Learning Ashiatsu was, by far, the best choice I’ve made in learning how to extend my massage career. However, after making a big financial and time commitment is when most massage therapists discover that their career may only last 3-5 years. Massage burnout and injury are the 2 biggest reasons.

Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals has reported that the burn out rate within the industry has been estimated at 50% to 88% within the first 3 to 5 years after graduation.

Massage Therapy Schools Information reports that “enrollment statistics seem to support this with over 50,000 students enrolling per year with 45,000 that leave the field annually.”

Yikes. That’s a whole lot of people leaving an industry that they more than likely really enjoy.

Injuries typically reported are:

• tendonitis in the wrists
• tennis elbow
• tendonitis in the shoulders
• carpal tunnel
• trigger finger/thumb

How can massage therapists prolong their careers?

Education

Taking massage continuing education courses can help prevent injuries, especially when the instructor makes the massage therapist aware of improper body mechanics. Massage therapists can avoid repetitive stress injuries by learning new techniques that will give their body different ways to perform massage therapy.

Discovering skills such as Ashiatsu barefoot massage will greatly extend a career as well, as the therapist will use gravity and their feet versus the strength of their thumbs, elbows, and back.

Emotional Burnout

Mental weariness for the massage therapist is often a big factor, too.

Massage therapists need to be able to distance themselves emotionally from their clients like psychological therapists do. One of the things I love about barefoot massage is that the client is now more than 5 feet from my head, which gives me mental space I need sometimes.

Business overwhelm

Business skills seem to not run high among many of the massage therapists I’ve met. They got into business to help others, but the bookkeeping, taxes, deductibles, etc. can be daunting. Paying (or trading) for assistance can eliminate the stress of running one’s own business.

On the other side of the coin, being self-employed is not for everyone. Life was much easier in some ways, when I was an independent contractor and just showed up to do massage. Being fully self-employed is hard work, but I enjoy the freedom.

Compensation

How much do you charge for your services? Are you making what you consider to be a fair amount? If you work for someone and don’t make much money but you don’t need much money, then hopefully your stress level is low.

If you need more, charge a rate that doesn’t make you feel disgruntled, as long as you are qualified to charge that. Have you really invested in continuing education and have been perfecting your craft? (In my opinion, newly licensed massage therapists shouldn’t be charging the same as one who has been honing his/her skills and has taken lots of continuing education.)

Many massage therapists have another source of income for that very reason. According to the AMTA in their yearly “Industry Fact Sheet”

• Forty-nine percent of massage therapists also earn income working in another profession.
• Of those massage therapists who earn income working in another profession, 12 percent practice other forms of bodywork, 8 percent work in other forms of health care, 7 percent teach/write/lecture about massage therapy, 7 percent work in personal care and 4 percent do movement therapy.

Who takes care of the caregiver?

It’s a struggle to take days off when you’re building your business, but if you’re working 6-7 days per week and feeling worn down, perhaps it’s time to re-evaluate your situation.

Remember that your time off is just as valuable for your well-being as your time doing massage is to your pocketbook.

Scheduling regular time off, receiving massage, and self-care are the best ways to take care of yourself and prevent burnout.

Investing in your education, practicing self-care, establishing boundaries, and using excellent body mechanics are imperative to extending your massage career.

Enya for 967 days straight?

Lastly, a way to keep yourself from getting bored is to change up your music. Pandora and Spotify are great ways to stay fresh by simply asking your clients what type of music they prefer and listening to it. Some therapists say they no longer hear the music, but I bet they may hear something new if they tried a different beat.

My clients’ choices run the gamut from:

• Michael Bublé / Frank Sinatra
• smooth jazz
• calming waves / nature (only 1 person requests this)
• Madeline Peyroux
• Sting / Sade / Dido
• folk
• rock
• and my favorite is when they say to me, “whatever you want to listen to.”

How long have you been doing massage, and how do you keep yourself fresh?