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The Future of Massage!

IMHO the future of Massage Therapy is in the medical field. I was a Nurse for better part of 10yrs and have held some form of medical title for the past 21yrs, since joining this profession full time almost 10yrs ago now I've always wondered why more MT's haven't come together to make this a priority union.

  The only negative I can see is that instead of $60-$100 hr massages the rates will now become more standard and Therapists will begin seeing hourly pay scales no matter if they are booked or not, no different than what Physical Therapists do.

 

I truly believe we are very close to this becoming a reality, my feeling is we need to get more MT's on board w/ this idea and get some form of unified movement going to help move this along.

 

Surely there can't be anything wrong w/ a better payday all while doing what you love.

 

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Permalink Reply by Alexei Levine on January 12, 2011 at 5:45am

As a Physical Therapist, my opinion is that if the future of massage therapy is in the medical field there will be 1/10 as many jobs as there are now, smaller paychecks, longer hours, less flexibility, and lots more paperwork.  Many Massage Therapists don't know how good they have it now.

The health care system is running out of money. 

There is no reason to undervalue wellness massage.  Something like 90-95% of all massage is wellness massage.

Wellness massage is preventive medicine.

Permalink Reply by Daniel Cohen on January 12, 2011 at 9:58am

Massage is older than Western Medicine. Hippocrates was well trained in massage. It has been used throughout the world in various forms. It is tought to children in many countries to help their parents. It is used to soothe away the stress of a hectic world.

I certainly hope we are never as specialized or regulated as the medical community. We have much more variety and with the power of touch we do more. We can work on medical conditions effectively without medicine or surgery. We can speed the healing after surgery and detox from medication.

We must also care for ourselves. I value my freedom to do what I do without the control of our health system which requires basic reform. I will gladly sacrifice the "better pay" (questionable) for this. In my opinion, if we must conform to the current American medical model controlled by insurance, the limitation of the field would no longer be what I love to do.

Perhaps this is also why our clients are willing to pay out of pocket for our services.

Permalink Reply by Michelle Batac on January 12, 2011 at 4:04pm
Personally, I believe unions are money-sucking, over-exalted, and overbearing with putting people in boxes. Of course there are good things about them, too....few. Unitarianism in the Massage world is unacceptable. We thrive upon our freedom, and quite frankly, so do our clients/patients. What other profession gives us this freedom to do what we love without so many stings attached? Unions, I say no!
Permalink Reply by Mike Hinkle on January 12, 2011 at 5:47pm

Hi Chance,

I see your reasoning for wanting to unionize to gain control of licensing aspects. But state legislatures control this, so it's up to who we vote into office in our individual states. That's a little of what scares me about voting doctors, chiros into office, but that's another topic.

Most therapists will not join a union. They enjoy their freedom. With unions come more rules... theirs. I think most therapists understand, it is their motivation and skills that will determine their income. They don't want more fees and regulation. No one argues the better payday, but few will trade their freedom.

There is a push to turn everything to medical. In my opinion this is a shame and will not work. Insurance work is great. Many of my friends do insurance billing and that's great. It is one way to be a massage therapist. Our diversity will not be or go in any one direction. This is our strength not weakness.

Much research is needed in ALL aspects of massage. We have come a long ways in just the last 5 years. There really is an opportunity for those wishing for more thrapists to lean towards medical if they don't create or try to create rules that would eliminate any modalities or try to make medical massage the future. Yes, it is growing and that's great. But so are all the others. Massage hopefully will never be anything except, "Great Massage!"

 

Permalink Reply by Gina A. Liccardo on December 14, 2012 at 12:46am

I think we should be able to have it both ways.  MT is like no other healthcare profession.  We cover all the spots in healthcare that the others don't and that is exactly why our profession is so invaluable.  It is what clients pay for and recognize once the experience the effects of the work and why people can't understand our worth in black and white but I wouldn't sacrifice that worth by allowing to be paid squat  or any less for my service.

Daniel Cohen said:

Massage is older than Western Medicine. Hippocrates was well trained in massage. It has been used throughout the world in various forms. It is tought to children in many countries to help their parents. It is used to soothe away the stress of a hectic world.

I certainly hope we are never as specialized or regulated as the medical community. We have much more variety and with the power of touch we do more. We can work on medical conditions effectively without medicine or surgery. We can speed the healing after surgery and detox from medication.

We must also care for ourselves. I value my freedom to do what I do without the control of our health system which requires basic reform. I will gladly sacrifice the "better pay" (questionable) for this. In my opinion, if we must conform to the current American medical model controlled by insurance, the limitation of the field would no longer be what I love to do.

Perhaps this is also why our clients are willing to pay out of pocket for our services.

Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on December 14, 2012 at 2:50am

 Gosh I don't want to become part of a very dysfunctional health care system..  I'm free outside the system.  Free to help people quickly.. And don't have to deal with mis diagnosises and insurance company paper work.. Been there done that.  I saw a new cleint today.  A referal from a lady I helped out of so called Fibromylagia that she suffered with for years, in and out of the health care system.   And the client she refered to me today suffered a siimilar fate.. For two years she was in and our of PT and Chiropractor offices, painful massages , finally only to be told by the MDs that she will soon need hip replacement surgery.  She said I was her last resort, and really didn't think I could help her, but her friend convinced her to come see me.  I did help her... and it only took thirty minutes.  She had a total of only three trigger points.. Thats it.  Two in her left Gluteus Medius, and one in her Adductor brevis same side.  Im free to really help people without any guidence or diagnosis or being under the thumb of all those people she saw before me.   Those people obviously know nothing about muscle pain.  My goodness.. She walked out of the spa very happy and pain free..There is no way I want to be part of the system...I attached pictures of her problem..  Hip replacement.  NOT.     

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Permalink Reply by Maryshka on December 14, 2012 at 10:56am

Getting too many hands in the (massage) pot... no pun intended... will ruin the versatility of massage therapy possibly? Feedback?

Example, if medical & health insurance gets control of the massage profession, MTs will lose in the end, such as who gets approved for what. Perhaps something being seen with the massage chains?

 


Daniel Cohen said:

Massage is older than Western Medicine. Hippocrates was well trained in massage. It has been used throughout the world in various forms. It is tought to children in many countries to help their parents. It is used to soothe away the stress of a hectic world.

I certainly hope we are never as specialized or regulated as the medical community. We have much more variety and with the power of touch we do more. We can work on medical conditions effectively without medicine or surgery. We can speed the healing after surgery and detox from medication.

We must also care for ourselves. I value my freedom to do what I do without the control of our health system which requires basic reform. I will gladly sacrifice the "better pay" (questionable) for this. In my opinion, if we must conform to the current American medical model controlled by insurance, the limitation of the field would no longer be what I love to do.

Perhaps this is also why our clients are willing to pay out of pocket for our services.

Permalink Reply by Cassandra Cravens on December 14, 2012 at 3:01pm

While I agree that massage has significant medical benefit I believe that there will always be independant practitioners and that is how it should be.  Fantastic if many therapists want to go medical, file insurance- that is their choice entirely.  Any attempt to restrict or eliminate private independant practise of massage modalities- especially regional types like Thai massage- will only result in the destruction of an important part of the massage culture.  There are plenty of people seeking massage for plenty of different reasons. 

Medical massage has definitely helped cure some of the negative public view of massage by giving clinical context to the benefits.  To say that it is the "future" of massage is to ignore the entire holistic/alternative wellness community and the spa industry.  Honestly, if the field narrows to medical only it will restrict growth and development.  To be adaptable to changing economies and cultures massage, like everything else, has to retain variety.

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