6 Things I Wish I Knew About Being A Massage Therapist

I have been a massage therapist for over 7 years now and although my journey has had a lot of ups and downs, here are 5 things I wish I knew about being a massage therapist before I had started.

The Pay

When you first get into massage therapy you do not make as much money as you think you’ll make. This does depend on a lot of different factors such as; what location you’re in, the demand for massage and bodywork, and your experience level.

When I started out, I was making $14-15 an hour which then seemed like a lot of money, but looking back on it now, it really wasn’t. I had previously worked at minimum wage jobs, so it seemed like a huge jump. But what I hadn’t realized is that I wouldn’t be working 40 hours from the get-go. It was mainly 5 to 10 hours a week, as I still hadn’t built up my clientele.

So I didn’t make as much money as I thought, because this type of business is based on building trust and a reputation.

Massage Therapy Is Hard On The Body

This is something that I did not fully expect when I first got into massage therapy, but after doing my first real week after school, my forearms were so sore that I had to put them in a large tub of ice. After some shifts, I’ve even cried because the pain sometimes turns into nerve pain. On top of that, in massage therapy school I suffered a wrist injury that to this day hasn’t properly healed. 

When working you’re applying pressure to people all day, you’re contorted in all different types of ways and you’re bending over. You’ve really got to watch your posture, and it takes a lot of strength to do a massage especially if you're doing something like a sports massage that requires more effort. So the takeaway here is to make sure you're taking preventative measures towards injury, and expect to be sore after your first week!

Personal Skills

To be a successful massage therapist you need to have good people skills. Communication, empathy, compassion, and understanding people aren’t something that was fully taught to us in massage school. Instead, we’re told to not get too personal with the client, bring all conversation back to massage and never be too chatty so that the client can relax. But that’s not always the case.

Some people will form a bond with you and because it's a very unique field, you’ll get people telling you their whole life story with some very personal things that you need to handle with care and empathy. In some cases, clients will bring up things that you don’t necessarily agree with and in these situations, I would bring it back to massage; however, I do try to show my personality more especially considering that my company does home visits. 

Limits & boundaries

I didn’t know I would need a limit for how much I could work, but because massage is physically demanding, I got to learn those limits quickly. When I first started out I was often doing 7 hours of massage a day, and I would be aching all over. I even knew some massage therapists that would do more. So make sure you get to know your limit for how many hours you can physically do so that you don’t burn out.

There are other boundaries that you need to take into consideration too, such as handling cancellations. If someone cancels the same day, do you get paid? If a client shows up late, are you giving them all their time or cutting things short? These are situations that come up regularly, and knowing how to handle them keeps things professional with your clients, and also protects your mental and physical health.

Self-care and exercise

You will not make it if you don’t make time for yourself. When I was working 7 hours a day, I almost got burnt out. I was sore, my mental health wasn’t in the right place, and my stress levels were sky-high. But when I’d go to the gym five days a week I’d be sore from the workout and feel really good, but I wouldn’t be sore from the massage. So the more I worked out, the more I could handle the strenuous nature of massage. 

Overall, we really need to practice what we preach. We need to take time to care for ourselves as it’s going to help you stay motivated and protect you from burnout.

Become an expert

I wish I had known how many different fields of massage there actually are! When I first started out I was mostly interested in Swedish relaxation massage, so I imagined clients coming to me if they wanted to wind down and relax. Then I grew an interest in prenatal massage and became very interested in helping women. But then I realized that I really loved lymphatic drainage massage and helping people recover from cosmetic surgery.

So there are many different fields that you can go into with massage therapy, all it takes is some research and then testing the waters! Watch the video below to learn more.

My journey as a massage therapist has been eventful- to say the least. It has had its ups and downs, but I hope that this blog post has helped you see the reality of being a massage therapist.