r/massage

I am looking to see if anyone else has experienced this with the CMTO (College of Massage Therapists of Ontario) recently.I submitted absolutely everything for my Initial Registration on August 5th. All my checklist items are green, fees are paid, and my VSC is completely -. My portal status just stays with no comments or flags. Today marks exactly 10 business days, but here is the frustrating part, a classmate of mine submitted application a full week aftr me, and were already approved yesterday.

Has anyone had their application just freeze in the "waiting for decision" phase like this without any explanation? How long did it take to finally get your RMT number after the 10-day mark?

Hey all! Posting this in human massage subs and equine subs. So I am 27 and kind of lost. I was a veterinary technician with cats and dogs for five years. I always wanted to work in large animal either as a tech or vet, but I cannot seem to get my foot in the door without having a degree as a tech and schooling for a DVM doesn’t seem worth the time and cost for salary you get (I do not want to do small animal or mixed. Exclusively equine).

For the past couple of years I have been on and off pursuing my certification as a Masterson Method Practitioner. I do love it, but the income seems really variable and I think I will need a lot more CE to be competitive in my area.

I am a dressage rider that has a LOT of imbalances due to a gnarly vestibular disorder. Pilates and learning about human/rider anatomy and biomechanics has been incredibly fun and life changing for me. I go in public and watch peoples postures and how they walk. I love it. I read anatomy books for fun on both horses and people.

Dressage/natural horsemanship is my favorite, but I love all disciplines/breeds and I would love an excuse to branch out. I have a strong interest in equine veterinary medicine but also sports rehab and different modalities. Saddle fit and bit fit is something I’d really like to get into because it seems every where I go it’s a problem and no one knows anything about it. I also have an interest in how the teeth and hooves affect the entire horse (although I don’t think I want to be a farrier and I believe only veterinarians should float teeth). I like diagnostic imaging too.

Would it be worth it to go to school to become a human LMT and possibly personal trainer and advertise a horse/rider therapy combo business? I would be interested in doing horses and humans individually, but my dressage education has been 75% do x y z with your body and your horse will follow. Maybe throwing in some saddle fit/bit fit and learning enough about teeth and feet to know when to refer out?

I’ve been struggling financially for so many years and I’m tired of it. I want to get into my vain of work. I tried going to school to become a radiology tech for people and I loved the anatomy, but working in a hospital under fluorescent lights and possible shitty management with people’s feces vomit blood etc sounded like a nightmare. Due to my vestibular stuff I do like the idea of running my own business one day doing a whole horse and rider approach.

Does it sound like there’s a market for this? Beyond LMT/PT and some additional equine certs what else would I need? Would a vet tech license be beneficial for the equine aspect? Any experience, pro/cons, of either job, tuition time expectations and salary expectations are greatly appreciated!

Booking independent LMT for the first time in my life. Found 2 in my area and went to both their sites. Their schedules are wide open apparently. Almost nothing was blocked off for either of them for the next two weeks. Weekends, weekdays - business hours all open. They both have decent websites and at least 2 decades in the industry (According to profiles), very professional fee schedules. One of them was advertising 3 locations in different parts of the city but made pretty clear it was the actual individual that was the same LMT. Locations are not offices with signs marked but commercial space. What gives. Reasonably certain it’s not a scam. Is part time stuff, or underemployment common? I booked a Sunday morning with one of them.

About a year ago I was referred by my physio to a massage therapist for lower back pain. He had an excellent reputation, so I went in expecting a normal remedial massage.

From the beginning, though, something felt off. The clinic was in a strange, isolated location and the receptionist was extremely cold towards me, glaring at me while I waited. She even stood by the treatment-room door watching me as I walked in.
I later discovered she was the therapist’s wife.

I had also heard of the therapist before because he was related to someone I knew many years ago. I have no idea whether that was relevant, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was some invisible red flag attached to me that I didn’t know about.

When I entered the seperate building there this massage therapist worked from, I sat down and was expecting the usual questions about what was sore etc.

I explained my physio referred me to help with lower back pain. That’s when things became strange.

The therapist started asking me what I wanted him to do. Literally, he said to me “and what would you like me to do?”

rather than assessing my back and providing the treatment I’d been referred for. I became confused and eventually asked if I’d come to the wrong place. He continued to speak to me in a way that I still can’t find the words for. It was like I had gone to a mechanic instead of a massage therapist because he seemed puzzled as to why I was there. Even saying “well I can give you a massage, if that’s what you want?”

I became increasingly uncomfortable and started crying. I said “have I come to the wrong place!” And said wanted to leave, but instead of simply letting me go, he encouraged me to “sit with” the feeling and started asking me about my emotions and trauma.

The appointment basically turned into an hour of talking about my psychological issues. I never received the massage I’d actually booked and paid for.

I left completely confused. I hadn’t come for trauma therapy. I’d come for a massage.
He was also practising other forms of alternative therapy, and I got the strong impression that this was what he was actually more interested in doing. If I’d booked that, fine. But I hadn’t.

Months later I told another massage therapist what happened and she basically confirmed that the people involved had a reputation for being quite unusual, which made me feel less like I’d imagined the whole thing.

I received a message from the business inviting me back but they had a different receptionist. So I looked them up and discovered the original owner (the man I saw) had apparently sold the business quite abruptly and moved far away.

I obviously don’t know why, but it made me wonder whether my instinct that something was seriously off about the whole place wasn’t entirely in my head.

That text has brought this whole situation back up and I’m feeling a bit upset today about it. I’d love to hear anyone’s thoughts on what happened and why.

Starting massage school in Sept. already asked what I should expect generally going into the industry. However as a male specifically, early 30s and physically fit. What should I expect when navigating the industry? (Location - Toronto)

Hi!

