Magic hands

There’s a new registered massage therapist at Back in Motion.

Julie Pouliot says she loves working in a clinic that also offers chiropractic and acupuncture care.

“All our work is complementary and it’s great to be able to be part of such an amazing holistic practice,” the 22-year-old said.

Pouliot recently graduated from the Okanagan Valley College of Massage Therapy, where she became registered in B.C. Her previous experience was in Quebec.

“I’ve known since I was in Grade 9 that massage was all I wanted to do,” she said.

She studied Swedish and Shiatsu massage techniques and started offering chair massage when she was 17.

She also did sport massage, working for the Montreal Alouettes to give the athletes massage during training camps.

But in Quebec, massage therapists aren’t registered. She wanted to come to B.C. because it’s a more recognized treatment here.

“I knew myself that massage is a good treatment for injury, and wanted to live somewhere that it’s part of the medical system,” she explained.

The program she took in B.C. was three years. She learned human anatomy in much the same way as a medical doctor would.

At Back in Motion a lot of her work is to treat sport injuries and tension stress caused by repetitive motion for people with desk jobs.

“Massage can do so much, from breaking up scar tissue and stimulate healing for people with injury to helping with relaxation and allowing people to feel more present in their body," Pouliot said.

Massage is covered by most medical benefit plans.

“People think massage is a luxury, but really it’s a treatment and should be considered essential for everybody,” she said.