Mason Massage Therapy

January 12, 2021 The College of Massage Therapists of Ontario sent us this message today ... "No further restrictions on Massage Therapy practice have been announced. CMTO will review the actual regulations when they are available online and will update RMTs if things change." ... I'll let everyone know if anything changes, but it is business as usual for now.

Happy New Year Everyone, 2020 was a tough year. When I launched my new clinic in December of 2019, I could not have predicted it playing out this way. 2021 will also have many challenges and with this in mind I will continue to try to implement changes which are intended to improve things here at Mason Massage Therapy. A few of these changes will be listed here today. There will be a slight increase in my fees in 2021. These increases were originally planned for the fall of...Continue reading

I wanted to update everyone and let them know that massage therapy will still be available during the coming lockdown as RMTs are regulated healthcare professionals and therefore on the inclusion list. I continue to try my best to get folks booked from my waiting list, but there has not been much movement. I will continue to look at ways to treat as many as possible in the new year. I'll have some other small updates in the next couple weeks.

I didn’t write this but completely agree with the sentiment. Thank you Tonja Stothart for your words of wisdom. COVID VACCINE UPDATE The FDA approved the Pfiz...er Covid vaccine when they met today, December 10th. Canada approved this vaccine yesterday . The Moderna vaccine will probably be approved shortly. This is an incredible feat of modern medicine, & our best chance to hopefully get our lives back to near normal relatively soon. However, it is new and it was done quickly, so understandably, people may be hesitant to get it; even people who vaccinate against all other diseases. While, I am not an expert in vaccines, as a physician, I do have the skills to interpret medical studies and evaluate data. Will I be getting the vaccine? % ABSOLUTELY. As a physician, I will probably have the opportunity to be immunized prior to many & yes, I will be taking it ASAP. But, it is a new vaccine technology and done in record time, so am I not worried about its safety? Nope, not any more so than any other vaccine or other medical intervention. Why? Let's start with how this vaccine works. This is an mRNA vaccine. Past vaccines typically use a live but weakened "attenuated" virus, or dead viral material "inactivated" virus, or a piece of the virus's protein or even a toxin produced by the virus. The Covid vaccine is very different. It contains mRNA (messenger genetic material) that encodes for the Covid spike protein. This causes your cells to then produce the Covid spike protein. In contrast, when you are sick with Covid, the virus hijacks your cell to produce many copies of the entire virus. Then it destroys the cell, bursting it open to release its newly formed viral particles. When your cells release just the spike protein, it will stimulate your immune system to form antibodies to the Covid spike protein without you getting sick. There is no possibility of getting Covid from the vaccine. When your body is subsequently exposed to Covid, it will quickly recognize the spike protein and destroy it before it can make you sick. This was 95% effective in preventing Covid, which is an even better percentage than most other vaccines. However, you must take both doses (about 3-4 weeks apart). Am I concerned about it being new? And previously untested? No, I'm not. This type of technology is not entirely new. It has been studied and used in cancer research. They have been making mRNA vaccines and studying them to specifically target proteins on tumor cells to train your immune system to then destroy the tumor. In this case, it is not a vaccine in the preventive sense, as it is targeted to a tumor that you already have. It is not currently widespread because it has to be custom made for each tumor. But, it has been "around the block" for a while now. The technology was also being studied for other Coronaviruses. It never came to fruition, because the diseases never reached pandemic proportions, and then the funding dried up. The mRNA does not enter the nucleus of the cell, and it does not affect your DNA, and therefore has no lasting impact on your cell. Am I concerned about the speed with which it was developed? Weren't significant corners cut in order to get this out so quickly? No and no. What was cut out of the equation was mostly red tape, and what was added was technology & funding. We were given the genetic code by scientists in China to start vaccine production in January; before Covid was even documented to have reached our shores. From there, the vaccine was developed from the technology we had from the prior Coronavirus and cancer research, and was completed in March. Normally, there would be months of waiting for the FDA to even look at the work done prior to approving Phase 1 trials. Because of the urgent nature of this, it was essentially put on the top of the wait pile, which cut out months of waiting, but did not cut any corners. Between the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines (both mRNA, with a slightly different delivery system), they were tested in 37,000 people in Phase 3 (and an additional 37,000 received a placebo). That is on par with, if not better than the vaccines currently available. Additionally, recruitment for most vaccine trials takes severs years which also prolongs the process. Recruitment for these trials was completed in a few months because we are in the middle of a pandemic, so many people volunteered quickly, resulting in a dramatic reduction in the time it normally takes to complete these trials. Aren't I concerned that the FDA is about to approve it, and there may be side effects that haven't been seen yet? Nope on this one too. We know from decades of vaccine research, since you typically just get 1, 2 or 3 doses and then you are done with it, that nearly all side effects from vaccines occur in the first 6 weeks. Like other vaccines, minor side effects may occur(soreness at injection site, muscle aches, fever). Severe adverse reactions are extremely rare, and again, occur quickly if they are going to occur at all. As a spry, healthy woman in my 40s, my risk of dying from Covid is low, however the risk to others who are older or those who have high risk comorbidities is much higher. What does scare me is the risk of long term lung damage and other issues that affect my quality of life that we are seeing develop in covid survivors. Because vaccines are given to healthy people (unlike medications for treating a disease that is already present) they are held to a much higher standard for approval. My risk of having a significant adverse reaction from the Covid vaccine is minuscule in comparison to my risk with Covid. For the rest of the population (outside of healthcare workers or those in nursing homes), who will likely be able to get the vaccine in early 2021, there will be even more time passed & more people who have received the vaccine, giving us even more information regarding safety. I will be rolling up my sleeve for it as soon as it is offered, and I encourage each of you to get vaccinated as soon as you can. #COVID19 #CovidVaccine