Sticky Situations and Key Phrases To Get Out Of Them

These are several uncomfortable situations that I have found myself in with clients, and resolutions that I have figured out myself. I do hope that this helps any therapist out there with similar issues. In times like these it’s good to be prepared with lists like this.

1) Situation: They keep messing with the draping or pulling it up to far.

Response: The next time they do that, simply put your hand on the sheet to prevent it from being moved further and say, “Oh I’ll handle the draping, you just relax.”

*Sometimes men won’t always get under the sheets/blankets like they’re supposed to. So, simply walk in with an extra sheet or keep one on hand in the massage room. You don’t need to say anything or acknowledge the fact, just putting it on them should get the point across.

2) Situation: Making themselves get excited-talking too much.

Response: Comment that you have found some tension on the area that you are working on. Then, ask them to participate in a breathing exercise that has them (silently) count down from ten in their heads. After they’ve been silent for awhile (and consequentially more relaxed), comment on how much better the muscle feels. If they start yapping again, magically find some more tension and repeat.

*When all else fails, move on to facial massage.

3) Situation: Client is stuck in a negative cycle of bitching. It is bringing you down, and making them grow tense.

Response: “Gosh that sounds awful. Well I’m glad you made it in here today b/c it sounds like you could use some stress relief. So you just clear your mind of all of that negative stuff and breathe in the positive.” I know that sounds a little corny, but laying it all out there can really help them realize that this is their time, and they don’t need to share it with anxiety about a certain situation. Ofcourse if all else fails, simply say, “Yah know that really sounds depressing. It’s kind of bringing me down so let’s stick to a positive topic. I don’t want you to feel any more stress, it is your time.” This is just a basic idea for a response, but a similar format to this is a good idea. Notice that when I use the word “let’s” it sounds less personal and more team-oriented. In other words, it makes them less defensive.

4) Client constantly tenses up their muscles.

Response: I have, unfortunately, taken up the habit of telling clients to “play dead”. Perhaps this is not the best choice in words. Saying something along the lines of “Just let your head/arm/neck fall into my hands,” or “I want you to pretend that your muscles are made of jell-o,” sounds much better than “Just relax.” Then, lighten up on pressure slightly and increase it much more gradually.

5) Client is way too loud.

Response: Lower your own voice to an extreme yet audible degree. The disparity between volumes should make the loudness of their own voice more obvious to them. If that doesn’t work whisper/say, “I’m sorry to ask but could you tone your volume down just a little bit? These walls are so thin- it’s ridiculous.” The old blame-the-wall trick never fails.

6) Hugging/ kissing attempts

Response: If it occurs to you even once that this person is just seeing how far they can go with you then drop them as a client. If they call and request you then the front desk can make up some excuse as to why you will no longer work with them but that is not a situation that you want to be around.

Otherwise, when they ask you how your day is you can reply with something like “It’s been great, except for this one guy that kept trying to hug me. I mean I know some people are comfortable with that, I’m just not one of them.” If you say this really casually, then they won’t take it personally. At the end of the session if they start to go in for a hug just put your hand out, palm forward, in front of you and say (with a friendly, forgiving smile) “I’m not much of a hugger actually.” If you are uncomfortable with being that direct, simply put your hand out as mentioned before and stage a fake sneeze. “It’s probably just allergies, but just in case…”

7) Asking for phone number

Response: Explain to him that all scheduling is done through the front desk. Stick with that but if he persists then just pass the front desk number (one that is not advertised) on as your own. This will shut him up and get your point across when he eventually calls.

I hope this helps out and there will be more to come!

Raaaaaagggeeee

I have come to air my complaints about one insidious, self-centered, anti-punctual asshole. Let’s call him John Smith. Well, John Smith is a nurse who works nights and never seems able to make his appointments, his daytime appointments, on time. I have worked on him now eight times and enough is enough. We’re all human so occasional lateness is no big deal. However, he has never been on time even once. I would know- I’m his therapist. He has cost me a massage more than one time and I am so sick of it.

 Last week he called three minutes after his appointment start-time to reschedule for half an hour later. Why? He failed to be on time for yet another appointment because he was sleeping in and wanted the extra rest. He exuberantly offered this excuse as if it was the golden I’m-in-the-E-R universally-acceptable excuse. Get an alarm clock! So yesterday he walks in the clinic at 9 AM to make an 11:30 appointment with me. I walked into the lobby just as he was speaking to the receptionist and my lack of excitement to see him was very noticeable.

