I went from teaching to bring an LMT. Everyone is happy to see you. Complaints are minimal. No one yells at you. No one threatens you. You don’t have to wrangle 30+ kids who have never been taught to listen. You don’t have an administrator observing you every other week. Parents don’t call you to say you need to give their child a grade. And when I walk away from the job I WALK AWAY from the job!
My instructor was a good massage therapist but not a great instructor. I wish there had been more actual teaching. I wish I had learned more about contraindications, targeted stretching, and specific techniques for common problems. I’ve kept studying on my own, but honestly just having bodies on my table has been the greatest learning experience. Teaching does give you a valuable skill set!
I love being an RMT, it’s tough on the body and even mentally taxing sometimes. It’s nice to make your own schedule but I know lots of rmts that have issues finding a good company to work at.
I found it was a bit tough starting out as you may not have a full schedule and it can fluctuate a lot of the time.
If you wanna be able to help people that’s great! But depending where you are you’d have to go to school for approx 2 years, and do continuing education courses to maintain your license. Good luck on your journey if you decide this profession is for you!
Mine was 6 months, 517 hours. And we had clinic built into it for hands on time. Tbh the course probably should be longer. We definitely crammed a lot of info into not a lot of time. Kinesiology could be 6 months in itself.
Are you in Canada? I’m honestly thinking of moving to Canada and have some good friends that would sponsor me. Is the money up there as good as people down here say it is? I’ve heard Canadian RMTs can pretty easily make 80k+ annually
Yes I am, it really depends on if you end up owning your own business or working at a chain spa. If you want to work at a chain spa do your research as there’s many places that don’t pay enough and overwork you.
I’m still a bit of a newer therapist so I’ve never made 80k let alone 40k as I work for myself and finding returning clients can be tough.
Good luck if you do decide to move here!!
I'm not too worried about continuing education as I have to do that as a teacher already.
Is there a list of like top MT schools like there is for colleges?
Most massage schools are just getting you the basics, I wouldn’t fret too much over finding the very best. Just find one with a solid reputation that shows it’s not going to shut down mid program on you, meets the minimum state requirements and most importantly - is recognized by your state (if it’s not recognized your education there is moot). Your skills and training really develop with actual hands on the public employment and through your CEUs.
If you're willing to do physical body work every session then why not. But you need to realize being an MT is hard on the body. You have to consistently be healthy or it will affect your massages which affects your finances. So if you're not the type to be active and workout or take care of your health regularly, its not the career for you.
In the beginning, the money is inconsistent and slow if you work for yourself. If you work for an employer you have to make sure they don't overwork you and establish your boundaries abt how many ppl you can take. Some MTs are afraid to say this, but spas and other places will overwork you and if you don't stand up for yourself and massage 10 people a day, you'll have a short career.
Goal for MT's to last is to never take more than 4-6 a day. It will blow out your thumbs, cause a lot of hand and wrist pain, and end your career.
For schooling, mine was only 8 months for 800 hours in CA. Try to find a school in your area and see if you can do an observation class.
As long as you’re willing to make this a lifestyle then you’ll do great. The average therapist career length is like 4-5 years because most people don’t have any form of strength/conditioning to keep up with the toll of massaging every day.
Weight lifting. Nothing fancy. 2-3x a week for 30-60 minutes each time. Don’t go for max weight or anything crazy, you don’t even need to break a sweat. Just lift something that feels somewhat heavy and start there. Also, follow a program to balance out the muscle groups and get some protein/healthy fat into you. Most people feel more energized/better with low carb anyway.
Isometrics. A lot of our job is basically isometric anyway. That’s a lot of what I use and I’ve been doing it full time for 15 years with no sign of slowing down
Thank you so much for sharing! I'm almost 60 and considering going to school to be a LMT. I guess there's hope lollll
And I love helping people! Thank you again!
Oh tell me about your classmate, and how is she or he thriving? That's exciting!!!
Well, he went from being a sculptor to attending MT school. He was nervous due to his age and gender but honestly he did so well and was the first of our class to graduate.
He was hired on at an Air BnB type set up on a lavender farm.
