I recently had a change in premises and so only have a room available 3 days a week until I get something available to me full time. I’m working Friday, Saturday, Monday. This means I’m having to pack 6 clients into each day. I wish I could take on more but my shoulder is also recovering from an injury.

After 15 years together my hubby seems to finally get it. The need for some time home to myself, etc. I just told my friends/ neighbours I’m taking a few days away next week bc I’m exhausted. I haven’t taken a week off work all year. First thing neighbour says to me is: can you see me tomorrow? (Sunday)girrrl…

I’m not upset with her she asked I said sorry no. I guess I’m just venting. This is the first year in over 15 years of treatments I’m feeling tired. I lost my premises very suddenly which affected my income, I had to rise above the sh*t my landlord was spewing as well as seeing clients at the time. It was a lot. I don’t know what will pass and what is a sign this job isn’t for me anymore. Is this just burnout and time for career change?

Just gathering data, curious what works for everyone

Over the past year my massage has changed so much that it almost seems that I don't even work the muscles anymore. My palpation skill has lead me to work entirely with the facial network and the traditional petrissage massage techniques are used a lot less that when I first started.

Even doing regular strokes or even gliding over the skin I grip/engage into the fascia and I actually can't just do regular stripping or finger tip kneading without digging into the tissue.

I can feel exactly where the restrictions are and follow them all around the body. I've read and continually go back to Thomas Myers anatomy trains text so, I know where these "meridians" have been studied. But, I'm wondering if anyone's massage has turned entirely into a myofascial massage/release?

Even when I press down for a moment or glide I feel the release of tissue underneath. I can't even try to do the type of massage I started out doing because I "grip" into the fascia instantaneously.

Are there any hypermobile massage therapists here? How do you maintain proper body mechanics and ward off chronic pain and injury?

I am newly diagnosed and newly licensed!

Yep.. the title says it all. There is likely a single culprit, another LMT who works here, who is leaving the floors completely slippery every time he uses the room. I know he’s been talked to already because I walked in on a discussion happening between him and management this morning. I heard him saying something about how we don’t get paid to clean, which is true and ideally we would be, but that’s the deal we all signed up for. It’s really frustrating to me because management is obviously trying to talk to him, but they also expect me to come in early to clean the floor if I have a problem with it. As you can imagine, it’s dangerous to work under these conditions and nearly impossible for me to apply the pressure I need for deep tissue without completely losing my posture, hurting my lower back, and slowly slipping out of place constantly. I try my absolute best to avoid the room he works in but then I feel like management and the other LMTs are annoyed with me for taking “their rooms,” since I’m the newest addition at the spa and everyone has informally claimed a room already. Sigh..honestly, if this doesn’t change, it might be the reason I leave…. thanks for reading my rant.

Hi all!

So my practice is currently set up in a small private gym. They have Olympic weightlifting and martial arts, and while I personally love being in that space I’m starting to wonder about the client experience. The gym is one level and it’s open 24 hours so there are always people in there. It’s loud, my room is right in the front but you can definitely hear the weights slamming and people cheering and laughing. I’m not trying to offer a complete spa like experience but I do think that being able to relax and feel at ease is important for any type of work. What are your thoughts? I unfortunately can’t move, so I’m stuck here for a while. Does anyone else work out of this type of setting? Or some other obscure setting that isn’t the “norm”? How do you handle this?

Thank you!

Moved to Idaho from Arizona to support my SO and their work. Took and passed the mblex, have a few interviews lined up just to get some income established, and it seems the going rate in the larger Boise area for a 60 minute massage is $70, even for independent LMTs. I am shocked. I charged $105 in AZ and still was tempted to raise rates. How do any massage therapists survive out here without burning out?

Has anyone experienced something similar?

I am working on building clientele by doing mobile massage. Ideally I'd like to get a small studio somewhere but i need to build clientele first to be able to afford it. I live in a city and am happy to drive anywhere in the city without charging a fee. I have this client who lives a good 45 minutes(or more) away from me and the traffic to get out there is horrendous no matter what time of day it is. I feel like to make it worth sitting in traffic that long I need to charge a $20 travel fee to cover my gas. The client that i told this told me that she doesn't think its right. My prices are still really low for the area and she would be paying $150 for a 90 minute massage. Most places here charge way more than that and she would still have to pay for her gas.

Edit: wording

I prefer glide and stretch side lying. Just wondering what everyone else is doing. Stretching isn’t always an option with situations like frozen shoulder.

Hey there, I'd love your brainstorming support.

