My wife and I both have muscle problems right now and are willing to pay professionals to work their magic. But the last time I got a massage, it was more a “let’s relieve your stress by petting you to sleep” type of massage- I left sleepy, but still tight and sore.
When I go on Yelp, they all seem to be “spas,” which to me rhymes with “pay for petting,” and when I go on craigslist, it’s just thinly veiled prostitution. I don’t want to be pampered, but I don’t want to be masturbated either. I just want my pain to be treated. So how do I find a place that will focus on our actual pain instead of sex or sleep? What’s a good review website that filters out those places?
Some physicians, physical therapists, and chiropractors have massage therapists on staff. I met a LCMT who is also a chiropractor, and says he makes more money as an LCMT, but that’s not surprising because there’s a chiropractic school here in town and a DC on every street corner.
These massage therapists will be legitimate. Look for the title LCMT and you will find what you are looking for.
I was going to make a joke about checking Craigslist. Seems like you already figured that out.
This might be a long shot, but maybe call your doctor and see if they can make a recommendation. The only problem I see with that is that they might only be able to recommend you to physical therapists. They’ll be able to do massages (with a script from your doc), but you’ll probably be looking at hundreds of dollars an hour instead of $50 or $60 an hour. OTOH, you might be able to get your insurance to pay for the first handful of visits and if it’s done by PT people, maybe it’ll get done correctly in the first few sessions.
I was treated for a soft tissue shoulder injury by physical therapists, part of it involved massage. Most of it consisted of a program of exercises. There was also some heat and cold treatment. It was a fairly severe injury, I could not raise my arm above shoulder level without a lot of pain. And it worked, after a few weeks I could use my arm normally. If you and your wife are having persistent muscle pain, I recommend you look into physical therapy. It works!
Professional massage therapists have their professional trade associations, which a great many of them will belong to. (For one thing, they offer liability insurance.)
Check out the web sites of those organizations. They have “Find a Massage Therapist” pages.
Explore other pages at those three sites as well, there’s lots of information about massage there.
ETA: Note that “feel-good” massage is considered perfectly legitimate too in this business, as long as it’s not sexual. The “feel-good” massage is the sort that it typically available in spas and resorts, like the ones in Calistoga for example.
A girl friend had her own massage biz. She studied massage therapy in college. She had both an office, as well, she took her massage table and eqpt and made house calls. She said women would often have massage parties where she did 2 or 3 in one visit.
I know she was booked solid
She once gave the US Navy Blue Angels a massage ( they went to her fitness place during a 2 day air show) and they invited her to Mirimar (iirc) and took her up in an F18 hornet
So there are legit ones that make house calls
Also, a neighbor friend did massage out of his house. Everyone I knew that he treated said he was a genius. He was big at finding the root cause, then fixing it. I’m my case, my knees hurt. He asked to see my home office, and right away saw that my office desk and chair were not tall enough, so I invested in a new office. Problem went away.
I have a good layer of muscle and have had some problems; and I agree with looking for ‘Deep Tissue Massage’. Around here a chiropractor is your best bet, but don’t fall for his assistant ‘massage therapist’. Also ask to see the hands, you want large hands with very short nails. Nothing will piss me off faster than pointy little fingers causing more frustration than relief.
I honestly can’t believe you had to ask the question. Therapeutic massage is EASILY found in my city. I go to a place with about 40 therapists on staff, extremely professional, reasonably priced, and the waiting room is always packed. Frankly, I wouldn’t know where to look for a sexual-type massage.
Just google “therapeutic massage” and your city’s name.
DO NOT go to a chiropractor. Not the same thing, not even close. Find a competent therapeutic massage facility. Seriously. Don’t look for physical therapy or an osteopath. This is NOT something exotic. It’s a service that is common and easily found.
To me, this is like asking, “Where do I find a hair salon?” What is the big mystery? And I do not live in a giant cosmopolitan area. <Very confused by this discussion>
Sorry, small town here. There are a few independent licensed or certified massage therapists, but most are affiliated with a gym or chiropractor. I have not been impressed with their skills.
I have had great results with chiropractors. They are insurance-friendly, but it can cost less to pay cash on the barrelhead. One told me it costs around $30 to file insurance claims. I paid 55 for the initial session, and only 20 after that. That includes free use of the automated massage tables and TIMS units whenever they were available and I wanted to use them.
If you’re in a big city, look for a massage therapy school. You’ll get a much lower price with a student, or full price but amazing work with a teacher. Once, a student and teacher both worked on me for a class, me giving feedback on if the student was using the same amount of pressure as the teacher. That was an amazing session.
Just another voice for making sure you request a sports massage / deep-tissue massage.
I’m a runner, with chronically tight leg muscles (despite daily stretching). A day-spa near my house has several massage therapists who specialize in sports massage. They beat the tar out of the knots in my leg muscles, and have come close to making me cry (literally) on several occasions. Hurts like hell, helps a lot.