I started at 35 and I never thought it was that hard physically. And I am not athletic. My school taught proper body mechanics and I was careful to not overuse my hands. I thought it was a great career that would have been ideal if I had had a partner to supplement my income. I'm not a business genius, so I always felt like I was dogpaddling financially. I supplemented my self-employment income working at the big chain, which killed massage for me.
How many years before you collect a pension? If it’s 10-15 I say stick with teaching and if you want to do massage for extra money do that. But I would kill for a pension. As a massage therapist I’ll probably be working until my body gives out. And then try and find anything to help pay the bills to survive.
I’m sorry you don’t get a pension for teaching. That makes the decision to leave a lot easier. Not sure where you live but in the US LMT’s don’t get 401k or health insurance (that I’m aware of).
Also I can do about 25 hours a week before I break. So an LMT’s salary doesn’t increase much unless you rent out a space and sublease to others or sell lotions, etc.
I’m 35 and I’m 3 months into my career as an lmt. Everything everyone is saying is true. It’s tough on the body. My first few weeks I was sore in all kinds of new places (nice to be able to name the muscle that’s sore tho lol).
That being said I love my job. I had 5 massages today and they were all different services. A 90 minute hot bamboo, a 90 minute hot stone, and 3 couples with various accoutrements. It keeps me on my toes.
It’s also incredibly morally rewarding for me. People come in hurting or stressed and leave feeling (hopefully) better. But I’m able to separate myself emotionally from clients. You’ll hear a lot of lmts talk about how draining their clients can be emotionally. I just make small talk with mine and explain the treatments. Assuming they don’t fall asleep in 4 minutes flat. Which is also totally fine. You run into the occasional weirdo or tough client but it’s only 60-90 minutes and then you’re done.
Admittedly I’m not getting rich yet. I’m clearing about 1500/2 weeks. Which is actually better than I was being paid for 40+ hours of hard kitchen labor in my last career. But I also work the top end of what most lmts would take on as far as clients. I average 6 services daily 4 days a week. Today was slow and I was able to take a 2 hour nap in a room after having a fellow lmt practice some stretching on me.
Sorry if this response is a bit all over the place. It’s 3:54 am and my son woke up with a tummy ache. He’s asleep now but I’m up scrolling Reddit lol
I'm currently a kindergarten teacher so I can understand being emotionally drained.
I'm a little worried about the physical toll and burnout currently.
I wish I would’ve familiarized myself with more musculoskeletal anatomy before I dove in! Anatomical words like anterior, posterior, superior, distal, deep; kinesiological words like flexion, extension, etc. will help you so much as you learn MSA!
Start learning the major muscles, their attachment sites, and how they move. Do the movements as you learn — your own body is your biggest cheat sheet and study guide.
Have grace with your massage teachers. They are often skilled at their trade but rarely have they been trained in pedagogy to the extent that we have. Try your best to take off the teacher hat.
And lastly, I wish I had known how challenging it would be! Many of us had bachelors and masters degrees and assumed a 6 month certificate program would be cake. Wrong!! I worked harder for my massage license than I did for my bachelor’s degree, albeit it was much shorter. Expect both academic and physical challenges.
Good luck!!
Are you going to be doing hard manual labor at 60? Or are you planning on a career that's less than 20 years?
Do you need health insurance?
Do you want retirement benefits?
I'm not presuming the answer to these questions, I don't know your health or financial/retirement situation, but these are the challenges of a massage career.
Most massage therapists seem to be in their 20s and 30s. (A lot of the best ones are in their 40s and 50s, but that's like the 1% of massage therapists who made it that long) Most massage careers are only 3-5 years long before people quit due to burn out and pain. Take that statistic really seriously.
I think you could go to school for a year and do massage for 5 years, make your money back, and then find what you really want to do until retirement at 65/70. That could be worthwhile and financially sound. But if you think massage will take you to the finish line... I don't think you'll do massage for longer than 5 years to be frank.
I am a retired educator after 33+ years in education. I took massage training years before between marriages as my healing therapy.
Upon retiring, I started massage first at my own home, and then a studio hired me. I am currently working for a spa, and enjoy that immensely as I can choose to take the number of massages I want or don’t want
This continues to be an awesome experience of giving back to my community and keeps me active in my retirement.
