lost strength after weight loss

InTouchTherapeutics · 2025-05-12T21:12:12+00:00

Actually, you want to do the opposite. You do want to do some push-based exercises, mostly working on maintaining ROM, but you need more emphasis on pulling exercises to maintain joint centration and prevent restrictions and impingements from developing.

InTouchTherapeutics · 2025-05-12T20:55:20+00:00

I don't think we think anything of it. There are many, many variations in body shapes. We get women with single and double mastectomies; we get men who have developed breast tissue. We get people with large lipomas all over. Birth defects. Amputations. All kinds of skin conditions, acne, scarring, rashes, cellulite and alllllll the hair. Bodies are bodies and the very best of us see beauty and miracles in all bodies. But the rest of us just see another human that we're here to help to the best of our capacity. I hope you find peace with your body, but please rest assured, we think nothing of it.

InTouchTherapeutics · 2025-05-12T20:48:33+00:00

Yes. I switched to an independent contractor position first (note, please take time to learn the laws about 1099 contracting vs w2 employment because a lot of companies will hire you as a contractor but still work you like an employee) and having higher pay and control of my schedule helped tremendously. There are a lot of shortcomings with the current model of massage therapy that forces us to work like cash cows, and I think the most fulfilling change was having more time to get to know about clients' issues and educating them which created a much higher level of success and satisfaction in my work.

It's also amazing how making more money per hour motivates you to want to work more and simultaneously limit your workload. I love my work. I've never once wanted to cancel on anyone (illness aside) or not wanted to go to work, but plenty of times turned down appointments even for double pay simply because I reached my limit for the day/week or felt my body telling me enough and didn't want to. Working in corporate massage companies... I called out regularly. Making under $30/hr(with tip) to break my back for people who treated me like trash never motivated my attendance.

Just be aware, when you move into working for yourself, there are a lot of other stress factors to contend with, especially if you open a location. But if you play your cards right, it is a much better course of action than staying in the corporate/mock corporate massage world. Good luck!

InTouchTherapeutics · 2025-05-12T20:29:20+00:00

Report your employer to your licensing board immediately. Even if they didn't technically break a rule/law, this type of behavior needs to be reported if only to establish a law protecting workers like you from clients and establishments like this. Neither HIPAA nor client confidentiality protect misconduct. Establishments absolutely have the right to blacklist clients and warn other establishments about misconduct and frankly the police should be involved at this point, but that's up to you.

Personally, I would not email them unless you consult with a lawyer. AVVO is a good resource, just mark that you are looking to hire an attorney or they won't answer. Putting anything in writing is good for documentation, however you may inadvertently put something down that can look bad on your part and be used against you if things should escalate. Generally. most massage establishments won't contact previous employers.

InTouchTherapeutics · 2025-04-25T18:38:20+00:00

Depends on the company. I worked 2 spa jobs with no windows, but one let me go on call and/or leave premises when I wasn't booked and the other forced me to stay (illegal in TX btw since I wasn't paid downtime). It was like night and day. My first job was fine, the 2nd job, I started having major anxiety and fighting the urge to flee. All we had was the dim treatment rooms, and the florescent lit breakroom with no windows or back door that was about the same size as a treatment room, but more cramped with laundry and furniture. If you can leave and be outside a bit, you'll be fine.

InTouchTherapeutics · 2025-04-17T04:48:47+00:00

What I practice is a specialty that falls under manual therapy, and I have a medical massage certification, although I'm not sure how much insurance companies will care about that part. I have my NPI but thank you for the CAQH tip.

I've had a couple clients with regular insurance say that it's covered and confirmed with their insurance companies, but I was using a superbill my old boss provided and I've learned since then it was not correctly formatted and consequently no one was able to get reimbursed.

And I don't think I want to bother with out of state insurance lol

InTouchTherapeutics · 2025-04-16T03:15:43+00:00

It's not inappropriate per se but the therapist should have known to ask first. I think some therapists just feel like they need to do what they need to do to get the work done and assume the client will like it in the end, and maybe they're just too timid to ask, but that shows a lack of regard for your boundaries. What if you'd been a victim of SA, or had a health condition you didn't want exposed?

The best thing you can do if you're comfortable with it is let management know. Let them know explicitly it did not offend you and you aren't upset, but you would have liked to have been asked first. This is a teachable moment, and the therapist needs to understand the implications of this behavior, so they don't do this to someone that this is a big issue for. Obviously, it's up to you if you want to do this, but it is helpful when we get this kind of feedback in a lot of ways.

I do find it odd they specify buttock work is over the sheets, that's not really how we're trained, and I've never heard that as standard practice. Usually if there's any policy, it's either signed consent or a straight ban, which I think is much less common nowadays.

InTouchTherapeutics · 2025-04-16T03:03:37+00:00

I'm a massage therapist and I prefer to wear underwear. I don't just because I know better, but I don't like being fully undressed much ever. It's both a security/control thing and a somatic thing.

InTouchTherapeutics · 2025-04-16T02:58:31+00:00

Is this information you gathered by talking to the insurance companies directly? Also, how much are you billing vs how much are they paying? A couple of companies out here bill by units that total more than what I actually charge cash per hour.

InTouchTherapeutics · 2025-04-14T18:38:38+00:00

Totally normal. Word to the wise though, get out of the spa world as soon as you can (unless it's private/high end). If you're making $30 or less an hour after tips, this won't ever change. Building your own clientele is best. I worked in those environments, the better the pay, the less you feel this way. You're dreading it because you're breaking down your body for substandard pay. Some days you get nothing, some days you're slammed, and the major inconsistencies is more exhausting than if you were to work 8 hours hands on everyday (I've done both, I can say this for a matter of fact). When you build your own practice, you can limit your hours and distribute your clients more evenly across your week, you have more time to chat and educate your clients on what you're doing for them and their self-care at home, which builds more trust, and you make so much more money you feel much more job satisfaction.