 As soon as he walked out  I asked the front desk associate to please give him a courtesy call half an hour before his appointment time to ensure he’s on his way. I told her as well as the manager on staff, if asked by him last minute to move his appointment down, to please lie and say I have an appointment after him. I really don’t want to lose any more money to this guy.

A couple hours later I get out of a massage at 11:25, change the sheets, and walk up to the lobby area to call Mr. Smith for his session. He is nowhere in sight. I look to the front desk girl; we can call her Abby, and shrug my shoulders as if asking “Where is he?” She shook her head at me and explained that, although she had called him, she had not been able to contact him at all. My face turned dark and mood level took a nosedive. I mean, how inconsiderate do you have to be to never make an appointment on time? Very inconsiderate, I think.

I take a seat on a plush purple couch and start tapping my foot to the beat of the second hand on my watch. Three minutes tick by…five minutes…twelve. Fifteen minutes into his appointment time the front desk phone starts ringing. Abby picks up to hear a very rushed and groggy voice on the other end. “Hello! Umm….My name is John….Umm….I was supposed to have an appointment right now…Umm…Yeah, you see I kind of slept in so I’m going to need to move my appointment down!” What an idiot. “I’m sorry John; unfortunately your therapist has an appointment right after you. You still have thirty-five minutes left in your session so if you can get here as soon as possible, she’ll be able to give you the rest of that.”

I hunch over the faux-marble desk space as I listen in to the conversation as best I could. I am appalled, simply and completely appalled, at the nerve of this guy to try and change my schedule around to accommodate his utter lack of punctuality and planning. He agrees to hurry up and come in to take advantage of the remainder of his session. Surely enough, seven minutes later he comes charging in the door and I swear it was his intention to make me feel rushed. I was ready to take him back to the room immediately and instructed him to follow me. Apparently, “follow me” was interpreted as “charge ahead in no particular direction”.

As soon as we got to the room he decided that he needed to use the restroom. Fine. He does his business and then comes back. After a brief intake, I instructed him to disrobe to his comfort level and begin face-down. He tells me he’ll only need ten seconds, as if I had no chart to complete and file and no hands to wash. What an asshole. I exit the room, turn in his chart, and go to the bathroom to wash my hands. Apparently this guy was in too much of a hurry to put the toilet seat down or put the paper towel he used to dry his hands with in the trash. It was pretty disgusting.

Upon entering the room, an evil idea sweeps through my mind. I thought, ‘I should give him a really crappy massage’. I mean, I really don’t want him as a client so why not? I have never intentionally decreased the quality of my massage with someone so this seems like a scary adventure. Somehow, I overcame that and delivered to this asshole the crappiest massage you could ever give someone. I am not proud of it, but not sorry either.

When I was done, instead of waiting outside the door for him with a cup of water I retreated to the break room to hide until he was off the property. My scheme worked: around the time when he should have been checking out, the appointment he made with me for this upcoming weekend disappeared from my schedule and appeared in the column of another therapist. Hopefully I’ll be rid of him forever!

Options

            Many clients have asked me the differences between the different types of massage. Our first and most basic kind of massage is Swedish massage. The second most commonly asked for is Deep Tissue massage. In a nutshell, Swedish massage is relaxation massage. It mostly consists of long, flowing strokes up and down the back and extremeties. These smooth, centripetal strokes are known as “effleurage”. In addition to effleurage, petrissage is also used in a Swedish massage. Petrissage is when the therapist kneads the tissue with their hands. This often involves a lot of thumbwork and feels like the therapist is slurping up skin in the palm of their hands. In a way, every massage is a Swedish massage because every massage contains these two basic kinds of strokes.

           
Deep Tissue is the second most commonly asked for massage. It is, at it’s core, a Swedish massage. However, different massage techniques are used in addition to the standard effleurage and petrissage. Obviously, the pressure is deeper than Swedish massage. This increased pressure is applied with the therapist’s forearm, fist, elbow, or heel of hand. This can be applied anywhere except the face. In order to perform a Deep Tissue massage the therapist adjusts the table to a low height and then leans in with their body weight in order to ensure maximum pressure.