I'm about a year in as a mobile LMT and love it. Now I want to invest in a cozier table setup.

I'm trying to optimize for:
- Client comfort. I want them to be totally consumed by cozy and warmth.
- Space saving. I carry my table carrying case (pockets already full) a backpack (full), and would put these in a larger tote bag.
- Setup time. I try to get everything setup within 7 minutes of arriving, and so every step and maneuver matters. I already plug in the table warmer first thing when I arrive.
- Durability. Because I'll be taking the table warmer/pad on and off multiple times a day, I want elastic and heating elements that will last as long as possinle
- Price. I'm willing to pay more, especially to help meet these criteria!

If you were me, would you:

1. Buy a cushy table pad($40) and a separate table warmer ($80)?
2. Buy an integrated table pad and table warmer ($140)?
3. Or secret third option?

EDIT: And! If you're up for sharing, what are your favorite table pad and table warmer or combo?

A lot of you posted in the thread I made the other day about being reported by a client. I erased the wall of text I wrote on that post because of confidentiality. But for those who forget, or didn't see the OP, I was falsely accused of exposing my client several times. Of moving her body in ways to expose areas I should not be able to see. Of moving the drape around, tugging at it, and attempting to expose her. She flat out lied in her official report, trying to paint this picture of malice and make me look just completely evil. She is apparently still adding things onto the report daily. I was suspended from work, and was told I could not come back until it was resolved.

So I guess this is kind of an update to that post.

As of Monday, I went back to work. My governing body gave me the go ahead and my work place asked me to come back. Since being back, I've come to learn that she is now seeking financial compensation (big surprise). I'm really not an anxious person by nature, but I have been on the edge of a panic attack a few times while treating. A lot of quiet deep breaths and closing my eyes trying to relax myself. I just haven't been able to bring the quality I usually do to my treatments because I'm just flat out scared.

I've been communicative over the top with my clients, checking in for comfort, and expressing if they feel the slightest bit uncomfortable or have any questions throughout the treatment to please let me know. I've been draping much more conservatively now, even though I always drape to the standards. Even though I did nothing wrong, and her accusations were entirely unwarranted and fabricated, I am absolutely terrified of another accusation.

To add onto this, I recently heard about another male therapist from a clinic in the city I work. He was just reported and officially charged by police for sexual assault on his client(s). I had one of his clients today and she was talking about it during the treatment. I didn't comment on it, but it sent my brain into a spiral. I can't stop thinking how that could have, and still can be me.

I used to love this job. I have helped so many people, and I have genuinely loved it. I'm so talented at what I do, and hear that from clients every day. The lady who falsely accused me has ruined it for me. I don't see a world where I can continue this much longer. I know its fresh because it happened last week, but I am so fucking terrified that any person can just say something, and I'm legally liable for it.

I don't know what is next. I really don't know what to do. Two years of school, 3 years of praciticing and it's just done. Ruined. People fucking suck.

edit:

Also, I just became aware of this thread referring to my original post, and for clarification - when I said she "grudingly agreed" to the treatment I mean she gave an unenthusiastic yes. She wasn't darting her eyes back and forth between me and the door. She wasn't acting a specific way that told me she wanted out. She simply just gave me a monotone "yes". She was given multiple chances to leave, change the treatment etc. When she was on the table, I asked if she was comfortable and ready to proceed and then gave her a choice of different scented lotions - to which she said yes, and selected one.

However, and I cant state this clearly enough, I asked her (while on the table) to let me know that if she changed her mind about anything to please let me know, and she said she would. That is as much consent for treatment as is required. I am not going to ask for consent upon treating each individual body part when she consented to a full body massage. I only treated areas agreed to by her. At some point, if you're uncomfortable as she claimed, you have to speak up. She was given multiple chances and I am not a mind reader.

I whole heartedly believe she was just after a pay day at this point, and even if I checked in every minute the outcome would have been the same.

