You can become a medical massage therapist by becoming certified through CEU classes. By taking continuing education classes given by medical massage professionals, you can start giving professional medical massage instead of just relaxation massage.

If you are like most, you are wondering why you would do this. Why would you want to be certified as a medical massage therapist? What is in it for you? Isn't relaxation massage enough to attract clients and to make good money? After all, spas don't give medical massage to their clients.

These are good questions. They have good answers. First of all, you want to be certified through continuing education classes because you want to make more money than you are currently making. The good news is that you can be one of the highest paid massage therapists in the industry by learning medical massage! Yes, of all massage therapists, those with medical certification earn the most.

How would you like a job in a hospital instead of being stuck working in a spa? Since 2004, the hospitals hiring massage therapists has increased by one third. More and more hospitals are jumping on the band wagon and hiring massage therapists so chances are good that in the next ten years a hospital near you could hire massage therapists.

Another good reason is that competition is low in the field of massage therapists with medical certification. Most of the competition you encounter are massage in a box places and spas. Neither of these gives any type of massage involving medical treatment.

With medical certification you qualify to work in a hospital or a doctor's office, but you do not have to. If you already have your own practice, you can continue with it, but now you can earn more money by offering medical massage to clients who are hurting. Charge $20 more for an hour massage than you do for a relaxation massage. In some areas of the country, you can charge more and still be within the reasonable and customary charge for the service performed in the area of practice.

Licensed massage therapists who are certified in medical massage will get referrals from physicians who prescribe the specific services they believe will help the clients who are in pain. With a medical referral, you can bill a lot of insurance plans and get medical insurance compensation. Physicians will come to respect you as you help their patients, your clients, feel better.

If you want one of the jobs massage therapy offers, consider working as a massage therapist in a chiropractic office or in a rehabilitation clinic with physical therapists. 

This type of position involves a lot of medical work and knowledge so you will need more than the basic relaxation massage techniques learned in your basic course at school.  Study those muscles and the human skeleton model you worked with in class.

Pull out your massage school textbooks and read the anatomy and physiology sections again. Memorize what bones are where and what they do. Combine your knowledge of the bones with what muscles are where and what they do and you've got yourself a career that is not based on relaxation massage.

Sign up for those extra medical courses through your school now!  Once they are completed, you can begin applying with various chiropractors, rehab clinics, and physical therapy clinics.

The pay will not be much at first, but once you have proven yourself, a good chiropractor or physician will recognize your value to his/her practice and give you a raise or other benefits such as working part time, freeing up time in your busy schedule to work your own private massage practice or continue your education.

The patients will become attached to you as you will work on them several times a week at first until their conditions start to improve.

This is typical of any medical provider who sees the same patients over and over. You will take delight in their progress, as they slowly heal of their injuries. Many will make full recoveries because of the time and energy you provided as you gave medical massage to them. This is one of the most rewarding jobs massage therapy can offer you.

How about exploring a hospital-based career massage therapy offers?  Yes, some hospitals hire massage therapists to work with physical therapists, easing women's pain in labor and delivery, working with premature infants in neonatal intensive care, and comforting and easing the suffering in the oncology department.

You can have a part in helping patients by working closely with hospital staff members as part of a medical team. 

The patients and their families truly appreciate what you as a therapist can do for them, especially those who are terminal.  Touch is critical to comfort and healing and for many patients without any family members present, your presence and touch will bring emotional help that the strongest drugs cannot give.

It takes a strong type of personality to work with terminally ill patients.  It is best not to get emotionally attached to them or you will go through a lot of pain when they pass away.

This is a very rewarding path for you to consider provided that you can handle the challenge. Not everyone can and that is fine. We all have our gifts, strengths, and weaknesses.

Hospital massage is becoming more accepted and encouraged by physicians and hospitals across the United States. Mainstream healthcare workers are accepting and even embracing massage therapy for their patients. Why?

It is good for the patient's health, it satisfies the patient's need for touch and for company, and it saves valuable time for busy nurses if massage therapists are performing the massages. Yes, these programs are a win-win for the hospitals and their employees, the patients, and the massage therapists.

In hospital based massage, the massage therapist works closely with physicians and nurses to benefit the patient. Usually, the therapist is an employee of the hospital and not an independent therapist. He/she provides massage therapy for all of the patients that the hospital assigns.

The massage therapist can work in many departments of the hospital such as oncology, which is the cancer ward. Another possibility is the labor and delivery department and also neonatal intensive care, and many other departments.

Hospital based massage will grow as more and more hospitals and healthcare providers hear of the success of these programs.

