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Choosing a MASSAGE TREATMENT COUCH
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Height
In the ideal situation it is best to have a hydraulic or electric couch so you can alter the height during a treatment. It can be lowered for large patients and or raised for smaller ones. Lowered when treating the back and raised a few inches when treating the leg. These couches are fairly expensive and are very heavy.
Portable couches are the obvious first choice for practicality and the basic models are a fixed height. You can specify the height you want, but cannot adjust it after that. It will always be a compromise as patients come in all sizes. To be able to apply deep massage techniques using a good working posture the couch needs to be fairly low. A general guide would be level with the tip of the index finger when the arm and hand are hanging down by your side. Therapists using lighter and gentler techniques usually prefer a higher couch. |
There are adjustable height portable couches but they have to be set before the patient gets on and cannot be changed during the treatment. These are ideal if several therapists are going to work with the one couch or if you expect to treat rugby players and ballerinas. They are more expensive and usually heavier than the fixed height couch.
Width
The standard width of a couch is 24 inches. Although a wider couch may be more comfortable for the larger patient this may not be ideal for the practitioner. Unless you are very tall a wider couch just means you have to lean further across it and this could lead to back problems in the long run. Extra wide couches are heavier and much more cumbersome to carry around and get into vehicles.
Personal note
Although I use an electronic adjustable couch in my main clinic I also have a basic portable couch (from Marshcouch). It is 26 inches high (I am 5' 6"), standard width with alloy legs and I have had it for over ten years. Working with dance companies I have taken it on many tours, as well as sports event, where it has been thrown in and out of more planes, trains, buses and taxis than I care to remember. It has been re-covered once, is on its second carrying case, and it's still going strong! (Obituary - it was destroyed in a flood, August '02 after 12 years service)
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LSSM Students and Graduates receive a 5% couch discount on single orders or a 10% couch discount on batch orders of 5 couches or more
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