Massage therapist
Massage therapists work on clients' muscles, soft tissues and joints, treat sports injuries and help people with health issues.
- Typical hours30 to 39 a week
What you'll do
As a massage therapist, you could:
- speak to clients about where they are experiencing discomfort or pain
- check the client's medical history, diet and lifestyle
- plan a course of treatment
- use different massage techniques on areas of the client's body
- give advice on how to improve wellbeing
- refer clients to medical professionals when required
- provide massage as part of a wider beauty therapy programme
- keep client records up to date
Working environment
You could work in a therapy clinic, at a health spa or from home.
Your working environment may be physically active.
You may need to wear a uniform.
Skills and knowledge you'll need
You'll need:
- the ability to work well with your hands
- knowledge of how the human body works
- sensitivity and understanding
- excellent verbal communication skills
- customer service skills
- active listening skills
- to be thorough and pay attention to detail
- the ability to work on your own
- to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device
How to become a massage therapist
You can get into this job through:
- a college course
- an apprenticeship
College
You could take a course at college to learn some of the skills and knowledge you need for a trainee position.
Courses include:
- massage
- sports massage therapy
- beauty therapy massage
- complementary therapies
Entry requirements
Entry requirements for these courses vary.
Apprenticeship
You could apply to a health spa or wellness clinic to do an advanced apprenticeship like:
- Holistic Wellbeing Practitioner Level 3
- Advanced Beauty Therapist Level 3
Entry requirements
You'll usually need:
- 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths, for an advanced apprenticeship
Career path and progression
With experience and a caseload or regular clients, you could set up your own business.
You could also take extra training to offer other other complementary therapy treatments like aromatherapy, reiki or reflexology.
You could work as part of a chiropractic service, a sports physiotherapy clinic or health and beauty spa.
Career tips
You can specialise in a particular form of massage like:
- baby and infant massage
- Swedish massage
- deep tissue massage
- sports massage
- Indian head massage
You can take extra training to build up these specialist skills.
Professional and industry bodies
You could join the voluntary register of the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council or the Federation of Holistic Therapists .
The General Council for Manual Therapies is the governing body for massage therapy. It sets the standards for the profession and can give advice on the minimum standard you'll need to practise massage therapy safely and competently.
Guides for this industry
Related roles
- Job rolePhysiotherapist
- Job roleBeauty therapist
- Job roleReflexologist
- Job roleAromatherapist
- Job roleChiropractor
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