Hospitals with massage therapy programs employ massage therapists who work closely with physicians and registered nurses to benefit patients who are in the hospital. They provide support and comfort to very ill and sometimes terminally ill patients. They must fit in with the team to provide the best possible care for the patients.

The patients receiving massage therapy are scared, uncomfortable and usually are in a lot of pain. Visits from the therapist become an important and welcome part of their day--a brief respite from pain and worry, blood pressure checks and blood draws. The service the therapist provides feels great and helps them to forget about hospital life.

The massage therapists should be compassionate and caring, with a listening ear and a servant's attitude. They have an opportunity to make the life of a very ill person just a little bit better. They can bring relief from pain and much needed relaxation.

The therapist's gentle touch and words can bring comfort and solace to an aching heart. They can calm the patient who is fearful and can provide a sense of friendship to the lonely. This is a very important job and the care they provide can make so much difference to the patient and to the patient's family.

Hospitals that make massage therapy a part of their treatment hire massage therapists who are part of a team of health care providers working together to make the lives of their patients better.

Hospital based oncology massage is provided to cancer patients, either after surgery, after chemotherapy or radiation therapy, or in the cancer patient's final days.

Massage given to these patients will be gentle and much shorter than a full body massage. It is provided mainly for comfort and to soothe bodies in pain. We are providing relief from the suffering these patients experience from moment to moment.

While they are being massaged, the patients focus on how good your touch feels, instead of on their constant pain. A touch that is not gentle will inflict additional pain on the patient.

Surgery sites and radiation sites should be avoided. The patient's attending physician will specify the types of massage to be performed, along with the frequency of massage.

Oncology massage therapists may come in contact with family members of the patient who will also need to be comforted. They are scared and worried about their terminally ill family member. Talking gently and reassuring the patient and his/her family are a part of the job of a cancer massage therapist.

This is a difficult yet valuable assignment. Death and dying are a part of working in a cancer unit. The massage therapist should not get too personally involved with the patients but that can be very difficult.

Chances are that you will see many different cancer patients during the course of a week. It takes a special type of person to work in this branch of massage therapy.

There are jobs in this field available in both hospitals and hospice facilities. Cancer patients who are in hospice care can be inpatient hospice patients or they can be cared for at home by hospice workers.

Being a labor and delivery massage therapist in the maternity ward at a hospital can be a very rewarding career. How exciting it is to be with expectant parents who are about to bring a new life into the world! Some hospitals employ therapists to be in the L&D rooms with the expectant mom and dad. This type of job is gaining popularity around the country.

The therapist provides massage for the mom-to-be, mostly back massage, which relieves some of the pain brought on by contractions. He/she also shows dad (or the birthing partner) how to give some basic massage to help the expectant mom while the therapist is not present.

The massage therapist will spend most of his/her time in the labor rooms, going from one expectant mother to the next as needed. Rarely will the massage therapist be in the actual delivery room.

The massage therapist may also provide massage therapy for the new mother in the days following delivery as well. This is beneficial for the new mother as she recuperates and gets ready to go home and take care of her infant.

He/she may also show the mom how to perform infant massage. This will enable the new mom to feel confident about handling her baby and it gives her a trick or two for quieting the baby when nothing else works.

Some babies will have colic and infant massage seems to help relieve the pain and crying. This comforts the newborn. Confident handling helps the baby to feel secure.

This is a relatively new field and, as with most hospital based massage, it will be quite a while before most hospitals have massage therapists on staff.

NICU massage therapists have a special job--providing caring touch to the premature and ill babies in the neonatal intensive care unit.

This is a new career for massage therapists and there are very few of them.

Preemies need to feel warm, caring touch. The nurses are so busy trying to tend to the medical needs of the newborns and chart their progress so little time is left for them to touch and hold them. The parents may not always be able to be there for their babies.

Some may have other children at home that they must care for and some must go back to their jobs. Some babies can be in intensive care for many weeks, even months before they are well enough to go home.

Preemies who are held and touched heal faster and grow and mature more rapidly than those who do not receive enough touch.

My first son (a preemie) was in intensive care for six weeks and back then (1987) there were no hospital based massage therapists. My husband and I spent as much time each day as we could with him. Still, it was not enough. Many babies were alone for the entire blocks of time I was with Andrew.

NICU is an intimidating place with so many wires, monitors, and IV's hooked up to tiny people on warming beds and in incubators. Alarms go off continuously as babies move and the nurses are constantly on the go, tending to each little patient. So extra hands on staff are a welcome addition for the nurses as well as for the babies.