massage therapist the ability to manipulate the client’s joint without any resistance.

The professional massage therapist would also guide the client to breathe slowly and keep the rhythm of the heart rate and craniosacral intact. Many massage therapists develop a good habit to check their clients’ heart rate multiple times a session.

Structure & Adjustment of Treatment Plan

After completing all assessments, the massage therapist and client will work together to develop a mutually agreed upon treatment plan. The treatment plan could include the length of each session and the possible number of techniques.

How a massage therapist identifies what time the client feels the pain in a session speaks of their level of professionalism. The length of each session would also vary depending on the stress level and the diet of each client.

As time passes, the massage therapist gathers more information about the client and ends up making more adjustments to the treatment plan. As a result, the clients usually develop affinities toward certain techniques that should be available for their convenience.

Once the clients get close to achieving their short and long-term goals, it is necessary that they continue the therapy to lead a good and healthy life.