is being a massage therapist worth it?

[i love music ?]

i was thinking about taking massage therapy as my major but im not sure if its worth it. do they get paid alot? and how long do i have to go to school for this?

 

[heidiblass]

ive been an lmt for close to 15 years and an attractive female and only twice have i ever been approached for anything sexual. if you conduct yourself in a professional way people can sense that. also i have worked in spas and chiro offices massage centers and have had private clients. its not a job you can do 40 hours a week. about 30 is good. otherwise you will burn out. i have worked at massage envy in the past and have averaged about $1500.00 every TWO weeks and that is with taxes taken out. i have worked at chiro offices and avg abiout 600 a week as an independent contractor. now i work at a resort and avg about 900 a week AFTER taxes. in addition to may private clients which bring in an est of about 300-400 week.

it takes time to build up that clientel and experience. i started off doing massage pt and other work ptime until i had experience... which most of it to be honest i got from chiro office.

schools vary.... i say if you are gonna do it.... GO ALL THE WAY! find a good school not some local cheesy one. STEINER is a good place to start looking. you cango as far as an associates in applied science and double a minor if you want. the hors of schooloing is based on your state. some states dont even require a license to work there....YIKES! most of those "therapists" dont know the anatomy and i sure wouldnt want to get work done by them. i think it was VERY worth it to get my license and a very rewarding career. but you have to ask yourself... can you sometimes handle dirty feet and hairy backs? CUZ YOU GET THEM! lol

if you are a male, the bestjob opp will be at chiro offices bc it is a more therapeutic setting. good luck on your decision making!

 

[Nitram]

I suspect it's not worth it. You'll only keep getting guys expecting you to provide a happy ending and they won't come back again.

Get yourself a real job and go into sports' medicine or physical therapy. They are recognized jobs

 

[Lightning]

Its a physically demanding job which can make you a lot of money but usually doesn't as there are so many on the market and the competition is great. As a massage therapist many clients will expect you to be a diagnostician which isn't your job and will leave them feeling short changed.

Sadly, although most people do not confuse physical touching with erotic touching because they can feel the difference between the 2 touches and the intention is clear there are too many who will visit a massage therapist and confuse the 2
These people who are emotionally underdeveloped/retarded can't tell the difference. They just don't have that capacity to differentiate because they have very poor empathy. They confuse therapeutic contact with erotic contact. They subsequently end up bitter, angry and confused when their requests for inappropriate services are declined and they get told to leave before the police get involved.

They are often found trolling the net giving nonsense answers on forums like this.

 

[Sasparilla]

Ditto what the previous to responders said. Not worth it. Pays $16.78/hour and you only work 16 hours a week. Depends on where you are how long the program is.