Get the best experience and stay connected to your community with our Spectrum News app. Learn More. The latter is in their face each day of the conference, which is being held in Cleveland. They can avoid the reminder by taking another route to the convention center — walking underground.
Not that these professionals want to hide. Massage therapy as a licensed profession has a long history, dating to when Ohio became the first state to license operators. Therapists currently are regulated or certified by 45 states, with hundreds of hours needed to be licensed, and many more in continuing education to keep the certification. Massage therapy is now covered by Medicare Advantage programs and some insurance.
There are stories of massage therapists leaving the industry after the recent crises, though no definitive numbers are available indicating any mass exodus. Michael Phelps was the keynote speaker Thursday. Krause recalled how everyone wanted to try cupping as therapy after seeing the time Olympic gold medalist use it during the Summer Games.
Phelps, who won 28 medals overall, also gave credit to massage therapy, positive publicity for the industry. But that was fleeting — the Atlanta killings by a white gunman who targeted Asian spa businesses and the Watson case have cast therapists in a different light.
NFL players still are allowed to use their own massage therapists outside team headquarters. Conference topics were focused on education, ethics, vetting potential customers and setting boundaries. Therapists also talked about renewed diligence about where they work and how they do their jobs.
