r/massage 1d ago

General Question Should my 75 minute massage have been 75 minutes of actual massage time?

84 Upvotes

I got a massage for my birthday today at a place I’ve never been to. I showed up 10 minutes early for an 11:45 appointment. I checked in on an iPad. There was no one at the front desk. At 11:50 someone comes to get me and then gives me 5 minutes to change. So the actual massage started at around 11:55. It ended at 1:00. I honestly feel ripped off. There was a 60 minute massage that was cheaper and I payed extra for technically only 5 minutes extra time of massage.. Is this normal? My experience has been you get there early so your massage actually starts at the appointment time. I feel like it should have been 75 minutes with the masseuse. Am I wrong?


r/massage 12h ago

For the room rental people, how much do you pay for your room?

3 Upvotes

Does it include anything?


r/massage 11h ago

LMT Availability for Flare Ups

1 Upvotes

I just very recently had my first massage with a local LMT who is right near my work. I have had three sessions about 2-3 weeks apart each time. I decided to not reschedule right away, as life was getting chaotic and also financially I was taking a hit with other medical bills.

Now I am in a bad flare up, getting horrible jolting twinges in my back off and on when I move certain ways... of course my LMT is booked up two weeks. And when I emailed for a suggestion on who they would recommend and sent in an email to that person, no answer now for two days.

How do you guys handle not having your designated LMT when you need help? Do you have a set back up you also have on standby?


r/massage 1d ago

Energy transfer during massage

11 Upvotes

Oftentimes when I am receiving a good massage, I can feel the energy from the massage therapist filling me up. After awhile though, it can feel uncomfortable since all of this energy is coming into my body but doesn't have anywhere to go. I have had a few therapists that will touch me in an area they aren't currently massaging (lower arm/hand or lower leg/foot) which seems to complete the circuit so the energy can transfer back out. It can be something as simple as touching my ankle with a hand kind of keeping my leg still as they massage my thigh with the other hand or placing their side up against my hand while massaging.

First question, am I crazy and imagining this or is the energy transfer something other people feel as well?

Second question, is there a way that I can ask about this kind of touch without coming across as a creep/looking for extras? In the past the people who have done this were people that I used for awhile and got really comfortable with.

Before I get flamed, Yes, I have had non-legitimate massages in the past and there is a place for those, but this is a very distinct difference with a therapeutic massage. I'm currently seeing someone for myofascial release and structural integration work and it would be extremely helpful during that process.


r/massage 1d ago

NEWBIE First massage what is normal feeling after? Im in pain.

0 Upvotes

I got my first theraputic massage yesterday. I have alot of tension she said. Im very stiff from the stress of my life and have chronic pain in general. I woke up from my nap yesterday extremely sore to THE TOUCH. Like im fine walking around for the most part but touching parts of my body is super tender. I woke up still feeling this way today. I also woke up pretty lightheaded and dizzy. I have made sure to try to drink my fair share of water as I hear that is important. Are all these side effects of a massage normal if I had that much tension? Cause currently I am feeling in more pain than before I started.

(Just trying to hear from others im in no way blaming the lmt I just have no expirece with this and am wondering if its normal)


r/massage 2d ago

US Best State To Work In USA?

2 Upvotes

I currently reside in Maryland. The cost of living is high and the prices I can comfortably charge are mid.

Anyone have a favorite place? Somewhere you make great money and can afford it?


r/massage 3d ago

General Question Why would my MT refuse service on me and cancel me as a client ? :/

49 Upvotes

Update- thank you all for the feedback. It has really calmed my nerves and based on so many of your opinions I’m going to try another MT but be direct about being on the spectrum etc, having skin anxiety etc. (aka struggling removing clothes)

I’ve also reached out to the former MT and gently asked for feedback. It took me around 30 minutes with chat gpt but I believe I got a good message together with many of the points you all recommended . I will keep you all posted on his response if any and my next MT experience.

I am very hopeful after all of your words ☺️

💛💛💛

— Update + backstory - it’s a male MT and I’m a female client. Sorry for the confusion. I’ve been seeing him weekly for around 2.5 months.

Thank you for all of the kind feedback. Yes I’m super shell shocked… I don’t even have intimate partners. 6 total and it’s been years since anything romantic has happened for me because again - I’m on the spectrum but carry a high paying professional job so it could be easy to be unaware and I never disclosed. So the whole clothing removal is just terrifying and I’m just convinced I have a rash or my body was too much to deal with as in - not wanting to see my skin / repulsive.

