NPR & AMTA Report Robust Massage Profession

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NHI President Tim Veitzer and I just returned from the American Massage Therapy Association Council of Schools (AMTA-COS) in San Antonio.  Here it was announced that roughly 44 million Americans (20% of the adult population) had a total of around 209 million massages in 2008.  The most common factor for getting a massage was stress-relief at 36% followed by medical reasons at 31%.

On the heels of these outstanding numbers, National Public Radio (NPR) reported this morning that massage is faring well in a flagging economy.  It’s part of the ”comfort consumption” that experts say always spikes during stressful times like a recession.  People are cutting out their big expenses like vacation and travel — and spending more on smaller indulgences.  Click here to read the entire NPR article.