Massage Therapy Salaries

As long as there have been massages--which is to say, thousands of years--there have been a massage therapy career track. There are hundreds of different types of massages based on location, 'ancient' or 'modern' techniques, and what type of work the customer needs done. There are schools specific to massage programs and schooling usually lasts a few weeks for the most basic programs.

The more intensive you get in the massage field, the longer your training will be. For example, if you are looking to get involved in medical massage therapy (possibly the most profitable and definitely the most useful for people who really need help) you will have to have far more anatomy training than a regular massage therapist. Medical massages can significantly improve diseases, relieve severe pain, and can check for cancerous growths or other internal problems.

Most massage therapists do not take this path, though, and their schooling is minimal. Getting certified is not a walk in the park, however. Depending on the school and where in the world you get certified, you have to have a certain number of practice hours. The hours can range anywhere from one hundred to one thousand.

This enables you to perfect your technique and it also gives the people certifying you a chance to study you closely. Massage therapy can be an extremely stressful job due to the nature of the client. A therapist is supposed to be pleasant and agreeable and often rubs the client's skin while the client lies nude on a table. There may be soft music playing and candles lit. At certain spas or resorts, the client may have had something to drink.

The therapist must be extremely careful that everything is done with the utmost courtesy and professionalism to avoid any conflict. Unfortunately this job has many sexual harassment charges from people on both ends of the massage. This is why training takes so long despite the lower level of schooling--in order to watch the therapist and make sure massages are being done professionally.

Successful therapists are ones who can do regular massages and specialize in several other less-frequently required ones. Something like Watsu, which involves intensive water therapy, structural integration, Russian massage--which involves the therapist massaging the customer in honey--or stone massages, are much more work and require a lot more training. For this reason, a therapist who could normally make one hundred dollars an hour for a regular massage could make upwards of five hundred dollars an hour for specials in bigger cities so massage therapy salaries vary widely.