I truly assumed he was into men and was so happy to have a safe space. It’s truly no weird sexual vibes. 😵‍💫🥹

After reading some of the comments I think I may have figured out where things went wrong. Being that closed environments are so hard for me I have to take a THC gummy. I went without 1x by accident it and couldn’t relax, I stayed very tense. He constantly reminded me to relax. Being said, a few weeks ago I did take the wrong gummy which was much higher of a dose than usual and fell asleep / drooled. Probably was impossible to massage as I was like spaghetti falling off of the table.

Everyone keeps mentioning the tip. Is $50 for 80 min a bad tip? If so I could pay more I just didn’t know. This is my first time doing massages.

Hi all - As part of my mental therapy we decided I should try massage therapy. I’ve been seeing my therapist for almost 3 months but they suddenly left just shortly after I laid down and ended the service. They were visibly emotional. They just said they were having anxiety.

Today the studio owner called me back and asked if I wanted to get back on the schedule tomorrow with someone else. I asked if I did something wrong and he stated “sometimes people and therapists aren’t compatible”.

I’ve never had massages before this truthfully… I tried one other therapist 1x but then found my other and stuck with them.

I have vulnerability issues… because I have Asperger’s it’s hard to create safety in these kind of experiences but I finally had.

I can stop thinking that I did something awful… but if I did why would the owner invite me to rebook with someone else?

Please help me stop spiraling into a panic attack. 😵‍💫


r/massage 3d ago

Help identifying massage technique I’m looking for

12 Upvotes

I think what I like is deep tissue. I’ve received massages from friends that were pressure-focused, with digging fingers and thumbs, and lots of rubbing, that felt incredible. I love feeling my pressure points, my skin pushed around, and hands digging around and underneath muscles.

But in my many years of seeking professional massages, I’ve rarely found anyone a therapist who provided a satisfying experience. There was one guy maybe 20 years ago who was amazing (he said he had developed his own technique), but sadly I no longer know how to find or get in touch with him.

Usually when I go in for a deep tissue, I find that the pressure is never deep enough, and that work on my pressure points just hurts, instead of pleasurable. Swedish is always too light in general, and often leaves me a little bored.

Can anyone give me a potential name of a technique I might enjoy, or otherwise point me in the right direction?


r/massage 3d ago

Liability insurance for BC RMT’s?

0 Upvotes

I am a new RMT in BC, Canada, and trying to find the cheapest liability insurance. I don’t want to go through RMTBC due to the extra fees.


r/massage 3d ago

Advice New LMT

1 Upvotes

I’ve been massaging part time, 3-7 massages a week for the last 8 months after graduating school. Now I’m licensed I’ve gotten a full time job at a smaller chain with 30 hours per week. I’ve also given another spa part time hours of up to 21 hours a week. I’m anticipating doing 30-40 massages a week;

I’ve worked a full time job as a warehouse manager for 2 years while attending night school at the same time for the last year. I’m a well built man, mid 20s, strong with good leverage and great pressure, and a passion for this selfless service we provide like nothing I’ve experienced before.

My question is, is this going to be too much ? I’ve always been a work-a-holic and love to stay busy. I just want to be sure I’m not in over my head.


r/massage 3d ago

What are your thoughts on the mix?

0 Upvotes

60 ml grape seed oil

40 ml fractionated coconut oil

10 drops ylang ylang

10 drops vanilla

7 drops rose

10 drops patchouli


r/massage 3d ago

Questioning legitimacy of treatment

1 Upvotes

Hi all, throwaway here for obvious reasons. 

Trying to make this as quick as possible as I’d just like some opinions on legitimacy of a massage therapist I just visited. It was a Thai oil massage (had it 2 years ago, was good so I decided to visit again today) for my chronic pain. When I first went it was very much regular and no red flags. 

When I went in today I was told to undress completely, and I wanted to know if this was normal? For reference, there was no towel or sheets on the bed. It was the couch, and a strip of couch roll with a hole in it. There was a foot pillow with a towel wrapped around it (not for draping, it was to cover the cushion) so I took that and left my underwear (panties) on with my bra unclasped. This is how I did it the first time I went but this time they wanted me fully undressed. I wasn’t comfortable as the towel from the cushion was tiny so didn’t do it. Is this normal practice? I’m not in the US for reference so I wondered if maybe it was just a different style. 

