Common Questions about Massage

Massage.com is quickly becoming the number one directory for massage therapists and alternative health providers. We connect those seeking massage and treatment options with therapists and providers who are qualified and capable of providing treatment. We also aggregate news and information about the efficacy of massage, articles and research, information about massage as a career, massage colleges, and more. We also are sourcing products for massage therapists that are of the highest quality yet still affordable. When you combine this with our leading marketing services, Massage.com helps therapists succeed and helps patients maintain their optimal physical health

Massage.com is operated by Left of the Dot Media Inc. We are a group of software developers, marketers, and internet entrepreneurs who have been trusted by the domain name's owner to build a web business that supports and fulfills the potential of the Massage.com brand.

We are firm believers that the very best web addresses on the planet -- names like Massage.com -- need to be built out into real, sustainable businesses. And when you have a great domain name, you have the power (and responsibility) to do right by the name. And in this case, it is turning the brand into the number one resource for massage therapists and those seeking massage and spa services.

Marketing Names are an affordable, new marketing concept that makes it easier for you to attract attention and get more sales. Marketing Names are short, brandable keyword concepts attached as sub-domains to the Massage.com brand.

Watch the video below to understand a bit more about Marketing Names and how they can help you. Click here to Find a Marketing Name that is right for your clinic, spa, or massage school.

Marketing Names vary in price from $25 to $200 per month. This price reflects the intrinsic brandability or search engine value of a name. More populous cities or concepts are more expensive as the value to the person leasing is much greater.

As with our Directory Listings, the cost should be considered a marketing investment and be used as a driver to create "Lifetime Customer Value".

What is Lifetime Customer Value? A typical massage therapist makes about $50 in profit per treatment (hourly rate less the cost of rent, sheets, oils, administration, etc.). The same therapist may treat that same patient an average of 6 times per year over a 3-year period. This equates to (($50*6 visits)*3 years) = $900 LTV ... In other words, spending $25 per month on a directory listing that will generate you hundreds of dollars in revenue is just smart business.

To create a listing in the Massage.com directory, you first need to create an account. You can do it all in a single step if you would prefer by clicking on this link here: Add a Listing.

Click here to Create a Free Account. Once you have created your account, you will be deposited on your Main Account page. From here, you will have a list of menu items on the right hand side giving you options for administering your account. Click on the menu title labeled "ADD LISTING" as illustrated.

All clinics, spas and therapists can get a FREE listing in the directory for 30 days. To get a featured listing (and attract more customers and attention), annual listings are only $99.

For massage schools and colleges, the listing cost is $99/month. Annual listings, in which your school is featured above all other basic listings are only $499, saving you more than 60% of your monthly rates.

When you pay for a directory listing, you get featured above all other massage practitioners listed in your region. This means that when a potential customer is looking for a therapist or spa, they will find your listing first and be more likely to book a treatment. Massage.com should be an affordable part of your annual marketing budget to grow your practice, spa, or clinic.

If you are a massage therapist, operate a school, or manage a spa, there is a good chance that you need massage insurance, that is a specific type of liability insurance for massage therapists. Liability insurance protects you and any other parties named on the policy in the event that a client suffers an injury during the massage (or even partially as a result of receiving your massage). The important thing to remember is that it doesn't matter if it is true or not, if you get sued you are going to wish you had insurance.

The amount of coverage you need for your liability insurance depends on a number of factors, including risk tolerance, your earnings, your coverage under an existing policy (e.g. from a spa or school), the type of massage you are doing, your location, the amount of training you have received, and more.

Many policies cover up to $2 million per incident

In 2010, a consensus was reached by the Massage Therapy profession about a definition of Massage as published in the Massage Therapy Body of Knowledge (MTBOK). This definition stated...

Massage therapy is a health care and wellness profession. The practice of massage therapy involves a client/patient-centered session, intended to fulfill therapeutic goals, with the therapist being free of personal agenda. Massage therapy also meets the well-researched need for touch and human connection. Massage therapy is about one human touching another with clear intention, focused attention, and the attitudes of compassion and non-judgment.

