Massage therapists......?

Do you work for yourself or a company?


What did/do you like/dislike about your classes while attending?


What's your favorite part of the job and least favorite?


What do you incorporate into your work?


I'm thinking about going into this profession.Massage therapists......?
first of all Quackwatch.org is run by a man who did not even pass his medical boards and has been successful sued in court over 10 times..





I have been a masage therapist for 20 years. Specializing in Hawaiian massage (lomi lomi) for the past 10+ years.


I have always been an independent contractor, renting spaces or having studio space in my own home..





Pick a massage school that will let you experience alot of different techniques hopefully that are taught as CEU seminars that way you can see what technique calls out to your heart.. My belief is that many massage schools should spend more time doing massages during the schooling, including massages on practicing massage therapist. but make sure those therapist are giving you good feedback on your technique.





Least favorite part of my job, but most important if your self-employed.. is marketing it has taken me years to learn it.. The best part is helping people get out of pain, be it mental, physical, emotional or spiritual.





just to let you know that 50% of newly graduated therapist are out of the field within 1 year of graduation.. That comes from the AMTA itself. and 70% of students are out of the field within 3 years..





Watch your body mechanics!!!!!!!!! use your legs when doing massage, not your hands and you won't be someone who is out of the field because of the pain..





Your massage schooling is just the begining of your learning. Once you find what technique it is that you love to do, go study it in particular, be in it china or japan, or hawaii or in the states..


The more you specialize in a particular area of the body the better you will be in your living.. People pay more for specialists then generalist.. Get really good at working one part of the body. myself I have professional athletes travel to small southeast idaho to be worked on by me for their shoulder and hip issues..Massage therapists......?
锘縏he prerequisites I tell all prospective massage students is the following:





First, ';You gotta have the want to';. Meaning that you have to have the inner drive to want to help people. If you are going into it just to make money, look into other types of training, because you will burnout right away, because being an MT isn't your average 9-5 job.





Secondly, prepare to be a ';professional student';, because you will need to know almost as much as doctor does about the human body. When a client of yours asks to work on a certain muscle or asks you why a certain muscle hurts, if you don't know what you are talking about, you will at the


least sound uninformed and at the worst, you will lose that client and will probably never get any others, because ';people talk';. Think about it, when you want to get recommendations, who do you talk to?





So, you can't fake it when you are working on or with the human body. Besides, there is too much mediocrity out there all ready.





Besides Anatomy %26amp; Physiology, you will also have to master massage theory, techniques, history, contraindications, physical assessment, as well as Business Law, Record Keeping, Ethics and Traditional Oriental Medicine concepts.





Then be tested upon all of the above not only by the school you are attending, but also by a State and in some states a National massage board.





If you are ready, willing and able to complete all of the above, then have at it !!
Being a massage therapist is very hard work, and many of them have to stop within a couple years due to back and neck strain, and carpal tunnel syndrome.


I worked as a Chiropractor and supervising Doctor at a Chiropractic/Massage clinic, and was nearly as busy treating the workers as the patients.


You can avoid sexual advances by making it very clear in your ads and business card that it is therapeutic, non-erotic massage. That usually makes it clear you are an educated professional, and you can charge more as a result.


If you choose this career, make sure you don't massage more than 4-5 hours a day, and protect your body and don't try to do it too hard (which patients will always twist your arm to do). Best luck.