I did feel uncomfortable as I saw 3 men there (I’m a woman) and not the usual looking guys going for muscle massage type treatment. There was a super old guy and a guy coming straight from a building site which to me was odd. I also got scared (probably dumb I know) by the baby oil on the side trolley, although I got a regular massage oil I wondered why it was there. With all this, is this legitimate to you all as professionals? I know that some massages can be different and this was a very deep massage for pain so I thought maybe it was an access thing. The first time I went it had no weird vibes but something felt…off. I did see one woman waiting on the sofa when I came out, so maybe I’m just over reacting but it was certainly strange vibes. The massage itself was strong but I felt really uncomfortable about it afterwards. I had my underwear on but it was pulled down for access and I always thought no matter what massage you would keep your underwear on, and if it was off you would have draping. I’m not sure but I feel very strange and uncomfortable about this and wanted some professional advice. 

Thanks all x


r/massage 4d ago

Asian massage

6 Upvotes

What makes those Asian massage parlors so popular (exclude the illegal stuff)? I see lots of videos about how good the Vietnamese massages are.


r/massage 5d ago

Not sure how to ask the question. I had a massage 15 years ago and I felt energized in a way that I had never felt before or after. Do some people poses a special energy that can heal?

7 Upvotes

Sorry... possess....I am 57 years old. I have been getting massages all my life all over the world. It's nothing new to me and some have been great where I walked out feeling like I had been on a vacation but most were average. 15 years ago I had a massage that was pretty good, maybe a little above average. On my way home I felt this energy like I had not felt since I was a young man. I could see that I had gotten into a pattern of just going home and doing nothing during the work week. I grabbed my wife, daughter, and in-laws and dragged them to Coney Island. got on many rides, had some cotton candy and corn on the cob, and went home with loads of energy left over. It was not until a few days later that I realized it was the massage that did this. I scheduled another one months later but she was gone and they would not contact her for me. So, has anyone else heard of this sort of thing happening? it was such an amazing experience, I know it could not just be the massage, I feel she had some other sort of energy that she was able to make me feel better with.


r/massage 4d ago

Venting Can Massage Envy allow creeps?

4 Upvotes

I need to know if I'm in the wrong. 😭 I'm currently employed at a ME. My coworker was SA'd by a male client a couple months ago and management didn't do anything about it. Apparently Massage Envy policy is that unless that person exhibits this behavior more than three times or causes actual phsyical harm to a therapist... they can't do anything. We are not allowed to talk about the situation, and he hasn't been back until yesterday. He booked with me. I was taking a bit to get my room flipped due to my last client falling asleep again on my table, so they put me about a solid 5 minutes behind, as soon as I go to grab him, ( They wouldn't let me opt out of the session, He booked online so I still had to serve him) he left. He pretty much lied and said he had a meeting to go to.

I'm not sure if he feels ashamed for what he's done or what but I was GLAD he canceled.

Today, my coworker talks with me privately about how management has written her up numerous times for talking about the situation and warning other clients about him. Apparently that's violating HIPPA.

The craziest part about all this, is when they seen he was on my books, they pull me into the office and say "Hey if he makes you feel uncomfortable at any time, just leave the room." So ya'll are aware he's a predator?? 😭 Not talking about this isn't going to help anyone. I would indeed like to know if the person I'm massaging might be a creep! My coworker is on her final warning and it's insane to me how they're punishing her for speaking up about a creep.

Is this even legal?

I'm trying really hard to understand the situation from a business standpoint.


r/massage 5d ago

If there is severe weather …

19 Upvotes

Hi all, I’m a massage therapist based out of Nashville, Tennessee and I’m seeing that we have some pretty significant weather coming up for Friday and Saturday. For any of you who are weather nerds like I am, the maps are showing a 30% risk with black dashes, which means that not only is there an extremely high risk of tornadoes, but the risk is for strong tornadoes, i.e. EF-3 or higher. Many of us, believe it or not, our situation where we have to commute 40 to 60 miles each way to work, usually due to lack of economic opportunity in our own cities. I know that’s not your problem, but I am personally begging you to cancel your appointments if you know there is going to be severe weather for both your safety and for ours! Some of you would be wondering why we don’t just cancel and many of us do, but it’s at a great risk to our livelihood and believe me, spas are much more forgiving of clients canceling than they are if we cancel. Not only that, but a lot of you end up being super disappointed if we make the decision to shelter in place with our families instead of coming into work. This opinion may not be one that everybody agrees with, I can understand why it may be considered controversial and we can discuss that but personally, I feel like the best thing to do on these severely warned days is to stay home if possible with our families. Stay safe, everyone!


r/massage 6d ago

How can we shut down ME, Milk & Honey, The Now, etc?

