SAN ANTONIO – Physicians and chiropractors in San Antonio and across Texas can once again provide services following the COVID-19 shutdown, yet licensed massage therapists cannot.
Under Gov. Greg Abbott’s current order, GA-21, massage therapists aren’t considered essential and therefore are not allowed to operate.
According to the updates listed on the website of the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, massage therapists can only provide services “determined to be medically necessary by a physician, chiropractor, or other healthcare provider.” This means you’ll need a prescription in order to get a massage.
Licensed massage therapist Christopher Valdez said clients seek his services out of necessity and not luxury.
“From a massage standpoint, (an LMT can help) alleviate if there is any sort of lymphedema that can be brought down by that of a lymphatic drainage massage (or) if it's fibromyalgia, it's an approach that is helping to desensitize their nervous system,” Valdez said.
Valdez’s business has been closed since March 20. The current restrictions haven’t helped bring in any clients and have left Valdez’s revenue at a standstill.
“(Getting a prescription) is a tedious thing,” Valdez said. “(It’s) having to get in contact with a physician that is pro-massage and then to travel to a physician, pay their co-pay, receive the prescription, and then we go ahead and find, you know, a proper arrangement for (the client).”
The vast majority of his clients, like Joette Schoolcraft, suffer from serious pain.
“I injured my shoulder and I tore the labrum and had to have surgery (two years ago),” Schoolcraft said. “(My doctor) referred me to Chris to continue the process of keeping the muscles and the fascia soft, supple and movable so that I can have full range of motion.”
Valdez also offers massage therapy to those who suffer from fibromyalgia, anxiety or have had major surgeries such as total knee replacement.
“Some people are just in so much pain that they can barely stand someone touching them sometimes,” Valdez said.
Valdez said an LMT can also help the client, “by just talking to them and walking them through a particular breathing technique.”
Although some of Valdez’s clients don’t have insurance, Schoolcraft does. She said she’s willing to do whatever is needed to get the relief she desperately needs.
“That's going to happen if we’re are not able to get this segment of the workforce open,” Schoolcraft said. “When you can't have (services from an LMT), you realize how much of a benefit they are to your general health.”
In San Antonio and across the state, licensed massage therapists have had to resort to other jobs to make ends meet. In Valdez’s case, he’s decided to share his current need on social media and ask the community for monetary help.
Others have directly reached out to Abbott’s office to ask that massage therapy services be expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic. They have not received a response from the governor’s office.