01/10/2026
This is very exciting news. It’s often been confusing to me that Massage Therapists were not considered health care when we spend our entire career working so closely on and with the human body; observing, testing, studying, always deepening our knowledge. Most states we require us to take continuing education as long as we’re in practice. We have to be fully insured for liability, mostly state licensed or at least certified. Not only are we here to enhance the quality of life by providing pain relief, increasing mobility, enhancing circulation, aiding in physical recovery, calming the nervous system, offering emotional support, creating safe spaces, lending a compassionate ear, filling the gaps between medication and physical therapy….
We are some of the very few practitioners that spend as much time as we do with each person in their entirety. We devote hours upon hours listening to all of their symptoms; seeing all of their patterns in their bodies; hearing all of their hopes and fears; witnessing changes in their well-being and health over time; observing so much that was never said out loud. I can’t think of another professional that has this much all encompassing knowledge about their patients as Massage Therapists do. A GP barely spends 20 minutes in an appointment before handing someone off to another doctor, nurse, specialist, sometimes a Massage Therapist!
Yet we’re often overlooked and undermined by the healthcare industry, and therefore diminished by the public as well. I have heard countless stories where a Massage Therapist caught a major health concern, and/or reported significant but unnoticed changes to someone’s behavior that resulted in life-saving intervention before any doctor detected it.
I’m not discrediting MDs, they save lives all day everyday, I’m simply pointing out that Massage Therapists are more than meets the eye. 🦋🦋
