Massage therapy is a deeply rewarding career, but one that also comes with its own unique set of hurdles. From the physical demands to the occasional challenging client, understanding these occupational realities is key to a long and thriving career.
Here are 13 common challenges massage therapists face, along with actionable tips to help you minimize their adverse impacts and maximize your success.
Poor Communication Challenges
Some problems come from the simple lack of communication — it happens all the time! Clients may misinterpret terms and service descriptions or be unclear about what they’re looking for (either on purpose or accidentally). A lack of clear, professional communication can lead to several issues.
1. Confusion and Indecisiveness
Clients might mix up terminology, be misinformed about different services, or not know what they want.
These things can cause clients to argue or go back and forth with indecision, which can waste time or lead to an unhappy client. For example, if someone believes they booked a Swedish massage when they really scheduled a Thai massage, the whole session could become an unsatisfactory or even negative experience.
Solution:
With most miscommunication situations like this, a polite yet straightforward conversation with the client is all you need. Ask them clear questions about why they’ve come in, what they’re looking for, or what they need. Never be afraid to ask for clarification or to ask a manager for assistance if things get too heated.
2. Undisclosed Injuries
If someone doesn’t disclose a medical condition or merely forgets to update you on something like a recent injury or surgery, you run the risk of hurting them further.
Solution:
This is why intake forms and questionnaires are essential. They’re designed to inform you of the client’s relevant conditions or injuries. You can follow up on paperwork by asking the client if there’s anything else you should know before you start.
3. Professional Disrespect
Professional disrespect can look like no-shows, last-minute cancellations, or late arrivals without a phone call or other communication. Of course, sometimes things happen that make these scenarios unavoidable, but they should never become a pattern.
Solution:
To avoid repeated no-shows, late cancellations, or arrivals, have a clear cancellation policy in writing. Make sure the client is aware of this policy, how late they’re allowed to be before they’re considered a no-show, and the rules around fees and/or refunds.
Pro-tip: While these practices help set you up for success, make sure to also invest in massage therapy insurance to protect you in case a problem does come up. Massage liability insurance can pay for claims or lawsuits related to things like client injuries and accusations of false advertising.
Poor Communication Challenges
Financial stability is one of the most frequently-referenced challenges for massage therapists and those working in other service industries. Shifting schedules, cancellations, seasonal trends, and competition for new clients all contribute to money concerns.
4. Income Instability
When your income is hourly or appointment-based, it can be hard to predict your monthly earnings. You can go from fully-booked one week to barely-booked the next.
If you need time off, you might not be paid when you take it — especially if you’re self-employed. Finding and maintaining a good work-life balance that meets your financial needs can be a tough, ongoing process.
Solution:
Build and enforce a firm cancellation policy. Late cancellation and no-show fees discourage clients from doing those things. Plus, they help protect you from losing out on an entire session’s worth of work. Cancellation and no-show fees are fairly standard and shouldn’t keep clients from booking with you.
Utilize client management software apps like MassageBook or Acuity to streamline your booking and payment processes. These tools help you by requiring pre-payment and implementing automatic cancellation fees. They also allow clients to book sessions 24/7 and help fill gaps in your schedule.
5. Client Acquisition and Retention
Building a consistent and reliable book of business takes time, which can lead to additional income instability for new massage therapists. Even seasoned LMTs have clients that come and go, too. That’s why it’s crucial to establish strategies for keeping clients as well as finding new ones.
Solution:
Establishing a consistent and reliable client base can take some time, but it goes a long way in improving financial stability. Learn about marketing strategies for your massage therapy business to make client acquisition and retention easier.
Explore More Tips to Foster Financial Stability
Other strategies for minimizing financial instability include:
- Offer session packages and/or memberships to encourage clients to return
- Set up a referral program to encourage clients to recommend you to others
- Offer multiple types of services to broaden your reach
- Set up block booking or limit your available hours to avoid overly scattered appointments — you can always open up more appointments if your preferred times fill up!
Fatigue and Injury Challenges
Client injuries aren’t the only ones you need to think about. Massage therapy is a physically demanding profession, which can cause you to experience injury and fatigue, too.
6. Physical Strain and Injury
7. Emotional and Mental Fatigue
Working with the public can be draining for anyone in any service-based industry. You regularly juggle schedules, payments, your clients’ emotional states, and other customer service issues on top of the physical work you already do.
Solution:
You have to take care of yourself to be able to do your job — mentally and physically — when you’re a massage therapist. Your hands are literally tools of your trade. And like all other equipment, your body also needs proper maintenance.
To reduce the risk of injury as well as physical, mental, and emotional fatigue, follow these self-care practices:
- Rest: Your work is like exercise, meaning you must have adequate rest to recover and function long-term properly. Rest also means time away from work to do other things that you enjoy to help combat burnout.
- Sleep: The current medical consensus is that most adults need at least seven hours of sleep a night to remain healthy.