           
There are two additional options a client can get with their massage: deep heat and aromatherapy. Deep  heat can be applied on one of three areas: neck and back, lower legs and feet, or arms and hands. The process goes as follows: During the last 15-20 minutes of the session, the therapist applies a hot, moist towel to the selected area. After three rounds of compression, the therapist removes the towel and applies a few drops Prossage. Prossage is a body oil that stimulates blood circulation by dilating the blood vessels close to the surface of the skin. This creates a warming sensation as the therapist applies friction massage (fast, back-and-forward movements) with this oil throughout the area. A few minutes before the session ends, the therapist applies another hot, moist towel to the area in order to remove all of the Prossage. Once this is done, a light layer of Biofreeze gel is applies to the area. Biofreeze decreases blood circulation in the vessels nearest it. This use of Prossage then Biofreeze helps to flush out excess toxins and helps overall blood circulation.

           
Aromatherapy is also something a client can add to their session. There are currently four blends available: Aches and Pains, Anxiety Release, Lavender Garden, and Mint & Rosemary. Each promotes relaxation and stimulates your sense of smell. My personal favorite is Mint & Rosemary.

Hot Stone Massage....grr

Hot Stone massage is a bit different than regular Swedish massage. You begin face-up (lying on your back) with tolerably hot stones placed strategically on either side of your spine and just under your skull. The therapist will massage some areas of your body with smooth flat stones held in each palm of their hands. By the time the therapist turns you over on your stomach, your back muscles are consequently relaxed due to the heat from the stones.

Many Massage Envy locations near us have begun offering hot stone massage as one of their options. So, of course, my boss wants us to start learning how to do it in order to keep up as much business as possible. In order to entice therapists to want to learn how to do hot stone, my boss is offering 16 free CEU’s (continuing education units that we need to have each year) to watch all the videos needed, read a thick workbook, complete all the quizzes at the end, and do six “practicals” (practice massages). The problem here is that we are not getting paid to do any of the six 90-minute practicals. We then have to bend over a sink for a half an hour scrubbing the stones clean and scouring the whole hot stone cart clean until it sparkles. I don’t particularly think that this is fair.

The most unfair thing of all, however, is that we would not get any additional money for doing a hot stone massage versus doing a regular massage. Yes we would get paid to do a two hour massage when the hands-on part is only 90 minutes, but that’s because we would be working for two hours, bottom line. It really frustrates me how money-hungry some business owners can be.

Sunburn

I have dealt with a lot of clients with backne (back acne), psoriasis, weird scars, imploding body hairs, etc. The grossest thing is, however, SUNBURNS. When I apply the cream and do long strokes down the back it comes off in sheets. I mean, why do people even come in to get worked on when their skin is in such a sensitive state?? Then the dead skin combines with the cream and forms little squishy grey clumps that spread all over the area being worked on. Yuckyness!!

How To Be A Good Client - Don'ts

I believe that there are a lot of well intended people out there who make little mistakes with their massage therapists which prevent them from being “ideal” clients. Here I just wanted to highlight some really common situations that people put themselves in when going to/in session with their therapists and educate people who would like to be even more considerate clients than they already are:

1) Don’t be late. Occasionally this is understandable. I mean, we’re all human after all! However, if you find yourselves consistently being late then you need to schedule 30 minutes later than you would otherwise. This may possibly end up with you sitting on a couch for a few minutes but it really saves you time in your session, as well as preventing the therapist from feeling rushed in the massage.

2) Do not call one minute before your appointment time to reschedule half an hour later. This is enormously inconsiderate to the therapist’s time. Let me give you an example: One day I had a 9-4 shift. I had a massage from 2-3 pm, and then a blank spot from 3-4 pm. Since I had not gotten very many massages that day, I was next in line to get a booking (for the 3-4 pm time slot).

However, my consistently late client called at 1:59 and asked for a 2:30-3:30 appointment instead. Since it was empty the front desk was obligated to give that time to him. Five minutes later the front desk gets a call from one of my regulars requesting me for the 3-4 pm time slot. Obviously I did not get the booking because I was going to be in session with Mr. Late. I really resent that I lost money because of this guy that perpetually disrespects my time.   

3) Do not ask for more time at the very end of the massage as I am walking out of the door. I have no problem with a one-hour client deciding during the middle or beginning of the massage that they would really want a ninety-minute. The problem with asking me at the end of a massage is that if I find out that we don’t have enough rooms open or I have a client right afterwards then I just wasted like four minutes waiting on the (incredibly busy) front desk staff to give me the go ahead or not. When you only have ten minutes between clients this is not acceptable and definitely makes me late for my next client, whom I will now have to apologize to.