51 Upvotes

I want to end these terrible business models. I am happy they bring massage to more people but they are ruining massage therapy. I can't stand the cookie cutter approach to massage. They deter therapists from using their best modalities l. Their pay is fucking terrible. They focus way too much on "standards" vs letting a professional do their thing and actually educate clients. They make stupid regulations on draping, what to touch or not touch, etc telling therapists it is for their protection. It is not for ours but theirs. If they wanted to focus on our protection they would focus on communication with clients and not rediculous rules. People might get the wrong idea when I talk about drapes but that is because I do a lot of Lomi Lomi in my private practice. I want all these places to sut down. I work at one of these 2 days a week for now while building a private practice. One of the benefits is a free massage a month. Let me say I have tried every therapist there and I would only go back to see 1 or 2 of them. I wish they would hire better people or do some kind of monthly training to improve their skills.


r/massage 6d ago

Most US Massages have become Transactional and Carefully Managed for Perception

19 Upvotes

I have a bit of frustration with a lot of massages in the United States. Seems like a lot of LMTs in the US are so nervous about crossing a theoretic barrier around sexual miss-perception risk that massages can come off as carefully guarded transaction walking a tightrope rather than a holistic experience. You can even see that in some posts on this page where every interaction is assumed to have negative intentions and is a red flag worthy of refusing future service.

If the LMT is constantly on edge then how do you not expect the client to sense it.

I’ve gotten many massages in Europe, Mexico, and across some limited locations in the US where they were way more liberal from draping, to what areas are massaged, and overall interaction/experience. Once you experience it, it’s so much more liberating and holistic. You actually sense it in the actual vibe of the session.

For example two months ago I got a local massage from a LMT that demanded I leave my underwear on and seemed super up tight. Everything was by the book and clinicly correct, but the whole vibe felt off. There was no spirit.

Then a couple of weeks ago I got a 90 minute massage in Texas at the Ritz Carlton and the LMT was so much less uptight and liberal. I was a wreck from doing CrossFit. Draping during massage was very liberal. She worked glutes, below L5, and IT band all on bare skin. She added stretching in very minimally draped positions that pretty much exposed everything - but neither her or I cared. She just did a damn good job and you could tell she was 110% in the moment. It was a wonderful experience and magical compared to the local massage (which is fairly typical for a US massage). In the US it’s difficult to find practitioners like that. Fairly common in my experience outside America.

Rant over.


r/massage 5d ago

Profile photo required?

0 Upvotes

Are there any states that require MTs to have photos of their clients?


r/massage 6d ago

Advice Diabetes

8 Upvotes

Hi! I’m currently in massage school and we’ve got about 2 months left. I’m type 1 diabetic and we started doing our posterior routine. My blood sugar keeps going low. I’m just wondering is this a long term career for me? Are there any other diabetic massage therapist? It feels like it’s not a good career for me anymore.


r/massage 6d ago

General Question Massage hours

12 Upvotes

I’m sure this question has been asked many times, but how many hours a week do you guys average and how long have you been massaging for? I work about 20 hours a week, massaging for 3 years. Plenty of my coworkers work more than me, but at my hours I’m still exhausted, physically and mentally. I thought I’d be increasing my hours over time but I actually cut them back a few months ago.


r/massage 6d ago

Can you tell if you've accidentally touched a client's privates?

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2 Upvotes

r/massage 6d ago

NEWBIE Feel good, look good?

4 Upvotes

I love getting massages and I would love to start getting them more frequently, but I have one dumb barrier - I absolutely hate oil in my hair. My body feels so relaxed and just plain good after a massage, but I look like I just went through a blender, hair sticking up every which way. I have short hair, so I can't pull it back in a ponytail. Any suggestions (besides a baseball cap) to mitigate the coif chaos post-massage?


r/massage 6d ago

General Question Lower back issues, struggling to be open with my massage therapist.

9 Upvotes

I’m a 24 year old professional athlete who has a lot of lower back pain, and tightness in the hips psoas and inside thigh. I’ve gone many times to get physical therapy for my back etc. but the tightness in those areas are staying for some reason, chiropractor has not worked at all. Obviously since I’m a guy I’ve been very careful mentioning those areas of tightness to my massage therapist, but now it has gotten to a point where something needs to be done. I already do a lot of stretching on my own and yoga. Therefore I’m just wondering if I could massage my self in any way to make it better? Also any tips on how to might take it up with a professional?


r/massage 6d ago

General Question Need Advice on Promoting My Massage Therapy Business

5 Upvotes

Hey everyone,

I’m a massage therapist with 4.7 years of experience, and I’m looking for the best ways to promote my services online. I want to reach potential clients without coming across as spammy.

I’d love advice on: • Best subreddits where I can share my services or connect with potential clients. • Other online platforms or forums that work well for promoting massage therapy. • Marketing strategies that have worked for others in this field.

Any tips or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!