If you’re passionate about helping people and want a rewarding career with good job security, consider massage therapy. With decent income potential, demand, and intrinsic rewards, it just might be the right fit for your needs.
Is Massage Therapy a Good Career?
A career as a massage therapist is rewarding in many ways. Not only will your skills be in high demand, but you will also have a hand in helping people recover from injuries, release stress, and feel better overall. The field also offers solid income potential. As you think about pursuing a massage degree, here are 20 reasons why it is a good choice:
1. Salary Opportunities
When viewing career options, one of your primary considerations is going to be how much money you can make. It doesn’t matter how rewarding a career path is, if you aren’t making enough to feed your family, you won’t feel fulfilled.
According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, massage therapists earn an average of $43,620 a year, which is about $21 an hour. The highest-paid massage therapist salary is over $79,000 a year, and the best place to work for higher income potential is in a chiropractic office.
2. Job Growth
Working in a field that is in demand is also important, and you will find that with massage therapy. The projected job growth from 2020 to 2030 is 32%, which is significantly faster than average. If you pursue a career as a massage therapist, you will be in high demand in most parts of the country.
3. Ability to Work for You
One of the perks of pursuing massage therapy licensing is the opportunity to work for yourself if you so wish. Massage therapists can work independently and open their own practices as long as they have the right degree. This allows you to build your own client base and have flexibility in scheduling.
4. Increased Focus on Medical Necessity
Ten years ago, many people considered a massage to be a luxury. Today, more and more people now consider it a necessary part of medicine. The health benefits of body mechanics work are becoming more accepted, and that makes it a good career option.
5. Ability to Change Lives
Many massage therapists will say that the ability to improve the health of their clients is one of the biggest perks of the job. You can often get people enough flexibility and pain relief that they are able to move past serious injuries or ailments and get out of bed, walk more easily, alleviate headaches, and feel better overall. When people have less physical pain, their mental health often improves, as well.
6. Multiple Work Settings
Massage therapists can work in medical clinics, chiropractic offices, their own practices, spas, gyms, and more. The variety of work opportunities is a perk of this career path as well. This flexibility means you can easily find a position if life moves you from your current location to another one or if you want to make a change.
7. Improve Physical Fitness
Massage therapy requires strength, and many massage therapists indicate that the demand to stay in good physical shape is a perk of the job. You will need to take care of your body in order to perform your work, and that can easily turn into a benefit as you stay healthy and strong throughout your career. In addition, you’ll rarely be sitting when you work in massage therapy. As sitting can have a significant impact on your overall health and wellness, this only adds to the healthy nature of massage therapy as a career path.
8. Building Connections
As you build a client base as a massage therapist, you will end up with some long-term clients that can become connections in other areas of life. While you will want to keep some professional distance between yourself and your clients, you will still be able to build some connections as you work with people over and over, helping them achieve better health.
9. Fast Path to a Degree
Even though massage therapy can be a lucrative career field, it is also one that has a fairly fast path towards licensing. At Pacific College of Health and Science, we offer a Massage Therapist/Asian Bodywork Certificate program that is just 690-credit hours and requires 36 units of study. This allows you to pursue your license with just three terms of study. This means in less than two years, you can launch your career.
10. Affordable Degree Path
Because massage therapy training is a fast degree path, you will also find that it is fairly affordable. While every program is going to be different, you can start on the path towards a massage therapy career with much less investment than a full four-year bachelor’s degree program. You can likely find part-time options that allow you to work while earning your credentials, and that can add to the affordability of the program.
11. Quieter Job Option
For people who do not thrive in a busy, fast-paced work environment, massage therapy is ideal. You will work one-on-one with patients in a quiet, calm room, rather than working in a busy office setting where people are coming and going all the time. If you’re a natural introvert, this makes massage therapy an ideal career path. Of course, if you are more extroverted, you can still get your fill of “people time” when you have your clients to talk to every day.
12. Less Toxic Work Environment
Today, many people deal with problems due to chemical sensitivities to cleaners and perfumes. In a massage therapy setting, you may have less exposure to toxic chemicals. You can choose your cleaning products, and you won’t have to deal with many employees and the multiple smells they bring into the office.
13. Minimal Paperwork
If you feel like working in a healthcare setting is a good fit for your skill set and have a passion for helping people feel their best, but you don’t want to be saddled with piles of paperwork, then massage therapy might be a good fit. While you will want to maintain client files so you can provide the best possible care to each one, you don’t have to chart and document the same way you would as a nurse or doctor. This means far less paperwork.
14. Your Success Is Based on You
In many careers, your success comes as part of a team effort. While this works well for many people and types of work, in massage therapy, your success is on you. For entrepreneurial-minded individuals especially, this is a huge perk of working in this field.
15. Ongoing Learning Opportunities
As you develop your craft as a massage therapy professional, you will find multiple opportunities to extend your knowledge. Adding specialties, like shiatsu massage or massage for specific types of injuries, can help you not only expand your personal knowledge in the field but also grow your practice and add higher-paying services. You will need to gain continuing education credits to renew your license, so professional growth is built into your career.
16. Work in a Field with a Long History
Bodywork is one of the oldest forms of healing and wellness. The techniques used in modern practice are rooted in deep history, and they work very well to treat a range of conditions. Because of the long history, many modern-day physicians are embracing massage and even recommending it for their own patients.
- No Need to Manage People
Management is not the right career path for some individuals. It takes a specific skill set to manage people, and a massage therapist does not need to have that skill set. If you can’t picture yourself in management, then massage therapy could be a good path.
18. Build a Career Out of Helping People
One of the best reasons to consider a career in massage therapy is that you can build your career out of helping people. This carries a high intrinsic reward that makes getting up for work each day a blessing.
Are you interested in becoming a certified massage therapist?
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19. An Enjoyable Career
Overall, massage therapists report a high level of job satisfaction for the work they do. In the 2021 U.S. News 100 Best Jobs survey, massage therapy was ranked among the best career paths. By pursuing a degree, you can enjoy a high level of job satisfaction, as well.
20. Skills That Can Transfer to Other Fields
While you would not pursue a massage degree without the goal of becoming a massage therapist, life has a way of changing. Sometimes, you will want to change your career path, and learning massage therapy will give you skills that can transfer to other areas of life. Your knowledge of the human body, kinesiology, physiology, and anatomy can open the door to other career paths if you decide to pursue new interests.
Get Started on Your Massage Therapy Training Today
Working as a massage therapist is rewarding for so many reasons. From flexible work schedules to job growth and security, you can find many perks that make this field worth pursuing. Pacific College of Health and Science has massage therapy programs in San Diego, Chicago, and massage therapy NYC for your consideration. If you are interested in learning more about the Massage Therapy program offered at Pacific College of Health and Science, visit admissions or contact us today. Request more information about our programs to get started, or apply now.
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