About Nick

I am an editor of Massage & Fitness Magazine, an online publication that bridges the gap between research in pain and exercise with clinical practice and people in pain. Started in late 2014, the publication is a response to a rising demand from massage therapists for science-based content that is up-to-date and relevant for both therapists and the public. 

I’ve been published in varioius media, including Massage New Zealand, Guardian Liberty Voice, MiaBella Magazine, The Telescope, and Scripps Ranch News. I’m also a freelance graphic designer, working with Palomar College’s IMPACT Magazine and campus newspaper.

As a former certified massage therapist and personal trainer in Southern California, my experience in hands-on working with clients in pain and disability has allowed me to understand what challenges they are facing. No book or video can substitute live experience. The combined skills of understanding scientific research and clinical practice has allowed me to ask questions about what researchers and practitioners are facing.

Why am I interested in pain science?

As someone who has chronic pain since 8 years old, I got into the massage and fitness professions because I wanted to help people to live a better life, a life with less pain and more indepedence.

I chose those fields because I found that exercise (dance and weightlifting) and massage therapy worked the best in managing my pain.

As a student at a massage school in San Diego, California, from 2013 to 2014, I was starting to learn about pain from a scientific perspective on my own.

I questioned about the things I was learning in school, like why we experience pain and how massage therapy might help.

I also started to ask questions about the nature of pain, like:

Why does getting a massage on my hamstrings and calves reduce my low back pain for a few days?

And why does touch has pain-killing effects?

But what I was learning in school and what I was reading in existing massage publications didn’t satisfy my curiosity.

In fact, some of the content conflicted with the scientific understanding of pain.

For example, how can some amputees still feel pain in their hands or legs when they no longer have one?

Why do some people have persistent pain when their tissues have healed?

Likewise, why do some people have no pain yet scans show that they have lesions in their tissues? 

I was frustrated with the lack of proper information during my schooling.

So I created my own publication in 2014: Massage & Fitness Magazine.

My writing and publishing experience

Drawing from my experience in content writing and graphic design, I started Massage & Fitness as a seasonal publication.

The publication gained a lot of attention initially. Many therapists had told me that this was the only massage magazine that has a strong science foundation.

Rather than repeating the same narratives that many therapists had heard and read for years, the magazine offered a fresh perspective about pain, touch, and exercise from a scientific lens. 

With some contributors, we had created 18 issues until the summer of 2019. We were constantly revising what we should cover, how the publication should look, and how we market the content. 

Unfortunately, the business wasn’t breaking even, and it was time-consuming to create each issue, even though I love designing each issue.

Where I am now

In the fall of 2019, I went back to school for journalism at Palomar College and gained more practical experience. I also wanted to connect with those in the media and design businesses.

I invested my effort in continuing the magazine, but I knew something had to change.

This change has steered me in a new, exciting direction where I can publish information in this open-access format.

I’m very grateful to have connected with many manual therapists who are also interested in pain science and want to use that knowledge to their practice.

There’s already a ton of misinformation about pain and disability on the Internet. People in pain and disability need the right answers.

I believe manual therapists and other healthcare professionals have their place in educating the public.

They should be producing content with the right messages to help those in pain. With the right strategies, we can help each other flood the Internet with the right information.

If you run a busy practice and are struggling with producing quality content for your audience, let’s see how I can help. 

Email: nick@thenickng.com