Professional Profiles

Professional, Political, and Economic Profiles

By Ted Nissen M.A. M.T.

Introduction

Perhaps this is all just happy talk but massage therapy, as a profession does seem to be very trendy with the public and is in its ascendancy. Massage therapists are the most popular kid on the block or at least according to an AMTA commissioned survey conducted by Opinion Research Corporation International, Princeton, NJ. This research group surveyed 1,014 adults (506 men and 508 women) ages 18 and older, living in private households in the continental United States in August of 2005. They concluded that the typical massage therapist helps people get over their pain 93% of the time. The typical massage client goes to their massage therapist because of a medical condition (46%).[1] [2] (Muscle soreness and spasm, injury recovery and rehabilitation, and pain relief) and clients want their major medical insurance (PPOs) to cover massage therapy (68%). Most people get relief from their massage therapist using techniques (Swedish massage/deep tissue/neuromuscular) (71%)) they learned in a 500-hour massage therapy-training program. It could be argued that most massage therapists are already doing medical massage, consumers are getting good results and want their insurance to cover the costs of what they feel is health beneficial treatments (90%-94%). In fact when 1,014 adults were asked to whom they would go if they had pain their response as follows; pain medication (28%), massage therapist (28%) than a Chiropractor (11 percent), physical therapist (8 percent), and acupuncturist (3 percent.) We are by far the most popular kid in class. It could be further argued that no additional educational requirements are needed or additional divisions within the massage profession created. The typical massage therapist relieves client’s pain (93%) from their medical conditions (46%) with the current educational training (500 hrs ave) and it should be covered by major medical insurance (68%).

Despite the popularity of massage and the modalities apparent effectiveness are massage therapists paid enough for the good work? Chiropractors earn three times more per client hour and 6.8 times per year than the massage therapist who with her husband is earning 8% below the national median income for a married couple. Although the chiropractor is much better educated than the massage therapist, and must pass the costs onto the consumer the chiropractors net practice and individual income profits are as aforementioned. That is even if you factor in the additional educational costs chiropractors net hourly and yearly income is many times the massage therapist. If massage therapists could bill and get paid for their services by major medical insurance they would likely see an increase of approximately 38.4% (based on the average chiropractic billing) of their income ($32,506+$12,482.30=$44,988.3), which with her husbands income would total $72,879 ($27,891+ $44,988.3=$72,879.3). $72,879 would at least be 11% above the median income ($72,879-$65,946=$6,933/$65,946=.11). If our massage therapist were to work full time which may be possible given clients ability to use their insurance to pay for treatments MT income would increase dramatically. With a 38.4% increase in hourly income and a full time 35 hour a week massage schedule she could earn $78,915.2 per year just on her own without her husbands income ($31.33*.384=$12.03+$31.33=$43.36*35=$1517.6*52=$78,915.2). This would be 20% above the median income without her husbands income, who could now become a stay at home dad ($78,915-$65,946=$6,933/$65,946=.20). With her husband’s income added the total household income would be $106,806.2 ($27,891+ $78,915.2=$106,806.2). This would be well above the median income for a family of two. Our massage therapist’s gross individual practice income would be well below the average net practice income of our typical chiropractor. The mean Net practice income of the typical chiropractor is $148,625 which is 88% ($148,625-$78,915.2=$69,709/$78,91=.88) above the gross practice income of the massage therapist ($78,915.2).

Does massage really help people with their medical conditions? We need to do a literature review and perhaps more research to find out. Consumer surveys only tell us that our clients think so. Does increasing the educational hours of the therapist improve the effectiveness of treatment? Are chiropractors, for example, comparatively more effective than massage therapists in relieving client’s pain from a medical condition? Has this comparative research even been done? One hypothesis is this; Metabolic disturbances in connective tissue which cause most of the mild to moderate pain people seek out soft tissue professionals for, is corrected by general massage techniques (neurological reflexes on the skin increase circulation to deeper connective tissue) and does not require specialized massage training. Why Do We Hurt? These massage techniques are more effective than chiropractic, physical therapy, acupuncture, or even more specialized massage techniques (Orthopedic massage ect). The notion that more education is needed or the professional restructuring is based on reasonable but factually incorrect fixed ideas. Philosophical Basis... Educational institutions, seminar leaders, and the spa industry probably benefit financially. These political/economic forces may even perpetuate these fixed ideas. In other words, businesses, which sell education or profit from cheap labor, may not want to support a counter intuitive or a financially inconvenient truth. Recall this is only a hypothesis (generally stated). The benefit of researching the truth of this hypothesis to the typical massage therapist is tremendous. Instead of working 2 or more jobs and still living significantly below the median income level she could have a comfortable life with less work and more profit. Our well-loved massage therapist could move out of her apartment, buy a home in the suburbs, get some health insurance, get her teeth fixed and send her kids to a private school. If she doesn’t much like her husband she can drop him too.

Given these economic facts and hypothetical clinical realities why haven’t the some 250,000 professional massage therapists gotten better pay and benefits. The answers are likely complex but worth exploring. First and foremost it is important to understand better who the typical massage therapist is as an individual since politics is in part the story of individuals. Every one who has followed elections knows that political consultants use research to understand their voters better (You might have heard the term soccer mom). Once individuals are understood political science can begin to analyze how groups of people can be mobilized to exercise collective power.[3] [4] Below you will find examples of the typical individual elements of this political stew.

Massage Therapist (Typical)

45 year-old married women (78%-83%) part time secretary/massage therapist with 500 hours of massage therapy training, 2 years of college (AA Degree), 5.6-7.8 years experience, who lives in (California, Florida, Texas, or Washington,)[5]. She works doing massage or a combination of massage related activities approximately 15.38-15.4 hours per week working both in a spa/chiropractors office or as a massage teacher (23%) and in private practice. She does 39 actual massages per month or 9.75 massages per week. She practices mostly Swedish massage (37%), deep tissue/neuromuscular (34%), Myofascial therapy (6.4), energy work (3.4%) and sports massage (3.1%). She charges her private clients $58 per hour. Between her private practice and independent contractor (spa/chiro=she is paid per client) work she makes an average of $23.66-$39 ($31.33 mid point) per hour with a median income per year of $14,500-$29,250.[6