Finally, massage therapists can also seek work in a spa or resort. Many new massage therapists find this alluring and so take their licenses to exotic locales such as the Bahamas, find work on cruise ships, or seek work in a Hawaiian resort. When you start work as a massage therapist, you might wonder where your career will take you. While many massage therapists love running their own independent businesses for the duration of their career, other massage therapists take a more winding route through the working world.
Here are a few related fields you might consider:. Athletic Trainer: massage therapists in this field specialize in helping athletes to prevent various injuries to their muscles and bones. They might help athletes strengthen muscles so as to protect joints and to use proper postures and forms to avoid other injuries. Physical Therapist Aide: PT aides help the therapist to treat patients with a wide range of functional disabilities.
You will work with patients who have incurred devastating injuries, debilitating diseases, strokes, and who are recouping from surgery, among many others.
Your daily work might involve massaging tendons, holding walkers steady and recording data for medical records.
Physical Therapist: This is a doctoral-level position that will find you working in a hospital to help people recover from a wide range of aliment and injury. You might have clients suffering from something as relatively minor as tendinitis or you could have amputee patients who need to work with a prosthetic limb in order to walk again.
Exercise Physiologist: This profession helps people discover new exercise routines that will help them recover from injury and disease. Some may have atrophied muscles resulting from a long period of bed rest, or others might need to vary their exercise routines so that their bodies receive a more holistic workout. You could set up a quickie massage center in a shopping mall or create a self-contained spa that includes saunas, steam rooms, and mud baths, among other treatment areas.
Public Health Educator: Your desire to help others might translate into the public health field. Public health educators work in hospitals, clinics, and many other environments where people need reliable, actionable health information. For instance, you could provide nutritional information to a community and thereby help reduce the overall incidence of Type II Diabetes. Recreational Therapist: This profession engages patients in a variety of ways to help people recover from long periods of suffering.
In your practice, you might engage patients with arts activities, sports, board games, aquatics, or field trips to fun destinations. Rehabilitation Counselors: Your job as a rehabilitation counselor will be to help patients learn to live autonomously. For those with significant disabilities, you might spend years working with them to simply leave the house. Others might need to learn how to cook for themselves or take the bus to work.
Massage therapists are looking at a rosy future. This is much faster than average, which should be exciting for those considering massage therapy. This expanding demand might be arising from the overall increases in healthcare. It could also stem from the rising tide of the wellness movement. Since that is likely only counting those who work as employees, the earnings of independent massage therapists are likely to be far greater.
After you have practiced massage therapy for a number of years, you might desire a change. Massage therapy offers options, such as working in clinics, spas, or as an independent businessperson. In fact, you might choose to take a business loan and parlay your experience in private practice into owning and operating your very own spa.
Alternately, you might desire to branch out into a new career path. Related fields will likely require more education, but you might transition into work as a Physical Therapy Aide, a Rehabilitation Therapist, or a Recreational Therapist. Other options might find you working in medical supply sales, healthcare administration, or elsewhere in the world of business administration. A massage therapist is responsible for helping people recover from injuries, provide pain relief, and provide relaxation.
To become a massage therapist, you must complete a massage therapy program. These programs are typically hours, but they can be as much as 1, hours.
In addition to education, a massage therapist needs to complete the required licensing in their specific state. The job outlook for a massage therapist is good. A massage therapist may work in a number of different places. Massage therapists can work in chiropractor offices, gyms, fitness centers, hotels, cruise ships, travel locations, schools, and many other locations. Expand in page Navigation. What is a Massage Therapist? Step 1: Is this the profession for me?
This table shows a list of occupations with job duties that are similar to those of massage therapists. Athletic trainers specialize in preventing, diagnosing, and treating muscle and bone injuries and illnesses. Exercise physiologists develop fitness and exercise programs that help injured or sick patients recover.
Physical therapist assistants and aides are supervised by physical therapists to help patients regain movement and manage pain after injuries and illnesses. American Massage Therapy Association. Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards. Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation. Massage Therapists. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U. Last Modified Date: Wednesday, September 8, The What They Do tab describes the typical duties and responsibilities of workers in the occupation, including what tools and equipment they use and how closely they are supervised.