- Eat well: You have to fuel your body properly to keep it working properly. This means plenty of veggies, fruits, proteins, and other nutrient-rich foods.
- Hydrate: You need water — probably more than you think! The general guideline is half your body weight in ounces of water (so if you weigh 160 pounds, you should drink at least 80 ounces of water). According to the American Council on Exercise, though, if you sweat, are active, don’t sleep enough, or don’t include enough water-dense foods, you’ll probably need to drink more.
- Exercise and stretch: Regular exercise and stretching can help prevent injuries by strengthening your muscles and improving your flexibility. However, you may need to tailor your routine to avoid adding to overuse injuries.
- Use proper body mechanics: Don’t rely on pure strength to apply pressure. Use your bodyweight, angles, gravity, and other natural mechanics.
Fatigue and Injury Challenges
Massage therapists, unfortunately, have to deal with inappropriate behavior from time to time. While most clients are respectful, some will try to take advantage of the situation or misinterpret what is appropriate in your line of work.
8. Inappropriate Jokes and Comments
We’d all love to never hear another “happy ending” joke again! Even if it’s not as obvious as this line, clients still might say inappropriate things under the pretense of being “a joke.”
9. Violating Boundaries
Clients might cross professional boundaries, whether intentionally or not. This includes things like:
- Clients undressing in front of you
- Clients not properly covering themselves under the sheets, or otherwise exposing themselves
- TMI clients telling you way too much irrelevant personal information
Solution:
Most massage therapist training programs include modules on how to handle inappropriate clients. If they don’t stop after you first tell them their behavior is inappropriate, you can end the session.
If it’s deliberately inappropriate, you can end the session immediately and ask them to leave. Don’t hesitate to escalate the matter to a manager or the police if you feel threatened or unsafe.
If there isn’t anything about the issue already, you can consult a lawyer about adding an inappropriate behavior clause to your intake paperwork.
Hygiene and Skincare Concerns
Sometimes, hygiene issues go beyond natural and acceptable bodily things like acne or body hair. Your clients are often unaware of hygiene or skincare issues, so it’s your job as the therapist to make them aware in the most tactful, caring way possible.
10. Body Odor
Noticeable body odor can occur when someone hasn’t bathed or applied deodorant in a while. If severe enough, it could impact working conditions or be a sign of another more serious issue.
Solution:
If it becomes too unpleasant to continue, or if you become genuinely concerned for their health, have a polite but direct conversation with the client. Be respectful, but tell them you’d like to reschedule for another time.
11. Skin Conditions
Clients may come to their appointments with a rash, foot fungus, or other conditions that have flared up or not gone away yet. Depending on where the area is and how bad it is, they might not even realize they have an issue.
Solution:
This is another situation where a polite but direct conversation with the client may be warranted. You can tell them you’d like to reschedule, or respectfully recommend they speak to a doctor or dermatologist.
You can also add a clause to your liability waiver or intake form that addresses the overall issue of hygiene.
Regulatory and Operational Challenges
12. Licensing and Certification Requirements
Each state has its own set of licensing requirements and continuing education regulations. Certification exams, ongoing education hours, paperwork, and licensing fees are, unfortunately, unavoidable.
Solutions:
Find (and save for future reference!) an overview of your state’s massage licensing requirements. Staying proactive and on top of your renewal requirements will make your life easier in the long run.
13. Insurance Coverage
Some states include liability insurance as one of your licensing requirements. Even if they don’t, most spas, massage businesses, and landlords require you to carry your own liability insurance coverage.
Solutions:
Massage liability insurance ceases to be a challenge with BBI. Our massage therapist policies provide affordable, comprehensive coverage with optional add-ons for things like your equipment, cybersecurity, and more. Plus, BBI liability policies go where you go — which means you can work in multiple locations with the same policy.
Get covered immediately with instant proof of insurance for as little as $9.99/month or $96/year.
Frequently Asked Questions About Massage Therapist Career Challenges
What Are the Common Causes of Burnout Among Massage Therapists?
Burnout is described as a state of persistent physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion due to prolonged or excessive stress over an extended period of time. Research suggests burnout is caused by more than physical stress alone. Contributing factors include:
- Workload: Too many demands that reduce one’s ability to meet those demands, and include no time to rest, reset, or recover
- Control (or the lack thereof): No say or input in the job or workload, leading to exhaustion and loss of motivation
- Reward: Lack of recognition/reward leading to feelings of irrelevancy or pointlessness
- Community: Lack of support or trust among colleagues and/or management
- Fairness: The feeling of being treated unjustly, or without the appropriate respect leads to cynicism, anger and hostility
- Values: Differences between individual and organizational values make individuals feel conflicted, or cause them to struggle with work they want to do and work they have to do
What Is the Hardest Part of Being a Massage Therapist?
Yes! Your tools likely aren’t covered by the salon’s policy, and this coverage protects your equipment whether you’re at your booth or on the go.