I’ve had an irritated shoulder and neck for a year due to lifting too heavy at the gym (self inflicted I know!) I’ve had 6 months of physio and it’s still there now. I do my physio exercises and it’s still irritated. .

anyway, I was wondering if anyone had tried a sports massage for a irritated nerve in shoulder? if so, did it help?

I've been doing physical therapy for about a year now and just started with a new PT about 2 months ago. I would say he's really good at his job for the most part. However, he sometimes does v deep tissue massages/sports therapy massages before we get going with actual exercises. Every time I am almost crying and I am quite visibly in a lot of pain and explaining to him how much it hurts.

I understand deep tissue is as it says in the name, but it seems excessive. This last session he worked on my quads and the area has now swollen to twice it's size and is still red and warm almost 12 hours later. Is this okay? Is there a way to get the inflammation down? It feels like I have a really bad sunburn.

I have neck muscle strain/neck cracking tics and have decided to get a massage to help the pain I get from it. Should I get a deep tissue or trigger point therapy massage?

should i wear something form fitting? loose? shorts, pants, leggings? whatever makes it easier for the therapist! thank you!

The part-time program I would be doing has zoom classes to check off most of the anatomy, physiology, etc. classes for one year, and then the second year is mostly the massage labs. I feel so sad picturing just being on zoom in my bedroom when I could be bonding with a group of people going through this experience together. I'm pretty social and I can't imagine not having anyone else to talk to whose also in the program. And by the time the second year comes around the rest of the class will all have in person anatomy, and physiology classes together, so I will miss out on study groups, built in social time in class, etc. I cannot really afford to do full time, I would have to take out loans and would be struggling because I work in a grocery store, so the hours are all over the place, and pay is low. I am also struggling with my health but doing only online classes for a year would give me plenty of time to get totally healthy again. I just need to do PT and get nutrition levels better. The orientation is early September so I don't have much time to make a choice anymore and I've been ruminating on it a lot all summer.

What are you guys listening to during massage?
I recently went on my own and didn’t put much thought into it, and have just been using a Spotify curated playlist :/ With the rise of AI music on Spotify, I fear I may be inadvertently supporting their AI music when I use this playlist.
So drop me ur human music pls

I have rounded shoulders the are pulled forward from a tight front body. I also have sore, tight, achy quads. I’ve mentioned this to therapists in the past, but they always just focus on my back anyways. Are there therapists that focus only on front body? Even just a little bit?

Might also be relevant: female, 40, three months postpartum. Terrible posture.

Just listened to a webinar about growing your practice and one of the recommendations was to be consistent with blog posts. I'd like to make posts on addressing some of the common questions therapists receive.

I was looking at the local Massage Envy to get a relief massage and the 60 minute session was priced at $80. I added relief stretching and the price of the massage jumped to $130. When I removed the stretch, the massage price went back to $80. When I remove the massage the keep the stretch service, the stretch service remains a consistent $46.

Is that normal for Massage Envy or massages in general?

ETA clarification: The prices for the stretch and massage are shown as separate items, I'm booking 2 separate services.

I was booking 2 hour sessions with a therapist but she has been coming in the room late and leaving before the time is up as well as stopping for a long water pause half way. I am not sure how to say something about if perhaps it is too long and wearing of a time for her. It is ok if she finds the 2hrs too long as maybe I would book a 90. I know many don't offer sessions this long. At this point though, I feel like I will have to try a different LMT as I have not had my hands on time cut so short before. The last 4 appointments have been like this

I had a tui na massage two weeks ago. Going in, I knew it was going to be painful and was prepared for it. He started working on the right side of neck which was easily the most painful part, but it’s also where I typically hold my stress and pain.

My SCM muscle was extremely sore for 5 days on that side, like I couldn’t even move my neck. I got a headache stemming from my suboccipital muscle on the right two days after the massage. It’s been constant ever since and even moved to my left. I’ve had a constant headache for almost two weeks. I’ve had some bouts of dizziness but that’s mostly subsided.

I guess I’m looking for advice on when I should seek medical care or if this is something anyone has dealt with before. I’ve tried heat, stretching, and lots of Advil to no avail. I’ve never had a headache like this before. Not really looking for medical advice.

I’ve never been a big massage person because it makes me flinch like crazy and it often frightens the person giving me the massage and it’s not just with one spot it’s most of my body that does this is there anyway to get over this?

Curious if I need to be giving MTs a heads up before booking or if there’s something else I need to be conscious/considerate of.

I’m not bodybuilder level but I’d say 1/3-1/2 of the time the therapist will comment on my physique, usually in the context of the effort required to work through layers of muscle or how they need to try to get more leverage. No one’s ever rude about it but it’s consistent enough to give me pause.

I like deep pressure but always tell them to do what’s ergonomic for them. It just occurred to me that there’s a chance I’m giving people repetitive stress injuries or something and they’re like oh no when I come in?

Hi everyone,

I’ve never been to an RMT before. My work involves repeatedly lifting heavy items (around 32 kg) plus additional shifts delivering food using an e-bike, and I’m dealing with a lot of tightness in my back, lower back, glutes, and hips.

I’m planning to book a professional massage focused on those areas and would like some practical advice:

As a first-time client, what should I expect or how should I communicate that I need focused work on the lower back, glutes, and hips from repetitive heavy lifting?

For sessions that include the glutes and hips, what is the standard professional practice with clothing and draping? Do I need to undress completely, or is it normal to stay in underwear with proper draping so only the area being worked is uncovered?

I want the session to stay completely professional and focused on recovery from physical work. Any guidance from therapists or people who have had similar sessions would be appreciated.

Thank you.