Over the past two weeks we’ve been looking at the increasing popularity of attending massage therapy school, and earlier this year we wrote an entry about massage therapy being named one of the top careers out there. The U.S. News & World Report wrote that massage therapy was a top career as the education required to become a massage professional was relatively inexpensive when compared to the amount of money a therapist earns, on average.
However, for people considering massage therapy as a career, financial considerations shouldn’t be the only factor. Massage therapists do a lot of good in the world, one example of this being their ability to help those suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Indeed, massage therapy has been shown to relieve some of the chief symptoms of PTSD, mainly high levels of stress and blood pressure. Moreover, people who tend to suffer more from PTSD are generally members of society who are most in need – and often deserving – of therapeutic care.
As MassageMag reports, war veterans are much more likely to suffer from PTSD, and – as we discussed last year – many therapists offer free or reduced rates to service members interested in therapeutic massage.
Other segments of society that suffer from high rates of PTSD, according to the same site, include those who have undergone major medical procedures and have been in the Intensive Care Unit as a result.
Thus, when considering a career in massage therapy, it is important to consider that it is a field that is expanding and that offers the opportunity of financial success; however – and some might say more importantly – it is also a career that offers its professionals the chance to help those most in need. This opportunity is not one afforded to all professions, and is one that no professional therapist should take lightly or ignore.