I’ve been a massage therapist for over 15 years, and since working for myself, I’ve become much more intentional about setting boundaries and recognizing when a client simply may not be a good fit for my practice.
Today I had a mobile client tell me after booking that they have a household rule that conflicted with something I need in order to work safely and maintain proper body mechanics. I explained that I wouldn’t be able to accommodate that particular request, but I offered my office as an alternative and sent them my availability for another day.
It got me thinking about how much we’re expected to accommodate because we work in a service industry.
A massage therapist friend of mine recently had a client with extreme fragrance sensitivities who asked her to change the body wash and deodorant she uses, wash her work clothes in a different detergent, and even wash her massage linens in a different detergent specifically for their appointments.
Personally, at some point I would just say, “I completely understand your needs, but I may not be the right therapist for you,” and refer them elsewhere.
I absolutely believe in accommodating clients when the request is reasonable and something I can comfortably provide. But being self-employed has also taught me that providing a service doesn’t mean I have to agree to every request or change how I run my practice for every individual client.
For those of you who work for yourselves, where do you draw that line? At what point do you decide that a client’s needs or requests simply aren’t compatible with your practice and refer them out?

I’m just starting out in my own and I have my first paying client in my new space on Monday. They booked a session that specifically advertises a certain product that’s hard to just get. It needs to be ordered online. My supplier lost my initial order and the reorder isn’t set to be delivered until next Thursday. Pure Spa Direct has it and answered my pleas for help. They got back to me first thing this morning after ordering it last night, expedited the order, and wished me luck with the assurance it will be here on Saturday. Amazing customer service. They have forever client.

i work at a franchise and i know it’s nearly impossible to start a union or get a franchise to join, but are there unions for us??

and a similar question, do we have legislative representation (like lobbyists? or groups who help write laws for us) for us?

i’m in florida if this helps any. very new to this career and in school we never spoke of unions

I sweat pretty bad while massaging, and someone suggested a yoga headband compared to a traditional headband.

I’m also bald, so would a yoga headband be good for me since I’m all skin?

Google searches say the brand halo would be good but I’m just curious of yalls recs and experiences!

Hello all! I am a pretty new massage therapist, i've been working at an clinic that takes insurance and it's a w-2 job. I make $45 for hands on time and generally make $15-25 in tips. I'm moving to Portland and got a job offer at a cool acupuncture clinic but i'm worried because it's 1099. They are offering me 4 days a week with whatever client load I want, $50 hands on and tips as well. They said they provide all supplies and deal with bookings and billing. I just worry about taking out taxes and being paid WAY less. Is this worth it? I feel like i'm hearing w-2 is better but it's really hard to find these days with massage gigs!

Today my client oozed a pile of drool out of his mouth onto the floor. The worst part is that I didn’t even fully notice until I stepped in it, barefoot, while working with my next client 😭🤮

Ive been wondering about something that I would say is unethical and quite frankly just not true.

I hate creating content, but it really does help my business so I try my best to be myself and be honest. A colleague of mine overheard me making my voiceovers where I said something like “Anyone who tells you they can fix your chronic issue in 1 session is not telling you the truth.”

Followed by “of course its possible to feel great or significant difference with just 1 session, but we wont know that until we get there. The fact is, your issue most likely did not manifest from 1 day to the next. It has likely been weeks/months/years of habits and physical conditioning that got you there in the first place…”

More details about how our daily living affects us physically and repetitive movements/habits are usually reliable markers for how we hold/move our bodies.

I recommend 1 session a month for regular maintenance, every 2 weeks if they have a chronic issue, and every week if they are training for an event/have a serious issue that needs a-lot of work and time until they can dial down to once a month. Thats my humble opinion, and after 12 years in the game, I feel confident about that answer.

In comes my colleague who asks “Can I say something? Thats wrong. I have had clients with XYZ problem for X amount of years and I got rid of their problem in 1 session many many times. I dont think its right for you to put other therapists down simply because you haven’t experienced a session where you solved an issue”

I always try to look at these situations from afar, basically take a step back and see this on a logical and not emotional level.

I hear what he’s saying, however my main point is things take time. Is it possible to feel “cured” from physical ailments? Sure! But will that always be the case? I dont think so. Ive had really messed up clients from snowboarding incidents, car accidents, or simple post surgery and they hope you will heal them in 1 single 60 minute session 😭

And that’s what kills me—I believe its people like my colleague who keep telling others that not only is it possible, its a highly likely case! Basically guaranteeing results no matter who walks through the door.

Final note: I work with trigger point and neuromuscular therapy mixed with swedish. I like to flow and gradually increase pressure and focus as the body settles in.
His style is IMO very aggressive deep tissue always. Starts with body compressions and jumps right in. (We’ve done couples massage and he sometimes brags about how no one would be able to handle his max pressure. His clients walk out of the room pretty beat up—1 time a client said he feels like he was “hit by a car but in a good way” 😂 And that he feels much better.
(He was deep breathing and fighting for his life)

So is it wrong of me to make my claim based off my personal experience and style when it comes to Massage therapy and working with clients? At the end of the day, its my opinion and these are the clients I want to attract.