During a session a massage therapist incorporates a wide variety of techniques and approaches to address the varied focuses of the client/patient, which may include any or all of the following:

• Treatment of injury or conditions,
• Relaxation,
• Stress reduction,
• Wellness,
• Enhancing personal growth,
• Encouraging awareness of body,
• Facilitating the balance and connection of body, mind, and spirit

 

If you are looking for a Massage Therapist or for massage therapy, you will find a therapist in a number of settings. You might find a massage therapist in one of the following locations:

• In independent offices serving community needs;
• In an athletic training facility working with both amateur and professional athletes to lengthen and stretch muscles and help improve performance;
• In Hospitals, doing pre- and post-surgery massage therapy;
• In a massage clinic working on injury rehabilitation, breaking up scar tissue and increasing flexibility;
• In multidisciplinary clinics with acupuncturists, medical doctors, physical therapists, and naturopathic physicians as part of a health care team, providing integrated healthcare;
• In oncology clinics, providing palliative care;
• In chiropractic clinics, doing massage treatments that support chiropractic care;
• In airports, doing seated massage on travelers;
• In day spas, offering stress-reducing time away from the hectic pace of life to enjoy nurturing, caring touch;
• With psychotherapists focusing on mind-body connections that help heal past trauma;
• In personal growth centers with clients/patients on a self-actualization path, focusing on mind-body awareness or creating a meditative state for the whole body;

In short, massage therapy is practiced around the world in a wide variety of settings. What to find a massage therapist? Click here to browse our directory of massage therapists.

The benefits of massage are varied. For many people, they experience all of emotional, mental and physical benefits.

The physiological reactions within a person that create these benefits have been the focus of a growing body of research over the last twenty-five years. Massage.com has attempted to aggregate some of this massage research, and we encourage you to read some of the latest massage research about the efficacy of massage. Research has been able to confirm that massage provides the following benefits:

• Eases pain;
• Reduces anxiety levels;
• Decreases blood pressure;
• Improves cognitive function
• Lessens depression; and
• Facilitates weight gain in premature infants.

It is the consensus of the massage industry that as research increases our understanding of how this therapy improves health and wellness, it will help guide the education, practice, and use of massage therapy

in order to achieve the greatest benefit to the patient.

As with every health care or wellness profession, it is important to provide a "Scope of Practice" for all to clearly understand what massage therapists can and cannot do. As regulations differ between States (and across the world), it is hard to define a blanket statement defining the massage scope of practice. The Massage Therapy Body of Knowledge task force, which consisted of the primary USA-based massage associations governing bodies did reach consensus on the following statement:

Massage therapy is a health care and wellness profession performed in a variety of employment and practice settings. The practice of massage therapy includes assessment, treatment planning, and treatment through the manipulation of soft tissue, circulatory fluids, and energy fields, affecting and benefiting all of the body systems, for the following therapeutic purposes, including but not limited to...

• Enhancing health and well-being,
• Providing emotional and physical relaxation,
• Reducing stress,
• Improving posture,
• Facilitating circulation,
• Balancing energy,
• Re-mediating and relieving pain,
• Repairing and preventing injury, and
• Rehabilitation from injury.

Massage therapy treatment includes a hands-on component as well as providing education, information, and non-strenuous activities for the purposes of self-care and health maintenance. The hands-on component of massage therapy is accomplished by use of digits, hands, forearms, elbows, knees, and feet with or without the use of emollients, liniments, heat and cold, hand-held tools, or other external apparatus

It is recognized that specific methods of treatments are advanced and are not included and practiced by all Massage Therapists. There is a diverse amount of education and training undertaken by therapists, and therefore it is difficult to identify the precise techniques covered by a Scope of Practice statement. Furthermore, as the field of massage is advancing, it is difficult to define an encompassing scope as new techniques are learned and the practice is evolving daily.

The following list of what is included in the scope of practice of massage therapists was prepared by a consensus of massage associations and governing bodies, and assumes the practicing therapist meets the required or nationally recognized standard for minimum entry-level training in massage therapy and specific post- graduate training where necessary or required.

Thus, the Scope of Practice of Massage Therapists includes.

