Are you a massage therapist?

[CallingTherapists]

I’m considering retraining as a massage therapist. Can anyone give any insight into their job?

What are the start up costs?
What are the first treatments I should aim to train in?
How long did it take before you were earning a living rather than recouping costs/breaking even?
Do you work ft/pt and what do you earn?
Do you work from home/mobile or rent a room or even have your own salon?
Anything else you think would be relevant?

TIA

Bump

I used to work part time as a massage therapist.
Do a proper qualification like ITEC as you can then add cpd courses on top. I’d recommend starting With holistic massage as that means you can start working as soon as you’ve done it.
I have hired a space and done mobile, pros and cons to both.
It’s a physical job so you are limited on the number of clients you can realistically fit in. I think to make a decent full time wage is hard work, people do it though! I was part time and that worked for me.
I really enjoyed the job. Good luck!

Thank you @Mrspopper.

When you say holistic massage is that a type of single massage, like full body massage? I’ve done some local research for training and have seen FBM, IHM, etc but I haven’t seen anything called holistic massage.

Yes it’s a full body treatment. I’d say look carefully at the courses, that they are accredited and recognised by insurance companies. ITEC is in depth and has exams so you get a good training.

I seriously considered changing careers to massage therapist in my 30's. I did the basic ITEC Anatomy, Physiology and Massage course, then added Aromatherapy and some more specialised courses ( MLD, sport etc ...).

It is a physically demanding job in which your ability to earn is pretty much limited to the number of hours you can massage and the number of clients you can find. You need to be very mindful of good posture and use of you body to avoid damage to your back.

Lots of therapists branch out into other treatments which are less demanding for the therapist, aromatherapy is a good example. The massage is much less demanding and you can see lotions and potions for home use to continue the benefit. Other options include yoga / Thai yoga massage / movement /postural alignment for your clients to do more themselves between sessions.

It's never too early for you to put together a business plan. What can you reasonably earn. Where will you find new clients. What costs do you need to cover. Will you have premises order be mobile So many questions.

Lots of people underestimate the value of their own time. There are always lots of people providing this service so finding additional value to attract clients like aromatherapy, alignment is better than just trying to be the cheapest and not really making a real business to support yourself. That includes your ongoing training , your earnings and your pension.

Can you see yourself still massaging full time into your 60's? Massage can be a really useful skill set. It's best to consider it as only part of the skills that earn your living. Good luck.

What are the start up costs?
Consider training £1200 (or less if gov subsidised) , then table £200, oil, lotion, towels, washing depends on number, insurance £50, trade membership, if going that route £60 upwards.
What are the first treatments I should aim to train in?
Swedish, from that you can do anything, because most of the basic moves are from this but if you are sure of direction aromatherapy or sports, also you can do light or deep massages. There is a beauty massage which is like level two but comes as part of a beauty course but level 3 for insurance on its own.
How long did it take before you were earning a living rather than recouping costs/breaking even? Wow a bit difficult but if you very lucky in your clients and whether you do training privately or at a college ( course cost) minimum 8 months roughly.
Do you work ft/pt and what do you earn?
I work part time or when people need me. So my charges start at £45, I’m not in a big city, small seaside town in Sussex. I am a Level 5 therapist and have done a number of different styles, I can an do adapt to whatever someone wants and also deal with injuries.
Do you work from home/mobile or rent a room or even have your own salon? Work from home, room rental takes a big cut.
Anything else you think would be relevant? As already mentioned you have to take care of your hands and wrists, it can really take a toll most place don’t teach you how to protect yourself.
Finally there are a lot of people doing it, not all are qualified and you will see some eye watering charges, but depending on area look at what I put as a guideline.
Good luck, feel free to drop me a message if there is anything else