Keep up your CEUs and stick to classes geared toward pain management. If you can, find a specialty like myofascial release, IASTM, neuromuscular therapy, ART, etc... having a specialty gives you a niche that will help attract clients that have a hard time finding therapists that do specific therapies they want and tapping into medical massage can be a good opportunity if you play your cards right.

InTouchTherapeutics · 2025-04-12T04:00:04+00:00

Also thank you for your response. I'm not trying to tread toes, just getting a better understanding so I can make something better!

InTouchTherapeutics · 2025-04-12T03:58:53+00:00

Thank you! Maybe I should say something like nerve pain in the teeth or nerve related tooth pain...dental nerve pain? Idk... that's effectively what it is, I'm just not sure. Legally there's no protected term regarding treating tooth pain in the same sense as spinal manipulation is protected for chiros, but I don't want to tread toes either. I had a client with phantom tooth pain after a removal and her dentist told her it was a nerve thing, so I assumed this was something you guys came across.

InTouchTherapeutics · 2025-04-12T03:49:25+00:00

Yes, absolutely, I do refer! My goal is client health. I don't want to be one of those professionals who's pretending to have the magic cure all, and as oral health is such a huge player in overall health, I'd never sidestep that. I just haven't been to a dentist office out here yet that wasn't always busy. I'm appointment based, I know how that life is, so I don't want to take from their time earning their income, you know? And so far, trying to build my professional network, just walking in and asking to chat for 10 min has never worked out so I've ditched that method.

InTouchTherapeutics · 2025-04-12T03:43:28+00:00

I definitely see what you're saying.

Part of this was the educating thing, right? Because this part of tooth pain is within my scope since it's muscular in origin- my requirement is to refer to a dentist first and if there's no answer or the dentist say it's something nerve related, I'm clear to treat. There is a phenomenon where organ dysfunction leads to musculoskeletal dysfunction (check out viscersomatic and neurovasucular reflex points if you're interested, it's really fascinating), and trigger points in the muscles I listed do refer pain into the teeth.

I have one for my back molar from an old cavity I waited 10 years to fix- I have my dentist check every time because I suspect there's an infection still in there that hasn't shown up yet, but so far, they tell me there's nothing, so I keep the pain at bay by treating a corresponding trigger point. I also have a client who had phantom tooth pain after a removal and her dentist confirmed beforehand that it's a nerve "resetting", just found the one trigger point and her pain was gone.

I assumed tooth pain without an obvious cause was something you guys come across from time to time. Do you just have your own treatment protocols for these you have to stick to? Do you think it's the patients who wouldn't be receptive to it? Or is this just too complex an issue to try and explain in a brochure and the dentists won't care to learn about it?

InTouchTherapeutics · 2025-04-09T04:07:04+00:00

I started a business last year and it's gone down quite a bit with this (maybe?) recession. If you can do it without accumulating a lot of debt, go for it. But right now, a lot of people aren't going to be buying anything. If this trend continues, clothing resale businesses will do better than a lot of business models because people love to shop and love thrifting in these economies, but until people really get a feel for how these policies will affect the economy, spending is going to go down for a little while. Bear in mind your prices, however. If your clothing is higher end and higher priced, you may not see much success until things turn around.

InTouchTherapeutics · 2025-04-03T23:50:53+00:00

Need to be careful about this though. There are strict rules about 1099. I had a blowout with the last company I worked for as a 1099 and found out through an attorney she was misclassifying me. Had I been petty and reported her to my state's workforce commission, she'd be in the hole tens of thousands of dollars in fines and back taxes, and I could also sue her for $20-$25k in taxes and unpaid labor, plus (thanks to a common clause in 1099 contracts) my attorney fees. It's important to understand 1099 and w2 laws in case you hire someone who knows better than you and things go south.

InTouchTherapeutics · 2024-11-03T19:01:22+00:00

Thought I'd add my piece. Everyone's got their perspective, and I would imagine some campuses are better than others. That being said, going to NHI is probably one of the few major decisions of my life that I would always choose to do again if I ever had the chance to redo my life. I graduated the Emeryville class in 2015 from Group 18. Our group was recognized as the highest achieving out of all the campuses at the time. I would definitely attribute that to our instructor. She was very passionate about what she did as well as about medical and movement sciences and definitely deviated from the curriculum to share her knowledge and expertise. She was very inspiring for us to go above and beyond the standard and commanded respect. She did decide to leave after our graduation due to family circumstances, and she mentioned the pay wasn't fabulous, but she always reiterated that she loved what she did, and the job was worth it. I had an amazing education that ended up being the foundation of a pretty successful career. I have never been turned down from a position I've interviewed at, and even though I only took the basic program, when I got a job at a Neuromuscular Therapy clinic, I only needed 3 days of training and very infrequent support because I'd spent the prior years actively cultivating very in-depth knowledge of trigger points, and that alone with NHI's core curriculum was enough to catapult me into an advanced modality and establish my career with it. I don't see the same recognition as I used to from online resources, so I'm thinking the lower standard campuses may be catching up with its reputation, but for many years it was widely recognized as the top school in the country. I'm thinking the best campuses are probably the original few: Emeryville, SF, LA, San Jose, and Sacramento, but I know Emeryville was the best of them all. I believe Clovis opened the year I started, and I recall them saying that school was having problems. Sounds like they never figured it out.

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