Massage therapist
Massage therapists manipulate clients' muscles and soft tissues, treat sports injuries and give help to people with health issues.
What you'll do
Day-to-day tasks
In a typical treatment session you'll:
- check the client's medical history, diet and lifestyle
- identify the client's reasons for wanting massage therapy
- plan a course of treatment
- apply pressure to areas of the body
- give advice to clients about their wellbeing
- refer clients to medical professionals when required
- create and update client records
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.
Career path and progression
With experience and a caseload or regular clients, you could set up your own business.
You could also take additional training to offer other wellbeing or complementary therapy treatments like aromatherapy, reiki or reflexology.
What it takes
Skills and knowledge
You'll need:
- sensitivity and understanding
- excellent verbal communication skills
- active listening skills
- the ability to work well with your hands
- patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
- customer service skills
- to be thorough and pay attention to detail
- knowledge of how the human body works
- to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device
How to become
You can get into this job through:
- a college course
- an apprenticeship
You could take a course at college that will give you some of the skills and knowledge needed for this role.
Relevant courses include:
- Level 3 Diploma in Massage
- Level 3 Diploma in Sports Massage Therapy
- Level 3 Diploma in Complementary Therapies
Entry requirements
You'll usually need:
- 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, for a level 3 course
More Information
You could gain some of the skills and knowledge for this role through an advanced apprenticeship like a:
- holistic wellbeing practitioner
- beauty therapist
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
More Information
Career tips
You can specialise in a particular form of massage like:
- baby and infant massage
- Swedish massage
- deep tissue massage
- sports massage
You can take extra training to build 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 Soft Tissue Therapies (GCMT) 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 practice massage therapy safely and competently.
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This page contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.