Anatomy and Physiology for Therapists and Healthcare Professionals Paperback – 31 July 2009

It's a really, really good starting point, but from having now progressed to level 5 massage I found that A&P really comes to life and is easier to understand when you go deeper...it all links together in a way which makes sense. If this author did another version of this book and added in nerve supply to individual muscles, a full muscle anatomy section, more detail on lymphatics and lymphatic drainage (flows etc.) then this text would be superb. They could indicate what is level 3 and what is level 4 and 5 in the text to better help students not become overwhelmed. I found with the more basic texts the information is a little abstract which for me made it harder to apply to real world situations, it just seemed like bits of abstract unrelated information. When I stated reading texts that covered the level 4 and 5 massage syllabus and beyond it all made sense and was far easier to retain and apply the information to the body. A really good book is 'Applied anatomy for manual therapists' by Pat Archer, it's presented in a similar way to this book with bright, fun diagrams and is packed with much more detail but not too much to overload the reader, it's good for level 4 massage students. For level 5 massage students then 'Anatomy and Physiology for the manual therapies' by Andrew Kunztman. I've gone through several of the level 6 A&P books which are more medically oriented and are very large and hefty, interesting but heavy going... these two books take all the information that the level 3, 4... and 5 massage therapist needs and distill it out into really accessible and useful formats but I still recommend this book as a foundation as it's so good. If I was to go back in time I would have used the Pat Archer book as well as this one for my level 3 course as it would have helped me understand how the body works more fully and given me me more confidence in my day to day work and initial training. When you study these more in-depth texts it helps you realise how much useful information which links everything together is omitted from a Level 3 massage training course, it also helps you see how massage can be applied to treat injuries and chronic pain conditions...something which isn't talked about at level 3, possibly because some level 3 tutors aren't aware of techniques such as remedial massage (level 4), advanced remedial massage (level 5), Hendrickson Method (level 5) etc. I've written this review to hopefully help newcomers to massage and bodywork to explore beyond the scope of level 3 A&P, you never know it may just inspire you to take your training further and develop a thriving full time massage therapy business treating issues and providing treatments as diverse as lymphatic drainage through to orthopaedic conditions...I plug a gap between physiotherapists, chiropractors, osteopaths and regularly receive recommendations for treatment from doctors and physios for advanced massage... as I have done :)

Great book, exactly what I needed for my complementary therapies course

Great book with some in-depth information you can't always find on Google for example, Using it to compliment my VTCT course in body massage level 3 QCF qualification as I wish to go off setup on my own and have my own business in massage, it is packed with useful information, I gave 4 stars because some information and/or diagrams I found on google and not in this book, the 2 combined sources are a great help plus my mum has A&P books, helps in letting me complete paperwork questions and create revision material, there's so much to read and know that it will take a while, I also say 4 star and not 5 because it is not as broken down as Francesca Gould's books but is still extremely useful, I normally don't buy books for leisure only if they are neccessary to a cause , I might have given 4.5 stars as it is easy to understand there are nice and simple diagrams telling you exactly what make up a muscle, where muscles are, what are the functions of this and that etc I can't say for sure how i've rated is accurate but when you are doing A&P theory you can use this to get the information quickly, I would absolutely reccomend that you have a copy if you are working on A&P theory it's not as easy as you think and it's good for a reference if you ever you forget something or need to look back, you'll always have it, you wouldn't typically read from front to back haha but i've been reading parts of it everyday, Ruth Hull is a very clever author, Kudos to her

Fab book and used it during my massage courses. Really useful book and recomended.

Bought this book for my health and social care class, it's amazing!! So informative and this is probably the only book I'll ever need to learn anatomy, physiology & pathology.I've also ordered the workbook alongside this, I can't wait to try it out. Thank you Amazon.

informative, well illustrated. Good for reference after doing anatomy & physiology, and training, for guidance. Can imagine will be useful for studying too

A brilliant book about the systems of the body with study tips, clear diagrams and revision questions. It is quite intense to learn all of the information that it given, such as the names of all of the muscles of the body, but the way the body works is fascinating. The explanations are clear and it is well written. It is aimed at anyone studying anatomy and physiology at level 2 or 3 but could be read out of interest rather than for exams!

This book is excellent, it's in-depth and exactly what is needed for somebody studying anatomy.