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Yeah I have found that alot here in the Mtns of NC that women tend to be afraid of Male Therapists for some unknown reason, usually ignorance! If you could set your bias and predjudice aside you'd find that those Male Massage Therapists are very good.
I don't know.. if it's ignorance.
I just think it's like being attracted to your "therapists" is like being attracted to your OBGYN.
This is someone who is in contact with your body in a different level. (that's my feelings)
My OBGYN's for my girls were males because of there medical degree was impressive.
We did a survey a few years back in school.. and it was shown that..
" men are more likely to not have man dr etc. "
Women tend to visit the dr more then men
( survey again) and are "more open" to either.
Men don't want "men touching them." (That was the bottom line.
What has killed massage therapy for most in Maine is lack of disposable income. For most massage is a luxury. Luxuries are the first to go when you have to struggle to pay for food, heat, clothing and other basic necessities. A lot of insurance companies do not cover massage therapy and people will put up with pain in order to eat.
While I can understand your feelings the fact is during this recession period Massage Therapy as a whole has seen a huge uptick in business. Thing is that during tough times people realize that their health is truly the most important thing and that they don't need all the excesses in life, something Americans have become acustomed to eating, living, spending in excess. I live in one of the most rural and poorest states and towns on the east coast "Asheville NC" where unemployment has been in double digits well before this time last year, and we've done pretty good here "As Massage Therapists" in a town full of them.
But hopefully my price point and not being concerned about money will help me go a long way in Maine, I believe so.
I wasn't suggesting that you provide travel services. What I was suggesting was that YOU might have to travel to see your clients, since they would likely be spread out over a large territory.
If you can afford to move to Maine and set up shop in the greater Portland area, you might have a fighting chance of establishing a practice. However, don't even think about making a sustaining link with health insurance providers nor necessarily with physicians. Maine has basically ONE independent insurance carrier....Anthem Blue Cross....and the other group plans that exist are largely not in Maine, but are insuring groups with an employer group in Maine that is part of that larger, out of state group.
As I said before, if you can afford to support yourself here for two or three years with little to no income, you might survive. I am not a betting man, but if I were, I would bet that in two years or less you will return to Florida, or perhaps be tending bar someplace in Portland's Old Port.
Wow so Negative! While I can see some of your points I am from Florida currently in Mtns of NC. And yes I understood you meant travel to clients, that's why I stated it wasn't going to be a possibility cause of costs involved w/ that plus patients and clients alike prefer a store front or a place to go and relax.
I've been doing this for a long time now, I'm 35 was able to finanically retire at 28 when I invested and inherited a substanial amount of money and my ability to properly manage those funds w/ a company that has a great track record allows me to live of my dividends for the rest of my life, my childrens children will never need to worry about money.
That aside my point isn't trying to bilk those of Maine for money "as you now know money doesn't drive me" I hope to provide those in Maine w/ affordable therapy services that go hand n hand w/ their medical treatments, and Blue Cross by the way does cover Massage services though a limited amount per calendar year it's covered. I also succeeded in 2 states now in getting private insurance carriers to write alternative therapies into their plans.
I'm wanting to bring a positive thing to Maine why such the negative overtone? And I'm tired of hearing so many on this board scream like Maine is the only place adversly effected by what's going on in the world, were all hurting from East to West! It's how we can make those changes from excess to necessity that will truly define us as a country.
My gf is a lmt in Portland. It isn't easy for her around here. There are a lot of lmt's in the area. Business is highly dependent on tourists and business travellers. One can make a living here, but they aren't going to get rich. There just isn't enough money in the area right now.
Thanks for the insight, but if anyone gets into any Healthcare field w/ the assumptions they will one day retire rich is sorely mistaken. I've been in medicine for over 18yrs holding a variety of professional titles and certs, and even as an RN I seen those strugle to make ends meet, single, married, w/ family what have you.
there was one massage therapist, in lewiston that would come right to your home,,,i thought this was a great idea, she was very busy.
i travel alot and stay over in hotels around the state of maine,,,,ive yet to see a hotel with a massage therapist, id think that would be a lucrative market. (a massage room , not going to the rooms themselves)
maybe im staying in the cheaper hotels and missing out on this service in the higher priced hotels)
id pay decent money for a good massage (from a woman)
yes the economy is tight,, but i still see waiting lines for the restaurants in augusta, thats disposable income, being thrown out
and in times of doom and gloom, an oasis of a decent massage would be wonderful, again, id much rather have a good massage than go out to eat
Wonderfully put! That was the point I was trying to get across to ACADINLION who seems to feel all is lost. 99.9% of Americans all over indulge in life "myself included" if you own a credit card then well you live beyond your means, because all a credit card is, is a loan for money you don't have readidly available to you, no matter if you pay it off at months end.
Back to point, unless the stores and rest. are closed down then people are still spending money and will have available funds for activities not matter the realm they are in.
as a man, I like the idea of a young woman touching my body. It creeps me out to imagine the male friends I have massaging me. Maybe I am prejudiced, whatever.
As for gynos, my wife and her friends all have female docs. My wife has had a male doc a couple times, and each time a female nurse was assigned to the room as well. Makes one wonder why.
Well ignorance and bias raise their heads again! While your wife may currently have a female Gyno, facts are most women in our world all tend to have male docs and prefer it that way (also from bias and predjudice, as they assume a women doc can't be as smart or what not, which I totally disagree w/) we are however seeing that trend begin to change, but not really by much as there are still way more male Phys than female.