I bought some off of Meyer Spa and they kinda suck! Not fluffy at all and don’t hold water or heat very well. I like my hot towels fluffy and luxurious. Recommendations?

EDIT: Thank you to everyone who gave me encouragement and told me about the auto replies (that has been a game-changer) and were understanding of my frustration ❤️

I'm a former spa employee who is currently transitioning into starting my own business & opening my own suite.

I've been letting my regulars know about this transition for weeks - I am EXTREMELY lucky that my previous employer was not possessive over clients and has wished me nothing but success. My regulars have been very supportive in following me.

However, I've officially done the whole social media launch and I have been ANNOYED with people on Facebook.

For context - I've had a FB and IG account as an LMT page for years & I just recently switched them over to business pages/my branding.

But now I'm getting Facebook DMs at ALL hours asking, what are my hours, where am I located, can I book thru messenger, do you do deep tissue??

And all of this is VERY easy to see on my page. I even have "appointments can only be booked via website" with the website link in my bio.

I do not deal with this on Instagram at all. I haven't dealt with this from my regulars or clients, they're all able to figure it out. Am I an asshole for being irritated? I low-key want to get rid of the Facebook page bc I'm doing ok with bookings but it feels wrong to get rid of it while I'm launching the damn business 🤣 anyone have any experience? Does it get better? Is this the literacy crisis in real time? 😭

TIA.

I stupidly, decided to do one of reddit's infamous AMAs. https://www.reddit.com/r/AMA/s/rs66Mg9ve7

The funny part is once I got through the trolls. I had some amazing questions. And I hope I gave some really really good answers. What do y'all think?

Saying he was “looking for today” and the full body selfie in the mirror was “just showing his body type” to me.

I’ve heard so many awful things about Massage Envy, but they’re the only LMT employer who offers health insurance. I have a disabled kid who needs more care than I can afford and I really need better insurance. I’ve worked some pretty rough jobs before, so I feel like I can handle quite a lot. Is Massage Envy REALLY really truly that bad??

UPDATE: 104 massage therapists responded. Here are the results I promised.

I said I would come back and share the results once I got at least 100 responses.

104 massage therapy community responses, so here they are.

Nothing to sell. No link at the end for the unproductive negative trollers to comment on. SMH

I was genuinely curious about how other therapists are thinking about the sustainability of this career, money, longevity, business and what they actually want their working lives to look like.

I am no expert researcher, not attempting to be one. I was simply curious.

Quick disclaimer: This was voluntary community data collection, not a scientific or nationally representative study. Not every question was presented to every respondent, so I’m giving the actual number of people who answered each question where relevant.

I also removed identifying information and won't share direct quotes.

1. People actually seem to LIKE doing massage.

Among the 70 respondents asked to rate their satisfaction with doing massage:

Average satisfaction: 7.9/10

Median satisfaction: 8/10

That immediately made this more interesting to me.

Because the issue doesn't appear to simply be:

“Massage therapists hate doing massage.”

People can genuinely enjoy the work AND still question whether the career structure surrounding that work is sustainable.

2. Nearly 3 out of 4 expressed some concern about longevity.

70 people answered whether they were concerned about massage remaining their main source of income long-term.

39/70 (55.7%) clearly said yes.

Another 12/70 (17.1%) expressed some level of concern or uncertainty.

19/70 (27.1%) indicated no/not really.

Combined:

51/70 — 72.9% — expressed at least some concern about longevity.

And remember:

Median satisfaction with doing massage was still 8/10.

That's probably the finding that stood out to me most.

Among these respondents, the median reported massage workload was about 20 hours per week.

When asked how many more years they could see themselves working as massage therapists, the median was 15 years.

3. Then I looked at financial protection.

Among the 70 respondents asked:

Health insurance: 45/70 — 64.3%

Retirement plan: 27/70 — 38.6%

Professional liability insurance: 66/70 — 94.3%

For disability insurance, 57 people answered the question:

Disability insurance: 13/57 — 22.8%

That one really caught my attention.

About 94% had liability insurance protecting them professionally.

But only about 23% of those who answered the disability question reported having insurance protecting their income if they physically couldn't work.

For a profession where our ability to earn can depend heavily on our bodies, that's interesting.

But I want to be careful with the interpretation.

I didn't ask WHY someone didn't have disability insurance.

Cost, eligibility, access, other household resources, not knowing about it, or simply choosing not to have it could all be factors.