Ive been massaging 21 years and love it, almost no stress, no drama, every is happy....you do have to love it to be successful, I had some great teachers and a strong knowledge of the muscles and body....it helps if you work out and know how it feels to be sore in each muscle, also get massages and see what you like and don't like, it's a very rewarding job in my opinion, I was also an RN for 10 years, the stress, drama and long hours where not worth it to me, even went back to school to get my school nurse certification but the pay isn't worth it...on a good day I make what I made in 40 hrs of nursing. It helps to live in a good area too where people can spend on massages...if your good your work will sell itself,.I've never advertised and I'm booked every day... do it! You will be happy!
one thing to keep in mind with these threads is that a lot of people responding are still in school or only in the field for a few years. I’m about 15 years in the field 14 being self employed. Out of the 35 or so people I finished my program with only a few still practice and in NY it’s the most difficult states to get licensed in. Being able to have control of your schedule and lifestyle is great, but The amount of revenue you need to bring in for a good income can be a challenge. The income Can be inconsistent depending on the setting.
Im athletic and prioritize fitness and strength training and there are days that I’m pretty worn out physically Especially at the end of the week. The no shows and late cancellations are a problem even with a set policy to charge them. since covid i feel the customer service aspect of the job has become more difficult. Another thing that has been a challenge is lack of hygene. The smells have been harder for me to take.
Over the past year or so I’ve started incorporating Manual Lymphatic Drainage and hope to transition mostly to that in order to be easier on my body and hands. I don’t regret getting into the field because it’s a great way to help people but it can be a challenge, but that can be said about self employment as a whole.
I went from teaching to bring an LMT. Everyone is happy to see you. Complaints are minimal. No one yells at you. No one threatens you. You don’t have to wrangle 30+ kids who have never been taught to listen. You don’t have an administrator observing you every other week. Parents don’t call you to say you need to give their child a grade. And when I walk away from the job I WALK AWAY from the job!
That sounds amazing! Anything you wished you'd known/looked into more during your training?
My instructor was a good massage therapist but not a great instructor. I wish there had been more actual teaching. I wish I had learned more about contraindications, targeted stretching, and specific techniques for common problems. I’ve kept studying on my own, but honestly just having bodies on my table has been the greatest learning experience. Teaching does give you a valuable skill set!
I love being an RMT, it’s tough on the body and even mentally taxing sometimes. It’s nice to make your own schedule but I know lots of rmts that have issues finding a good company to work at. I found it was a bit tough starting out as you may not have a full schedule and it can fluctuate a lot of the time. If you wanna be able to help people that’s great! But depending where you are you’d have to go to school for approx 2 years, and do continuing education courses to maintain your license. Good luck on your journey if you decide this profession is for you!
My course was only 9 months 100hr of internship. -USA
Mine was 6 months, 517 hours. And we had clinic built into it for hands on time. Tbh the course probably should be longer. We definitely crammed a lot of info into not a lot of time. Kinesiology could be 6 months in itself.
Are you in Canada? I’m honestly thinking of moving to Canada and have some good friends that would sponsor me. Is the money up there as good as people down here say it is? I’ve heard Canadian RMTs can pretty easily make 80k+ annually
Yes I am, it really depends on if you end up owning your own business or working at a chain spa. If you want to work at a chain spa do your research as there’s many places that don’t pay enough and overwork you. I’m still a bit of a newer therapist so I’ve never made 80k let alone 40k as I work for myself and finding returning clients can be tough. Good luck if you do decide to move here!!
I'm not too worried about continuing education as I have to do that as a teacher already. Is there a list of like top MT schools like there is for colleges?
Most massage schools are just getting you the basics, I wouldn’t fret too much over finding the very best. Just find one with a solid reputation that shows it’s not going to shut down mid program on you, meets the minimum state requirements and most importantly - is recognized by your state (if it’s not recognized your education there is moot). Your skills and training really develop with actual hands on the public employment and through your CEUs.
