How to Choose a Massage Therapist in Horsham, Pa and Ambler, Pa, Blue Bell, Pa

Finding a truly great massage practitioner — one whose skills, style and personality all suit you — can make the difference between a merely nice (or worse, ho-hum) experience and the kind of transformative healing dynamic that keeps you coming back for more.

You won’t know for sure until you get on the table, but here are some key questions to help you decide whether a therapist is right for you.

1. Are you nationally certified?
More than 300 schools and programs in the United States offer accreditation for massage therapists. To become nationally certified, a person must have a basic set of skills, pass an exam, adhere to certain ethical guidelines, and take part in continuing education.  

2. Are you state certified?
Every state is different, but most of them (42, plus the District of Columbia) offer certification for massage therapists; some are voluntary, and others are mandatory. Seek out a massage therapist who is state certified, which typically means he or she met a minimum number of training hours and passed an exam.

3. How many hours of training have you completed?
This is a helpful question, especially in states lacking strict oversight of who can call themselves a massage therapist. The answer you’re looking for is a minimum of 500 hours. According to the American Massage Therapy Association, the average practitioner has 633 hours of training. A massage therapist with less than 500 hours of training can still be good, but consider the number a benchmark.

4. Do you have any special or advanced training?
The best massage therapists spend years developing specialties and honing a specific skill set. The massage therapist who is passionate about Chinese meridians and spends several weeks a year going to special trainings may have an edge over the generalist who hasn’t evolved beyond the basic moves she learned in massage school. The same goes if you have special needs. For instance, a massage therapist who emphasizes sport massage might be a good bet if you have a weekend-warrior injury, but not if you have fibromyalgia. At our wellness center

5. How much do you charge?
Expect to pay roughly $1 a minute for a chair massage at the mall or airport. At an upscale spa or studio, massage rates range from about $60 to $120 an hour, plus a 15 to 20 percent tip. (Sometimes, packages of four or six massages are available at a discount.) If you have health insurance, ask your provider if you are eligible for either a discount (available with some plan-approved therapists) or if you can pay for massage with money from a flexible spending account. Unless you have the Mercedes-Benz of healthcare plans, preventive massage is probably not covered 100 percent, but if your doctor or chiropractor recommends massage therapy, your plan might cover a specific number of sessions.  

One final tip: Get a referral.
It’s OK to be picky about who puts their hands on your body. If you’re feeling spontaneous and want to book a one-time massage at a local spa, great. But if you’d like to explore massage as a long-term investment in your body, or if you have some tenacious kinks to work out and you think you might need a series of treatments, talk to your friends about whom they like and why. If your friends don’t get massage, ask for a recommendation at your local yoga studio, health club, acupuncture center or chiropractor’s office. More often than not, these folks are plugged in to the local “who’s who” of bodyworkers and can steer you in the right direction.

For more information call Dr. Richard Schwartz @215.283.2844 or go to mapleglenchiro.com or horshamchiropractors.com