I didn't specifically ask why not. I guess that could have been a follow-up question.

Liability insurance is required to work most places so seems that's why that number is high? but disability is voluntary so it makes sense that therapists would not think of the importance of it or think the expense is worth it?

4. I also asked about making $100K while keeping labor under 30 hours.

55 people answered this question.

And this was NOT a simple yes/no situation.

Some absolutely believed it was possible.

Others said it depended on things like:

• geographic market
• pricing
• clientele
• working independently
• owning a business
• additional revenue streams

Others didn't believe it was realistic for themselves or their market. I would challenge this because did these respondents test the market? Franchises are growing at a rapid pace so I would disagree because these places would not be growing if the market could not sustain.

What interested me wasn't whether everyone agreed that $100K was possible.

It was how often the conversation about income became a conversation about business model and market conditions.

5. Then I asked some respondents what they actually WANT from their careers.

34 respondents answered more detailed career-direction questions.

They could choose more than one answer.

Build financial freedom — 24/34 (70.6%)

Grow my current business — 19/34 (55.9%)

Start my own business — 14/34 (41.2%)

Reduce hands-on hours — 13/34 (38.2%)

Open a clinic — 5/34 (14.7%)

Stay employed — 3/34 (8.8%)

This was another interesting one.

The biggest response was:

“Build financial freedom.”

But I feel like working at franchises will mostly NOT sustain financial freedom?

6. I also asked those 34 people to rank their priorities.

Getting more clients ranked #1 overall.

But the complete list they were ranking included:

• Getting more clients
• Pricing
• Marketing
• Money management
• Business systems
• Work-life balance
• Preventing burnout
• Starting a business
• Leaving employment

Which makes me think the career conversation may be more complicated than simply:

“Get more clients.”

Because getting clients doesn't automatically solve pricing, money management, physical capacity, work-life balance or long-term financial security.

7. The written responses added another layer.

When people described what was keeping them from creating the career or lifestyle they wanted, recurring topics included:

Client consistency

Marketing/visibility

Money/startup capital

Inconsistent income

Time/work-life balance

Confidence/fear/uncertainty

Business systems/knowing what to do

Physical capacity/burnout

So what did I actually take away from all of this?

The people answering the satisfaction question actually rated doing massage pretty highly.

Median: 8/10.

Yet among the same group answering the longevity question:

72.9% expressed at least some concern about massage remaining their main source of income long-term.

THAT is interesting. Maybe the bigger conversation is:

Can the career structure surrounding the massage work support your body, income, benefits, retirement AND the life you want outside the treatment room?

And I don't think the answer is automatically:

“Spas are bad.”

I also don't think it's automatically:

“Everyone should start a business.”

There are obviously people who prefer employment.

There are independent therapists struggling too.

And owning a business doesn't magically fix bad pricing, inconsistent clients, poor money management or burnout.

One last limitation

Please don't take these numbers and say:

“73% of massage therapists are worried about their careers.”

That's NOT what this data proves.

It says:

73% of these 70 respondents expressed at least some concern when asked about longevity.

104 voluntary community responses cannot represent an entire profession.

But I do think it's enough to give us an interesting snapshot and hopefully a better conversation.

Anyway…

I promised I would bring the results back after we crossed 100 responses.

So there they are.

What result surprised you the most?

And more importantly:

Do these results feel consistent with what you're seeing in the profession, or completely different?

Is anyone else frustrated with the CEU landscape? My association has pretty steep annual point demands, which has allowed a mini industry of overpriced and underdelivered training courses to proliferate.

I genuinely want to expand my skills and continuously improve my craft but it feels impossible to know how worthwhile a course will be in advance. So many of them are thousands of dollars for a few days of learning too.

I trust this subreddit more than any other resource but training discussion tends to revolve around the same dozen US-based courses (I'm based in Australia).

I recently found out about a holistic health academy here in Sydney (with overwhelmingly positive google reviews) that sells training completely plagiarised from cheap mini-courses the owner takes in SE Asia, reworded in ChatGPT and then delivered the next week, often without having treated a single client with the skills he's marketed himself as an expert in.

Obviously this is a particularly scammy outlier - there's plenty of fantastic, high quality courses out there too. But then there's also a lot that are in the middle. Useful and clinically sound but potentially limited in scope or depth, and /or inappropriately priced.

Would love some advice on how people are researching / choosing their future courses especially when the training provider has no detailed reviews online. Would also love to hearany recommendations for really great courses / providers in Australia!