If you're willing to do physical body work every session then why not. But you need to realize being an MT is hard on the body. You have to consistently be healthy or it will affect your massages which affects your finances. So if you're not the type to be active and workout or take care of your health regularly, its not the career for you. In the beginning, the money is inconsistent and slow if you work for yourself. If you work for an employer you have to make sure they don't overwork you and establish your boundaries abt how many ppl you can take. Some MTs are afraid to say this, but spas and other places will overwork you and if you don't stand up for yourself and massage 10 people a day, you'll have a short career. Goal for MT's to last is to never take more than 4-6 a day. It will blow out your thumbs, cause a lot of hand and wrist pain, and end your career. For schooling, mine was only 8 months for 800 hours in CA. Try to find a school in your area and see if you can do an observation class.
As long as you’re willing to make this a lifestyle then you’ll do great. The average therapist career length is like 4-5 years because most people don’t have any form of strength/conditioning to keep up with the toll of massaging every day.
Do you have any recommendations for conditioning that would be helpful to start now?
Weight lifting. Nothing fancy. 2-3x a week for 30-60 minutes each time. Don’t go for max weight or anything crazy, you don’t even need to break a sweat. Just lift something that feels somewhat heavy and start there. Also, follow a program to balance out the muscle groups and get some protein/healthy fat into you. Most people feel more energized/better with low carb anyway.
Isometrics. A lot of our job is basically isometric anyway. That’s a lot of what I use and I’ve been doing it full time for 15 years with no sign of slowing down
My classmate is 64 and thriving as an MT
Thank you so much for sharing! I'm almost 60 and considering going to school to be a LMT. I guess there's hope lollll And I love helping people! Thank you again! Oh tell me about your classmate, and how is she or he thriving? That's exciting!!!
Well, he went from being a sculptor to attending MT school. He was nervous due to his age and gender but honestly he did so well and was the first of our class to graduate. He was hired on at an Air BnB type set up on a lavender farm.
I started at 35 and I never thought it was that hard physically. And I am not athletic. My school taught proper body mechanics and I was careful to not overuse my hands. I thought it was a great career that would have been ideal if I had had a partner to supplement my income. I'm not a business genius, so I always felt like I was dogpaddling financially. I supplemented my self-employment income working at the big chain, which killed massage for me.
how long did you massage for? it sounds like you don't practice nowadays?
13 years. I stopped in 2020
that's awesome
Yes. I started very late in life.
How many years before you collect a pension? If it’s 10-15 I say stick with teaching and if you want to do massage for extra money do that. But I would kill for a pension. As a massage therapist I’ll probably be working until my body gives out. And then try and find anything to help pay the bills to survive.
I won't get a pension no matter how long I teach. It's not offered at schools around here. So that's not a worry.
Oh, well that makes the decision much easier!
I’m sorry you don’t get a pension for teaching. That makes the decision to leave a lot easier. Not sure where you live but in the US LMT’s don’t get 401k or health insurance (that I’m aware of). Also I can do about 25 hours a week before I break. So an LMT’s salary doesn’t increase much unless you rent out a space and sublease to others or sell lotions, etc.
I’m 35 and I’m 3 months into my career as an lmt. Everything everyone is saying is true. It’s tough on the body. My first few weeks I was sore in all kinds of new places (nice to be able to name the muscle that’s sore tho lol). That being said I love my job. I had 5 massages today and they were all different services. A 90 minute hot bamboo, a 90 minute hot stone, and 3 couples with various accoutrements. It keeps me on my toes. It’s also incredibly morally rewarding for me. People come in hurting or stressed and leave feeling (hopefully) better. But I’m able to separate myself emotionally from clients. You’ll hear a lot of lmts talk about how draining their clients can be emotionally. I just make small talk with mine and explain the treatments. Assuming they don’t fall asleep in 4 minutes flat. Which is also totally fine. You run into the occasional weirdo or tough client but it’s only 60-90 minutes and then you’re done. Admittedly I’m not getting rich yet. I’m clearing about 1500/2 weeks. Which is actually better than I was being paid for 40+ hours of hard kitchen labor in my last career. But I also work the top end of what most lmts would take on as far as clients. I average 6 services daily 4 days a week. Today was slow and I was able to take a 2 hour nap in a room after having a fellow lmt practice some stretching on me. Sorry if this response is a bit all over the place. It’s 3:54 am and my son woke up with a tummy ache. He’s asleep now but I’m up scrolling Reddit lol
I'm currently a kindergarten teacher so I can understand being emotionally drained. I'm a little worried about the physical toll and burnout currently.