This tab also covers different types of occupational specialties. The Work Environment tab includes the number of jobs held in the occupation and describes the workplace, the level of physical activity expected, and typical hours worked. It may also discuss the major industries that employed the occupation. This tab may also describe opportunities for part-time work, the amount and type of travel required, any safety equipment that is used, and the risk of injury that workers may face.
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The wage at which half of the workers in the occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less. Additional training needed postemployment to attain competency in the skills needed in this occupation. Work experience that is commonly considered necessary by employers, or is a commonly accepted substitute for more formal types of training or education.
The employment, or size, of this occupation in , which is the base year of the employment projections. The projected percent change in employment from to The average growth rate for all occupations is 8 percent. Menu Search button Search:. Summary Please enable javascript to play this video. What Massage Therapists Do About this section Massage therapists knead muscles and other soft tissues of the body to provide treatment for injuries and to promote general wellness.
Work Environment About this section Massage therapists create an environment intended to make clients feel relaxed. How to Become a Massage Therapist About this section Massage therapists typically complete a postsecondary education program of or more hours of study and experience. CareerOneStop CareerOneStop includes hundreds of occupational profiles with data available by state and metro area.
Similar Occupations About this section This table shows a list of occupations with job duties that are similar to those of massage therapists. Suggested citation: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U. What They Do The What They Do tab describes the typical duties and responsibilities of workers in the occupation, including what tools and equipment they use and how closely they are supervised.
Work Environment The Work Environment tab includes the number of jobs held in the occupation and describes the workplace, the level of physical activity expected, and typical hours worked. Pay The Pay tab describes typical earnings and how workers in the occupation are compensated—annual salaries, hourly wages, commissions, tips, or bonuses. Job Outlook The Job Outlook tab describes the factors that affect employment growth or decline in the occupation, and in some instances, describes the relationship between the number of job seekers and the number of job openings.
Similar Occupations The Similar Occupations tab describes occupations that share similar duties, skills, interests, education, or training with the occupation covered in the profile. Contacts for More Information The More Information tab provides the Internet addresses of associations, government agencies, unions, and other organizations that can provide additional information on the occupation.
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Entry-level Education Typical level of education that most workers need to enter this occupation. Work experience in a related occupation Work experience that is commonly considered necessary by employers, or is a commonly accepted substitute for more formal types of training or education.
Massage therapy in healthcare settings has increased as more medical professionals and consumers recognize the physical and emotional value of massage for pain management and rehabilitation. You can also expect to work collaboratively with physicians and nurses to help patients achieve specific benefits based on their medical conditions.
While you may enjoy helping clients improve pain or rebound from injury, working in a healthcare setting will likely have a more clinical feel than typical massage therapy work environments.
You should also consider whether you can handle the emotional aspects of working with people who may be critically ill or suffering from chronic conditions.
Working as a massage therapist for a cruise ship, hotel, or resort gives you the opportunity to treat a wide range of clients. That said, working in the hospitality industry can require taking back-to-back sessions, especially on weekends and holidays when these facilities tend to be most crowded. Since franchises typically only offer massage therapy with limited or specialized services, this can allow them to increase access by providing massage at the lowest price point.
Franchises specializing in stretching techniques are particularly on the rise. These may offer access to benefits packages that are more typical of larger companies. Similar to working in spas, massage therapists who work in franchises typically perform back-to-back massages often with short breaks between clients. Since the franchise model is attractive to owners who have little business experience, working in a franchise may lead you to eventual ownership of your own business in the chain.
Working in gyms and sports centers allows you to provide massage therapy to a client base that may be more aware of their bodies and have different demands for services. Your workplace may also extend to the venues where your clients play or perform. However, you may often work in shorter sessions to treat targeted conditions such as pain in a particular muscle group. If you have an entrepreneurial spirit, you may enjoy working for yourself in private practice like the majority of massage therapists.
Working alone gives you the freedom to decide when to work, what to charge, and where to provide your services. Professional organizations like the AMTA can help you stay connected and provide tools and support for handling a wide range of issues such as marketing and practice management.
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