As for there being a female RN in the room, well that's the law to protect the male docs from false alegations, and just as well to protect the patient from any misguided docs, that's the way it's always been, for fear of law suits and no real sound basis other wise.
But your first sentence clarify's it all that "You'd much rather a Young Female have her hands on your Body" you see your the client the Therapist dreads as you tend to sexualize the therapy. I have plenty of and former male clients who all had similar bias, and w/ in the first 5-10mins are either asleep or so relaxed you forget whose touching you. Plus it sounds like you seek massage if at all for the wrong reasons, just by your comment alone.
I've always had female MT's. It creeps me out to think about a man doing it too Shadow! lol I'd be worried about what they were thinking!!!
Gyno... well... I've had only one female do that and I know she's straight... but what makes me uncomfortable... wondering which way their preferences go... I don't care what they do, but I don't want them messing with me if they go the other way. It's just too infringing to me in my mind. So I've always had a man. In Mass., it's just become law a nurse must always be present duing an examination. About time imo! Whacky people in the world!
But you see it's you who are projecting your insecurities and the sexual ideas, in most cases it's rarely the practitioner. And as far as law in Mass I worked up that way some years ago and it's always been "MEDICAL PROTOCOL & LAW" that a Nurse be in the room when there is a male doc "Gyno" and femal pt.
I once had a shoulder injury that was so bad that I could not work and so I went to my emergency room and was fortunate to get a great Dr. She sat down beside me and shook her head.
"BT...I can give you a pill that will help take away the pain, or I can give you a pill that will relax the muscles, but to be honest with you...you don't need either. You need to see a massage therapist." She then said this, "Now I know as a farmer you think this is weird, but you need to see a guy massage therapist who has the strength to work the muscles loose. Don't think its odd or anything, but that is what you need."
So I saw they guy she recommended, and in a months time I was a lot better. I later saw her for another reason and we talked about massage therapy and she told me out of the hundreds of patients she recommended massage therapy too, I was the only one that had called her own massage therapist and had work on them. The problem is everyone today wants a pill.
Not me. That was 5 years ago and since then I see a massage therapist every 3 weeks. I will admit that my insurance does cover it so that helps a lot...but the amount of money they spend on massage therapy is a trickle to what meds and dr visits would cost. I know because I never take meds (there are better ways to cure most ailments in my opinion) and I never seem to get sick.
For what it is worth, I am the last person in the world that you would expect to see a massage therapist...for starters I'm a farmer, 35 years old who is a workaholic and despises leaving the farm...and yet since these are not foo-foo massages, but deep tissue massages, they really work. I will say that first Dr was wrong...it does not matter if massage therapists or women or men, if they are aggressive, they get into the tight spots and do wonders. And no it does not bother me if it is a guy or a girl doing the work...its NOT a sexual thing...just as a Dr can be either sex because its what they do and know that counts...a medical necessity. It should also be noted that in the 5 years I have been getting massage therapy, I have seen a lot of massage therapists come and go, and I think I have been to 15 different massage therapists, so I know each one has their own unique styles. Where I go though, the other patients seem to stick with 1 particular massage therapist so there is a pretty dedicated clientele.
I have also tried other alternative derivatives of massage therapy, such as acupuncture and reflexology. I did not respond to acupuncture all that well, but reflexology I really liked. You have to consider, I can spend up to 10 hours on a wet, concrete floor in really uncomfortable rubber boots when milking cows, which plays havoc with you feet and back, so reflexology really helps with that. Unfortunately insurance does not cover that so I don't go as often as I should, or as often as I like.
But to answer the question...I think massage therapy is accepted in Maine (deep tissue), but keep in mind, the massage therapy school in Waldoboro kicks out a lot of massage therapists so you do have quite a bit of competition.
Excellent Post! As a male being in medicine a femal dominated career field I've had to deal w/ the deeply rooted bias against male RN's and now male Massage Therapists. Now in defense of women therapists out there, I've had a few that have worked on me and I'm a big boy and they had me crying by sessions end (in other words they were more than strong enough) to get the job done.
Thanks for the insight. As for the comp w/ the school I think my price point and my career experience should help set me apart from the basic comp. Thanks again!
I don't know.. if it's ignorance.
I just think it's like being attracted to your "therapists" is like being attracted to your OBGYN.
This is someone who is in contact with your body in a different level. (that's my feelings)
My OBGYN's for my girls were males because of there medical degree was impressive.
We did a survey a few years back in school.. and it was shown that..
" men are more likely to not have man dr etc. "
Women tend to visit the dr more then men
( survey again) and are "more open" to either.
Men don't want "men touching them." (That was the bottom line.
That in it's basic form is so very true but once you knock down that bias that's been inbread into us that certain jobs are for men and those are for women, we begin to look at the world thru a diff set of eyes. I know I sure did.
And it's prej when you assign your feelings or belief structure onto another person or being and hold that against them.
If you look at what you write you will truly see the prej in the words, and how it's YOU that are putting the mostly misguided feelings or thoughts out there and most often not the male doc, or therapist.
But I've always done well and will do well in Maine I'm more than sure, heck if I can do well in the Bible belt, I can make ends meet up North.
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(That was the bottom line.
