Hospital's Taking Notice Of Massage Therapy Benefits

San Diego, CA - With the growing popularity of complementary and alternative medicine services in hospitals, licensed massage therapists have more career options today than ever before. The massage therapy and bodywork profession is on the rise in general with 120,000 to 160,000 people practicing massage therapy and bodywork in the U.S., more than 80,000 of them nationally certified. Many hospitals have taken notice of the benefit of massage therapy and are giving it a place in their treatment systems.

For the first time since its inception in 1998, the annual survey of the American Hospital Association singled out massage therapy. The survey found that a large number of consumers and health care providers are using massage therapy and bodywork for pain management and for other important health issues. This provides more licensed massage therapists the opportunity to enter the hospital setting and further expand their skills and promote the profession.

Massage is among the most popular complementary and alternative medicine therapies offered in hospitals. Of the 1,007 hospitals responding to the survey, 82 percent of the hospitals offering complementary and alternative medicine therapies included massage therapy among their health care options, more than 70 percent of which utilize it for pain management and pain relief.

As more hospitals and patients learn about the health benefit of massage and complementary and alternative medicine, opportunities for licensed massage therapists in hospital settings increase. Medical centers can be a rewarding and educational environment, furthering a massage practitioner's skills and abilities.

"Massage therapists are helping to heal patients, staff and the entire medical system by simply and profoundly reminding people, through touch, of the place of stillness and compassion within us all - the inner spark and connection with divinity from which all healing flows," said Laura Koch, founder and director of the Hospital Based Massage Network.

To learn more about Massage Therapy in Hospitals please contact Pacific College at (800) 729-0941 or visit www.PacificCollege.edu.

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