4) Do not take forever getting dressed. I really wished we had more time between clients so that clients could just take a few minutes to wake up, but the fact is that we don’t have that time. Within five minutes of taking our hands off the client at the very end of the massage we are supposed to have that room ready for the next person, sheets changed and everything. That leaves the client 3-4 minutes to get dressed which I believe is reasonable. The button-down suit clients take a little longer than that but that’s understandable.

What’s not understandable is when people (who have not accidentally fallen asleep) just lie on the table for five minutes as if they were snuggling into bed in their own homes. That is not okay because I might have three more clients in a row after that and will have to apologize to all of them for being late to their massages because of this one person. The utmost disrespect in this little bad manner division is when I am waiting outside the door with sheets and water for them and all of a sudden hear them carrying on a phone conversation in the room! And by disrespect I mean the extreme epitome of rudeness. That’s definitely when I knock on the door!

5) Do not moan excessively. It makes me feel uncomfortable when people do this because I don’t know them and I don’t know if they’re a sicko or not! When women are really verbal like this it’s just annoying, however when men do it it is super creepy. I had a guy once that sounded like a fourteen year old girl losing her virginity. It was disturbing. I asked him if he was alright every minute or so but unfortunately he did not get the hint.

6) Do not tense up during your massage. I understand that this is a natural bodily reaction and have no problem asking people to relax or jokingly say “play dead.” However, there are some people under the illusion that they are “helping” me. I put that in quotations because that is the word used by several of them. This matters because it makes the massage much more difficult for me when a person is contracting or tensing their muscles. For example, when a muscle is relaxed it feels like hard play-doh. When it's contracted it feels like…concrete. Please try not to “help”.

7) Do not be a “Negative Nancy”. It is very stressful to be in a small room with someone for an hour or more and have them bitch nonstop about their divorce. It sucks the energy and life right out of me and is really a downer. Also, people tense up when they talk about things that are stressing them so not only do I have to listen to them whine and unload this crap onto me, but it is also making my job harder.

            Well, those are the basic not-to-do’s and I’ll add some more in future posts as my blog comes along!

Pros and Cons of Working at Massage Envy

I love my job. However, with any job there are several pros and cons. It was, of course, the positive aspects of massage therapy that first attracted me to the profession. First and foremost is the money. I am a young adult working my way through college and this really is one of the best jobs to have through that experience. Massage therapy is one of the few jobs that allow you to make several times the amount of minimum wage per hour without committing more than eight months of your life to training for it. Although I did not like the idea of starting college later than my peers, I realize that going to massage therapy school was one of the best decisions I have made. Plus working as a waitress wasn’t working out. Apparently people don’t like wearing their drinks…

            Another positive aspect of massage therapy goes along with money is the fact that it is recession resistant. There are so many places a massage therapist can work. Casinos, spas, doctor’s offices, hotels, cruise ships, resorts, malls, hospitals, and places like Massage Envy are all places that a massage therapist can often find work at. I have never looked at a single job website and not found a listing for “Massage Therapist Needed” in the area that I live.

            Working at Massage Envy specifically has many benefits. The best thing I like about it is that I can just show up, do my job, make money, and go home. I do not have to advertise myself almost at all or try to sell people anything. They provide the clients, cream, holsters, tables, rooms, and scheduling services. It is so nice to not have to worry about any of that. Many therapists choose to market themselves independently and travel to and from people’s houses doing massages. I could not imagine doing that – it would take so much time to build a consistent clientele base and would be really stressful (not to mention potentially dangerous) to go into a stranger’s homes. Here many people might object that it is dangerous, but I certainly would not want to take those kinds of risks. I also like that I get frequent breaks throughout my day. I usually do not get booked the maximum amount of massages I can do in one day (which is six), so I normally get two or three hours within my shift that I can use to hang out with coworkers or, better yet, do my homework (or work on my blog!). After several months of working with the same therapists, you really develop a strong bond and “team” attitude with each other.