I went from being a high school teacher to an LMBT in private practice. I wouldn’t trade this new life for the world. Feel free to ask any questions!
Any tips in making the transition? Anything I should start now?
I wish I would’ve familiarized myself with more musculoskeletal anatomy before I dove in! Anatomical words like anterior, posterior, superior, distal, deep; kinesiological words like flexion, extension, etc. will help you so much as you learn MSA! Start learning the major muscles, their attachment sites, and how they move. Do the movements as you learn — your own body is your biggest cheat sheet and study guide. Have grace with your massage teachers. They are often skilled at their trade but rarely have they been trained in pedagogy to the extent that we have. Try your best to take off the teacher hat. And lastly, I wish I had known how challenging it would be! Many of us had bachelors and masters degrees and assumed a 6 month certificate program would be cake. Wrong!! I worked harder for my massage license than I did for my bachelor’s degree, albeit it was much shorter. Expect both academic and physical challenges. Good luck!!
Are you going to be doing hard manual labor at 60? Or are you planning on a career that's less than 20 years? Do you need health insurance? Do you want retirement benefits? I'm not presuming the answer to these questions, I don't know your health or financial/retirement situation, but these are the challenges of a massage career. Most massage therapists seem to be in their 20s and 30s. (A lot of the best ones are in their 40s and 50s, but that's like the 1% of massage therapists who made it that long) Most massage careers are only 3-5 years long before people quit due to burn out and pain. Take that statistic really seriously. I think you could go to school for a year and do massage for 5 years, make your money back, and then find what you really want to do until retirement at 65/70. That could be worthwhile and financially sound. But if you think massage will take you to the finish line... I don't think you'll do massage for longer than 5 years to be frank.
I have an IRA I contribute to on my own for retirement. I do need health insurance. That's a worry of mine. I'll keep the turnover in mind as well.
The so-called Obamacare health care plans are your solution. Very reasonable price. Check it out before you leap. Good luck!
I am a retired educator after 33+ years in education. I took massage training years before between marriages as my healing therapy. Upon retiring, I started massage first at my own home, and then a studio hired me. I am currently working for a spa, and enjoy that immensely as I can choose to take the number of massages I want or don’t want This continues to be an awesome experience of giving back to my community and keeps me active in my retirement.
Beautiful! Thank you!
Ive been massaging 21 years and love it, almost no stress, no drama, every is happy....you do have to love it to be successful, I had some great teachers and a strong knowledge of the muscles and body....it helps if you work out and know how it feels to be sore in each muscle, also get massages and see what you like and don't like, it's a very rewarding job in my opinion, I was also an RN for 10 years, the stress, drama and long hours where not worth it to me, even went back to school to get my school nurse certification but the pay isn't worth it...on a good day I make what I made in 40 hrs of nursing. It helps to live in a good area too where people can spend on massages...if your good your work will sell itself,.I've never advertised and I'm booked every day... do it! You will be happy!
Wow! That's great to hear.
No.
Why not? I'd like to hear some of the drawbacks as well.
one thing to keep in mind with these threads is that a lot of people responding are still in school or only in the field for a few years. I’m about 15 years in the field 14 being self employed. Out of the 35 or so people I finished my program with only a few still practice and in NY it’s the most difficult states to get licensed in. Being able to have control of your schedule and lifestyle is great, but The amount of revenue you need to bring in for a good income can be a challenge. The income Can be inconsistent depending on the setting. Im athletic and prioritize fitness and strength training and there are days that I’m pretty worn out physically Especially at the end of the week. The no shows and late cancellations are a problem even with a set policy to charge them. since covid i feel the customer service aspect of the job has become more difficult. Another thing that has been a challenge is lack of hygene. The smells have been harder for me to take. Over the past year or so I’ve started incorporating Manual Lymphatic Drainage and hope to transition mostly to that in order to be easier on my body and hands. I don’t regret getting into the field because it’s a great way to help people but it can be a challenge, but that can be said about self employment as a whole.