Just by studying the surveys and reading the comments and feedback from massage therapy trainees and patients alike, you cannot help but deduce that the quality of massage education in many, if not all, areas is fast deteriorating. One online poll showed that only less than 30 percent of the survey participants thought they underwent good, reliable and effective training in their respective massage schools. Another survey showed that more than 50 percent of the total number of participants believed that their instructors fed them with more textbook knowledge rather than practical, actual techniques. A patient in Chicago, USA has complained that during her most recent massage session, the therapist rubbed a lot of oil on her body, pinched, poked and kneaded areas of her body so hard that she was left sore all over. The experience was too traumatic for her that she has already sworn off massage therapy. Such negative comments do not at all help the profession, which is supposed to have an important effect on a person’s emotional, spiritual and physiological state and functions.

Experts believe that the deterioration of massage education is due to a lot of factors. For one, there are a lot of shady massage therapy schools that do not have the proper certifications. In the USA, for instance, it is highly recommended that a certain massage school has accreditation from the National Certification Exam for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCETMB). Secondly, there are also schools that do not have enough competent teachers, most probably because they want to save on costs, or hire many teachers but only at a low rate (and an instructor who “somehow knows a little" about massage is already considered good enough).

Thirdly, most incompetent schools only offer textbook knowledge and not many hands-on, on-patient methods and skills. Of course, hands-on training is more important since it will prepare the student cum would-be therapist on what to expect in real life situations. Fourthly, there are instructors out there who either do not have enough experience or are not exactly successful in their own private practices who try and teach the art of massage to others. Remember, massage requires a high level of expertise as well as a good understanding of the challenges involved and people who have “failed" or are not practiced enough may only convey limited knowledge.

The weakening of massage education is not only bad news for accredited massage therapy schools which try very hard to follow rules and accreditation requirements and give quality education and training but also for patients who now do not have the total guarantee that their therapists have been trained the proper way and have the right qualifications. Something should be done to address this problem, if only to protect the true essence of massage and its benefits.