Just as there are good aspects of my job, there are some bad parts as well. The first thing that comes to mind is bad tippers. There are some people that, for God knows why, choose to tip poorly. This is the most frustrating thing that happens, to atleast someone on staff, on a regular basis. The lack of consideration shown by some clients to their therapists is just out of this world. It is common sense I think for anyone to be able to conclude that tips are an integral part of our paycheck. We depend on tips to make a living, pay our mortgage, put gas in our cars, food on the table, textbooks, and college tuition. It is not just a slap in the face to get a bad tip – it is a guttural punch. It is like having acid tossed in my face to be presented with a crumpled, Cheeto-covered small wad of ones from the lint-ridden depths of a cheapo’s back pocket. I just cannot understand what compels these people to be so rude as to mess with our income. The second most frustrating thing about being a massage therapist is the sheer physical demand. It is not an easy job by any means. You have to do real, actual labor. The first year I was a therapist I would walk into my home after a shift and stick my hands in the freezer because they ached so badly. Physical pains become part of your life. The average career span of a massage therapist is only seven years for just this reason. An injury or illness can end or put a major obstacle in the way of your career. The final major con of being a therapist is the occasional weirdo. Though I have almost never had to deal with them, I will get the random socially-awkward eye wanderer and it really grosses me out. All in all though, it’s a pretty great profession and I enjoy working as a therapist very much.

Metal Mouth and Another Dead Cop

Taking a break from the topic of massage therapy, I am proud to say that I am no longer one of the metal mouth masses. After nearly a year of wiry hell, I finally have gotten my braces off. I woke up at the crack of dawn, well 7 AM anyway, and battled downtown hectic traffic to my orthodontist’s building. Prepared for a three hour appointment, I was surprised I did not have to wait at all to be seen. When I was fully reclined in the weird mint-colored ortho-chair my orthodontist just started popping off my brackets one by one with an intense pair of dental pliers. Thanking God I popped three ibuprofen ahead of time, I closed my eyes and patiently waited the seven minutes it took to pop off the whole top row. Then came the scraping. I was tempted once to open my eyes, half expecting to see a man with devilish glare poised above my head with a chisel and pickaxe, but decided to keep them close and bit his finger in my anxiety. Oops. Next came the sanding. There must be some weird inner circle of hell reserved for orthodontists who enjoy sanding down their patient’s teeth. It was awful. I had no breathing tube on my nose so I felt like I was inhaling tooth dust and aerated cement (and probably was). Thank God that only took five minutes or so. Then they sent me to brush and rinse my teeth to remove all of the dusty residue. For the first time in almost a year, I saw my teeth (top row anyway) au natural. I kept moving my lips around, not believing that that horrible dental monstrosity they call braces was actually gone. After admiring them in the mirror for an embarrassing amount of time, I return to my torture chair for another round with the bottom row. The doctor removed my bottom wire and brackets, chiseled off the glue, and proceeded with the same sanding routine he had done with my top row. After biting him hard a second time, I took a deep breath and relaxed. Then they cemented a solid, flat wire behind my bottom four center teeth and called it a “permanent  retainer.” I’m told to brush my teeth again and then I have to bite into this raspberry flavored goo mixture to create an impression for my permanent upper retained. Then the dental assistant sits me down and instructs me on how, when, and why to use my retainer, etc. I make a follow-up appointment and finally get to leave…with my mouth metal free!!

 On another note, I have noticed a truly disturbing trend that is happening around the Tampa Bay area. Police officers are getting killed on the job left and right. I wanted to mention this because another officer had his life taken from him just a few days ago in St. Pete. Ofc. David Crawford was shot four times in the chest by a 16 year-old on Monday night. He was holding a pen and pad in his hand, writing down information at the time of his shooting, according to foxnews.com. A month ago two Tampa officers were shot and killed while trying to serve a warrant. Officers Jeffrey Yaslowitz and Thomas Baitinger died on the 31^st of last month, one at the scene of the shootout and another later on at the hospital (prefferedbypete.com). About eight months ago, David Curtis and Jeffrey Kocab of the Tampa Police Department passed away at a traffic stop. They were both 31 years old. Losing one officer on the job within one year is a tragedy, but five in one year is just ridiculous. There has to be an end to all of these senseless killings. Every time I heard about another officer getting killed I thought, “Again?” Hopefully the death of Crawford several days ago will be the last death in the string of fallen officers in the area.

http://preferredbypete.com/world-news/31197-thousands-mourn-slain-st-petersburg-police-officers-thomas-baitinger-jeffrey-yaslowitz.html

