The Massage Pundit

Don’t you just cringe when you hear the term massage parlor?  I certainly do.  I usually try to consider the source and correct the person without being rude about it.  The other day an elderly client called her ride after the session and totally without malice said into the phone, “I’m finished at the massage parlor, will you come and pick me up?”  I realize that’s the terminology she grew up hearing, and at the age of 90 an old habit might be hard to break. 

I think we all have to do our part to change that perception, sometimes a little more forcefully than others. 

As I’ve mentioned before, I accept insurance at my office.  There’s a hospital nearby that gives their employees a monthly debit card for 200.00 as part of their benefit that they may spend any way they want to that’s related to healthcare, including massage.  I recently switched credit card processors.  I’ve noticed when I was working the desk that a couple of cards from the hospital employees had been declined, and at the time really didn’t give it any thought; I just assumed the client had gone over their limit for the month.  I would have gone on thinking that, until one of those clients called to tell me that she had called the credit card company to find out why she was declined.  The reason was because the credit card processing company had our business listed as—you’ve got it—a massage parlor.

I almost choked.  I called them immediately and demanded that they reclassify us as a healthcare business.  The woman on the other end of the phone was apologetic and assured me she’d take care of it.

A week later, it happened again.  This time, I called and asked to speak to a supervisor.  I told her I was very embarrassed about the fact that I had recommended the company to other massage therapists, and that I wanted this situation taken care of that same day.  Two hours later, she called me back and said it was taken care of.

I am just wondering how many therapists dealing with this huge company, or any credit card processors for that matter, are classified as massage parlors, and they’ll probably never know it if they aren’t accepting insurance.  Call up your processor and ask them how your business is classified.  I hope you don’t get the same rude awakening I did, but if you do, just insist that they change it and keep bugging them until they do. 

Peace & Prosperity,

Laura Allen

Are you already sick and tired of hearing about the presidential election?  I am, and just think, it’s going to drag on until November, but it’s made me think this would be a good time to write about the politics of massage. 

I am currently serving a term on our state massage therapy board.  What a rude awakening that’s been!  I would like to think, and so would you, that everyone who enters our profession is going to act ethically.  I’d like serving on the board much better if there were no such things as disciplinary hearings to participate in.  It’s distressing to be on the jury, so to speak, that is charged with deciding whether or not someone has behaved in a manner that should cost them their license to practice massage, but it’s part of the job.  It’s also a dance, of sorts, when the board members disagree with each other, as often happens.  We have to put ego aside, and try to act in the best interest of the public. 

Prior to my appointment to the board, I was serving our state chapter of AMTA in an administrative capacity.  Since there weren’t any disciplinary hearings involved in that job, it was a lot more fun.  The main thing that spurred me into action was simply wanting to be involved in an organization that does so much for the advancement of massage therapy.

There are a number of ways to get involved in the politics that shape our profession.  State boards are obligated to have a period set aside for public comment at each meeting, and every time I teach a class, I encourage the therapists who are present to attend a meeting and make their voice heard.  We do truly listen, and sometimes the comments from the public and members of the profession have been the catalyst for making a change in the practice act or board rules and proceedings.

AMTA and the National Board have their elections, and I wouldn’t miss a chance to vote for the people who are going to influence the direction of massage any more than I would miss voting for the president (although I must say, at the moment, that one is still up in the air for me). 

I’m very pleased at the number of states who have joined the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards.  This collaboration of boards is only going to enhance the profession and eventually the portability of licensure. 

I’m not a person who enjoys reading all the wherefores and whereas, but I want to exercise my right to have a say in where we take our profession in the future.  If you want to exercise yours, then vote for our leaders.  Attend a board meeting and your state and national conventions.  Volunteer to serve in any capacity you can make the time for.  Throw your name in the hat for an election if you’re so inclined.  In addition to learning a lot, being in service is also an invaluable networking opportunity.  And most important, it’s a way to give back a little of what massage therapy has given us.

Peace & Prosperity,

Laura Allen

I had a painful learning experience this week. I got a call from a woman who said an acquaintance of mine had suggested she get in touch.  She explained that she does cardio screenings that detect blockages, check artery wall elasticity and so forth, and that she offers them at the low price of 30.00.  She told me about the device she uses and said it was FDA approved.  It sounded like a good service my clients would benefit from, so I agreed to have her come to my office on a certain day to do it.  That was my big mistake; agreeing to do it before I thoroughly researched the device.  At my age I should know better!

She followed up with an email with a link to information about the device.  I went to the website, and it appears that the sole purpose of the screening is to sign people up into a MLM company, and get them on autoship for an expensive product that will supposedly reverse heart disease.  People who don’t have any problems detected are encouraged to buy the product anyway as a preventative measure. 

I should state that I have been involved with a particular MLM company for almost a decade.  This is not a slam on MLMs.  I personally choose not to recruit people; I don’t hold any meetings or go to any meetings; I just want the product they sell for myself and being signed up as a distributor allows me to buy it at a cheaper price.  My beef is not that the company she represents is a MLM company; my beef is that I agreed to host something because I thought it was about providing a service, with no knowledge that it was really about selling something.  She had not mentioned any relationship to any product at all during our phone conversation.

I emailed her and told her I was still willing to host her at my facility, only on the condition that I would advertise it honestly to my mailing list as an opportunity to hear about a MLM product, and stating that the cardio screenings would be available.  I wanted people to know up front that they would be listening to a sales pitch.  I also asked her some questions about contraindications for the product, and what kind of intake process she conducted–because by that time I had done some research and found that there are certain people who shouldn’t take it at all–and she wouldn’t answer any of my questions, but diverted every one of them.

I had all kinds of red flags going off in my head about the whole thing at that point, so I told her I was very sorry that I had agreed to it without doing the research to see what it was about, but I was going to have to bow out of it. I tried to be as polite as possible about it.

A few hours later, I received an email from her attacking my character, telling me I was obviously the type of person that she wouldn’t want to be associated with and that it was apparent I am only in this business for the money.  I was so shocked I could have fallen over. 

What my clients think of me is important to me.  I want my customers to think of me as someone who is concerned with their well-being and someone who conducts my business honestly.  I can’t recall ever being attacked this way, and it hurt my feelings to have those things said to me–even though it was by someone who doesn’t know me or know anything about me, and I know I shouldn’t take it personally, but that’s easier said than done at times.

Retailing anything already puts us in the position of assuming dual roles, and we must be careful about it. It just did not resonate with me to suck people in on the guise of having a health screening when it was actually about selling them something.  My big mistake was not doing my research first. 

If you’re hosting a health screening of any kind, that is a nice way of providing a service to clients, and in the past I’ve hosted blood pressure screenings,cholesterol checks,  and so forth with no problems.  But if you’re offering some type of screening that is related to selling people a product, I think you should represent that upfront and honestly when you advertise it.  It’s just the right thing to do.

Peace & Prosperity,

Laura Allen