The word “massage” has become sullied mostly due to the fact that it has become synonymous with some forms of prostitution. The two connotations couldn’t be more different, and comparing any form of therapeutic massage practiced by a certified professional to what goes on in back alley “massage parlors” is absolutely ludicrous.

How it happened

In virtually all of North America prostitution is against the law, but just because it’s illegal doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist and thrive throughout the United States and Canada. “Businesses” that provide sexual services in exchange for money can’t publicly advertise the fact that they make these services available to anyone with enough money in their pocket, so they call themselves and publicly advertise themselves as “massage parlors.”

In small press newspapers in virtually any even remotely large city across the United States, a quick glance through the classified section will show dozens of advertisements picturing half naked women and offering things like “sponge bath treatments” in addition to “massage services”. Many of these advertisements won’t even include an address for the place of business, just a phone number for contact.

The association between massages and trading sex for money has become so popular, in fact, that several references to houses of prostitution advertised as massage parlors are being alluded to and made light of on many popular television shows. It’s gotten to the point that there are probably more places of prostitution calling themselves massage parlors than there are actual massage parlors.

The association with the practice of massage certainly isn’t very popular among the hardworking practitioners of actual forms of massage though, so those unscrupulous souls who wander into a real massage parlor or upscale spa looking for more than just a massage may just find themselves on their way to the police station in the back of a squad car – if not something worse.

The Problem with the Misconception

The largest problem with the misconception of all massages relating to a form of adult entertainment is that the certified massage therapists have to bear the stigmata of that association. Some certified massage professionals have spent more than three thousand hours studying, practicing and perfecting their technique so they could help to rehabilitate injuries and help people recover from serious accidents or surgeries. Many are consummate professionals with only one interest in mind – helping people. It’s incredibly unfortunate that these hard working individuals have to live with the association of adult entertainment providers and prostitutes.

The true Benefits of Therapeutic Massage

There are dozens of different types of Toronto massage that a practitioner can become certified to perform. Among some of the most popular are: shiatsu, acupressure, sports, hot stone and aromatherapy. Each has been shown to aide in the recovery of any number of different injuries and ailments and the certified practitioners of each has had extensive education in, not only the methods of their chosen discipline, but the anatomy and physiology of the human body so that they can apply the methods and practices they have learned in the most beneficial way to help their clients.

Comparing therapeutic and rehabilitative massage to offering sexual contact is truly damaging to the practice of massage therapy and to all it’s certified practitioners, as well as the teachers and students preparing to enter the field. In the not too distant future, all businesses offering a legitimate form of massage to the public may have to call their places of business by the name of the style of massage that they practice alone, without even alluding to the word massage in their name so that they may break away from the unfortunate association with the sex trade.