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/02/22/st-petersburg-police-officer-killed-shooting/

http://www.cbsnews.com/2300-504083_162-10003927.html

Typical Day

Today was a whirlwind. There was a residual flow of business from Valentine’s Day; lots of couples came in that couldn’t get a chance to come in together during the workweek. Thank goodness there was room assignments!! A typical day operates as follows: I show up to work fifteen minutes early (any later than that and you are technically considered as coming in late), find an empty locker to put my purse in, and then go up to the front desk. Once there, I sign myself up to a room on the sign in sheet and get my cream and holster. Then, I go back to the break room where the lockers are and look at the flatscreen computer monitor they have that shows all of the appointments for the day. When my client arrives, their name is underlined and that way I know that they are up front. If there is a little folder image next to their name that means they are filling out paperwork. At top of the hour, say 4:00, I walk up front and find the client’s medical chart at the side of the front desk to review their medical history and make notes for the session. With chart in hand, I walk over to the sitting area and call out my client’s name. Once they identify themselves, I greet them with a smile, handshake, and introduction. I then invite them to follow me and lead them to the assigned room I am in for the day. The first question I ask is what kind of massage they want. Since I can only do Swedish and Deep Tissue I just ask them which one they want. It’s about half and half as far as responses go. Then I ask them what “areas of concern” they have, or if anything is bothering them. Most commonly the responses are the neck, shoulders, and low back. Then I instruct them to disrobe to their level of comfort and get under the sheet and blanket face down with their face in the face piece. On their chart I write “RMH” (meaning I reviewed their medical history) and either “FBSM” (for full body Swedish massage), or “FBDT” (for full body deep tissue). Then I make a comment on what their problem areas were and sign my initials at the bottom. I leave them to disrobe, make notes on their chart, turn the chart in to the front desk so it can be filed, fill up my cream, go to the break room and wash my hands, and then return to the room where I give a knock and then go in. As Jack Meagher puts it, "Massage is the study of anatomy in braille.(massagenerd)" I agree that massage is about learning the body in a physical way because my massaging experience confirms it.
The hour long massages are actually fifty minutes hands on time so it starts at five after the hour, say 4:05. I end the session at 4:55, go to the break room to wash my hands/arms, rush up to the front waiting room to get them a cup of water, go to the linen cupboards and get a clean face piece cover and two flat sheets, and return to outside the room to wait for them to get out. This is always a tense period of time. I’m just hoping to death that they don’t take forever getting dressed and mess up my entire day’s schedule. As soon as they emerge, groggy and sleepy-eyed, I hand them their water and instruct them to drink plenty of it through out the day in order to flush out all of the toxins that were released in the massage. They thank me, sometimes hand me a cash tip (half the time its on credit card), and walk away. As quickly as possible, I rush in the room, rip off the used sheets and face piece, throw them on the floor by the door, wipe down the face cradle with a Clorox wipe, and redress the table with the fresh sheets. I take the dirty sheets to the laundry cabinet and put them in the dirty pile, then run to the break room and stare at the computer screen. I find my column, scan it for my next client’s name, and then rush up front, find their chart and begin again. I am a “4/6” which means I can do four massages in a row with a maximum of six for the entire day. Upon my hiring, I was able to tell my boss how many massages in a row I was comfortable doing and that’s what they set it at. At the end of the day after I change the sheets of the last client, I simply go up front, turn in my cream and holster, ask for tips (some clients leave cash tips in an envelope when they checkout), and say my goodbyes.