The use of touch through pressure, stroking/gliding (effleurage), kneading (petrissage), lifting, percussion (tapotement), compression, holding, vibration, friction, pulling, movement, and stretching (see below) by the digits, hand, forearm, elbow, knee, foot, or mechanical appliances which enhance massage therapy techniques

Work to enhance wellness and facilitate mind, body, and spirit connections

• The use of active/passive range-of-motion, joint movement within the normal
• Physiologic range-of-motion, active assisted and resistive movement, stretching, and range-of-motion
• Neuromuscular re-education and soft tissue mobilization
• Energy work, which includes treatment of the energy field through the use of touch or through the use of non-contact techniques
• Client/patient assessment by health history and intake, interview, observation of posture and movement, palpation, range-of-motion assessment, special tests, and, with permission, consultation with the client’s/patient’s other health care providers
• The determination of whether massage therapy is indicated or contraindicated for the client/patient
• The determination of whether referral to another health care practitioner is appropriate or necessary when the client's/patient's condition is determined by the massage therapist to be beyond his or her scope of practice, skills, and training
• Formulation of an individualized treatment plan based on client/patient assessment findings
• Application of therapeutic modalities which include hot and cold applications (such as heat lamps, compresses, ice or hot packs, stones, etc.), hydrotherapy, topical herbal (non-legend) applications (poultices, muds, packs, etc.), body wraps (for therapeutic musculoskeletal, constitutional intentions), topical application of salts/sugars, tools, electric massagers, aromatherapy , and application of tape for the purpose of therapeutic benefit that does not restrict joint movement
• Using emollients, lubricants, and friction-reducing products, such as oils, gels, lotions, creams, powders, rubbing alcohol, liniments, antiseptics, ointments, and other similar preparations
• Documenting a client’s health history, intake interview, assessment findings, treatment, and treatment outcomes as appropriate
• Obtaining a client’s/patient’s informed consent prior to initiating treatment
• Using guided relaxation techniques for the intention of facilitating and enhancing application of massage therapy
• Offering specific suggestions and recommendations of self-care and health-maintenance activities including but not limited to self-massage, movement, self-administered hydrotherapy applications, stress-reduction and stress-management techniques, stretching and strengthening activities, structured breathing techniques, progressive relaxation, and meditation
• Ethical business practices, which shall include but not be limited to full disclosure of fees and payment policies with the client/patient prior to providing massage therapy
• Intra-oral and intra-nasal work with separate informed consent to address the specific considerations (All other manipulation of soft tissue is limited to external tissues.)
• Female breast massage, with separate informed consent to address the specific considerations
• Animal massage

Within the MTBOK consensus definition exploring all that is massage therapy, just as it was important to define that which is Massage Therapy, it was equally important to define what is NOT included within the scope of practice for a massage therapist. However, several massage therapists are trained in multiple disciplines and may have received proper training to perform other modalities and treatments listed herein. The list of what is not governed by the scope of practice includes:

• Diagnosis of medical or orthopedic conditions or illnesses
• The performing of surgery or other procedures requiring a medical license
• The prescribing, changing, dispensing, and administering of legend, over the counter drugs and herbal medication
• Genital, intra-anal, intra-vaginal manipulation or applications
• Manipulation of any body structure for the purpose of sexual arousal or gratification of either the client/patient or therapist regardless of who initiates such activity
• High velocity/low amplitude thrust force to any articulation of the human body as performed in chiropractic, osteopathic or naturopathic adjustments
• Ear Candling
• Application of ultrasound, electrotherapy, laser therapy, microwave therapy, injection therapy, diathermy, or electronic nerve stimulation of over thirty-five volts
• Depilation, waxing, hair extractions, and electrolysis
• Acupuncture and Chinese Pharmacology
• Moxibustion
• Western Herbalis
• Diet and Nutritional Counseling, including the recommendation of vitamins, supplements, and other nutraceuticals
• Biofeedback
• Exercise, including Personal Fitness Training, Tai Ji Quan (T’ai Chi Ch’uan), Qi Gong (Ch’i Kung), Yoga Instructor Training, and the prescription of therapeutic strengthening exercises
• Psychological Counseling
• Hypnotherapy
• Guided Imagery intended to support counseling interactions
• Naturopathy
• Homeopathy, which includes Bach Flower Remedies
• Cosmetology or the specific practices intended to beautify the skin
• Colonic irrigation and other methods of internal hydrotherapy
• Intentional use of techniques to evoke an emotional response in the client