Difficulties of Being a Massage Therapist in Some Towns Still

Used to be and still is to some extent that to find a massage therapist was difficult in some towns. It still can be hard to open a decent massage therapy storefront in some towns due to the old connotations of someone giving someone else a massage. To insure that a massage therapist was actually using massage techniques in an effort to aid and provide health benefits, some towns levied some stiff requirements.

In this article from SGVTribune.com, you can see the requirements to open a massage "establishment" in the town of La Verne. This town had required 500 hours of state board approved instruction and that the massage therapists have national certification. Whew! Now they have lowered it to 300 hours with a recognized school if they have 1000 hours, and can prove it, of experience as a massage therapist. Ouch! Wonder how they have to prove that. And if you can't work till you get 1000 hours, then guess you have to get that 1000 hours outside the town.

This just goes to show the long way some people have had to go to overcome the old image of massage therapy. Even in my own nearby town, there has been a good deal of discussion between the local authorities and those wanting to offer massage therapy in their establishments.

So as you go along your travels to learn to be a massage therapist or just learn how to give a massage to that someone special with the tips you pick up here, realize what a long road some have had to travel to give legitimacy to what is a grand health giving profession.