http://www.massagenerd.com/Quotes_of_Massage.html

Happy Endings and Human Trafficking

I recently recieved a comment inquiring if I do "happy endings". First of all I would just like to say how excited I am to have recieved a comment (yayyyyyyy!!!!). Secondly, no - real massage therapy is strictly therapeutic. For those of you who don't know, a happy ending is ....(I'm looking it up on Google right now, hold on)...when a "massuese" finishes a massage session with either oral sex or manual release....ew. Unfortunately, there are many women (and men) out there that pose as massage therapists when they are, in fact, sex workers. They advertise things like “erotic massage,” “full body service,” “table shower,” or “oriental massage.” It is almost always called a “massage parlor.”It really frustrates me that this occurs because it brings such a bad name to massage therapy and portrays the idea that anyone who does muscle work is a hooker of some sort. This simply is not true.
            There is a tragic side to this kind of prostitution. Massage parlors are a hotbed of human trafficking, specifically sex trafficking. Over 95% of reported sex offers/acts (that occur during a massage session) in the state of Florida come from women of Oriental descent. They are brought from China, Japan, Korea, Thailand, etc. under the promise of working jobs in the hospitality industry, hotel business, etc. only to learn upon arrival to the U.S. that their job has changed and they owe a large debt for their travel expenses. They are told that they will work it off by performing sexual acts on men for a set price in these parlors. Most have locked gates and security systems so the girls are not able to get out. These victims are often threatened, coerced, given drugs, and abused in order to keep them obedient and quiet. The saddest thing about this increasing epidemic is that many of the victims are children. Some parlors even have an added charge to customers who request children. Although I am very disappointed that my profession is mixed up in stereotypes of prostitution, I just feel so sad by the fact that this is happening all around us. It can happen in any state. It can happen in any neighborhood. It can happen next door. My point is, it happens. To learn more or to find out how you can help visit www.humantrafficking.org.

Trafficking articles:

http://articles.sfgate.com/2007-05-18/bay-area/17244817_1_massage-parlors-asian-massage-human-trafficking
http://news.infoshop.org/article.php?story=2008lydersen-trafficking
http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=158807
http://www.texasmonthly.com/2010-04-01/feature3.php
http://www.polarisproject.org/human-trafficking/sex-trafficking-in-the-us/massage-parlors

The Beginning

I walked into my new job through the front double doors leading into the lobby. I donned black scrubs from my old chiropractor job because I didn’t have my Massage Envy shirt yet. As soon as I was a foot inside the lobby I experienced a slight sensation of wanting to turn around and run as far away as I could get. The lobby was a zoo, packed to the limit with people vying for the attention of a front desk associate or squashed together on the purple furniture. One day after Christmas might not have been an ideal day to start work. Oh well. I politely fought my way to the hallway doors which eventually led to the break room. There were half a dozen therapists in there moving around so quickly that it looked like a drone of hornets having a freaking seizure. Upon seeing me however, I was greeted very warmly with an introduction, smile, and handshake which lessened my nerves just slightly. Taking a look at the break room computer, I realized I had a massage lined up to start in ten minutes with a Wilton Smith. Immediately I felt like I had been socked in the stomach. I was so used to giving thirty minute massages (and on only one area like a bad knee or a whiplashed neck) that I had gotten really rusty with certain techniques. The clock kept creeping towards top of the hour so I tracked down a manager who helped me find an empty room (it would at least take me a week or two more to learn to whole room assignment thing but we’ll get to that in another post). I then frantically trudge to the side of the lobby desk where the client files are kept and select mine from the bunch. After reviewing his medical history I walk out to the area where the couches are and call out: “Wilton?” A man in his mid forties stands up, smiles, walks towards me. I brighten up my face, welcome him with a greeting and a handshake and then tell him to follow me. Once in the room I ask him what his areas of concern are. He listed his upper back and neck as his primary areas of pain. I leave him to disrobe to his level of comfort and get underneath the sheets face down. After returning his chart to the lobby desk I wash my hands and knock on the door to make sure he was not still undressing. He says, “I’m good!” and I walk in the room, adjusting the foot pillow, face cradle, and heating pad to his desired level. As soon as I began massaging his back a lot of my skills from school flooded back into my head and I felt infinitely more confident. Scared of course, but still confident. I finally make it through the fifty minutes (which felt like fifty days) and excuse myself so he could dress. I washed my hands, grabbed fresh sheets, a face cradle cover, a cup of water, and wait outside the door like a friendly stalker (or so it felt like). He emerges, groggy and sleepy-eyed, and says it was a great massage. Hearing that felt so good, but him handing my twenty bucks felt even better. After a couple more massages my boss (sensing that I was still overwhelmed) decides to send me home several hours early. My heart leaps at this and I think I looked a little too enthusiastic about it. I return to the front desk, turn in my cream and holster, and check out. I get my purse from a locker in the break room, say goodbye to the strange faces that don’t have names I can remember, and walk out to my car. After taking a few deep breaths and congratulating myself on a first day well (enough) done, I start my engine and head home with a smile on my face.

What's It Like?

People always ask me the same question - what is it like to be a massage therapist? My answer to that question is this blog. My goal is to give you a real look at the day to day life of a working massage therapist. I’ll expose the stereotypes, misconceptions, dirt, and glam to show it as it really is – and the only way I can is to start at the beginning…