Gateway Medical Massage opens in Sharpsburg

In February of this year Gateway Medical Massage opened for business at 605 Main Street in Sharpsburg.

With a combined education in the fields of horticulture, education and health care, Michael K. Petitt decided to create a new career path as a Masters of Science Licensed Massage Therapist.

“Ever since I was a child, I have always loved science. After I got my bachelors of science, I started my career as a horticulture agent for the University of Kentucky and later served a tour of duty for the United States Department of Agriculture as an adviser in the former Soviet Union in the mid 1990s and was a horticulture supervisor/instructor for the Agriculture Department at Morehead State University before training in the medical field,” Michael said.

Michael continued to further his education and graduated with a masters of science from the University of Kentucky and completed a medical massage program. He was licensed by the Commonwealth of Kentucky this past fall and as a medical massage therapist places an emphasis on neuromuscular techniques.

After a family emergency forced him to drop out of a nursing program, Michael took stock of his life and contemplated how he could utilize his past experience and training.

“ I withdrew from the nursing program and did a lot of soul searching. I wondered what could I do with my past training so the time and effort was not wasted. I wanted to make a difference in medicine but it was a little late in life for me to consider starting from scratch. I wanted to make a difference and doing something that I would really enjoy. Ironically at that time, I came across an article and it mentioned medical massage. I thought hey, this is something that would allow me to use my prior education and I would really love to do. I already had a Masters of Science and taken numerous medical courses , so I enrolled at the Kentucky Academy of Medical Massage”, Michael explained.

Prior to Medical Massage School, while in a nursing program in Ohio, Michael was given a nickname from his classmates that has stuck with him.

“House has been my nickname since the television show started. Ironically I was on a cane for a year and a half due to a spinal injury while teaching at Morehead State University and some students started it the first time. I had no idea what they were speaking of because I had never seen the show. The nickname stuck when I took issue with a professor in nursing school about a disease and was correct. It was a joke but I was never called Mike again by my classmates. After I got my LMT license, my former classmates mailed me a framed document with simply the word “House” printed in the show’s font with all their signatures. I proudly have it hung next to my license in the clinic”, Michael said.

Michael is now recognized as a licensed Medical Massage Therapist in 48 states and is a professional member of the American Massage Therapist Association, He will also be licensed by the Ohio Board of Medicine as soon as the licensing process has been completed.

His new office is located in his native hometown of Sharpsburg.

“I am thrilled to be able to practice Medical Massage Therapy in the community where I grew up”,he said. “I am a professional health care provider that is bound by a code of ethics and the same patient confidentiality as a physician. If ever in doubt I keep one of the very first things you learn in the health care in mind. “ Primum Non Nocere” which is Greek for “First do no Harm”, and comes from the Hippocratic oath. My goal is to help my patients improve their quality of life. Medical Massage Therapy is proven effective in stress and pain management manage pain and without the use of painkillers, or narcotics”, Michael said. “Pain affects the quality of our life it is just that simple.” Many pain medications can have unpleasant and damaging side effects. Medical massage is a viable method or option to relieve pain. From sciatica back pain, arthritis, and fibromyalgia, to tension headaches or facial pain from sinusitis a medical massage can help you manage your pain”, he said.

Michael went on to add, “If I cannot effectively treat a patient with my massage I recommend they see their physician”.

Gateway Medical Massage offers gift certificates which would make a wonderful gift to spoil your mom for Mother’s Day.

If you would like to know more about the benefits of massage therapy you can contact Michael K. Petitt, MS, LMT, at Gateway Medical Massage at 606-336-0246.