A Compilation of Facts about the Growth and Health Benefits of Massage Therapy

by Carl Nelson

A Compilation of Facts about the Growth and Health Benefits of Massage Therapy


by Carl W. Nelson

Massage Therapy Facts from the Internet

Massage therapy has achieved unprecedented popularity in recent years. Some 25 million Americans make 60 million visits to 85,000 practitioners a year. -- Life Magazine, Aug 1997

The cost of healthcare in the US is estimated to reach $2.2 trillion by 2008 from $1.6 trillion in 1998. -- Health Industry Today

Consumers spend between $4 and $6 billion annually on visits to massage therapists, approximately 27% of the $21.2 billion spent on unconventional healthcare in 1997. -- Journal of the American Medical Association, 1998 Nov 11; 280(18): 1569-75.

Consumers visit massage therapists 114 million times each year. -- Journal of the American Medical Association, 1998 Nov 11; 280(18): 1569–75.

Of the types of alternative care explored, people say they would most likely to use massage therapy (80%). -- The Landmark Report on Public Perceptions of Alternative Care

54% of primary care physicians and family practitioners say they would encourage their patients to pursue massage therapy as a complement to medical treatment. -- Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 1995; 1:31-5.

Of this country’s 125 medical schools, 78, including Harvard, Yale, Columbia, University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins, Washington, Stanford, University of California - San Francisco, Duke, and Georgetown, now offer courses in alternative medicine … up from 27 in 1995. -- Journal of the American Medical Association, 1998 Sep 2: 280(9): 784-7.

A total of 27% of the adult US population reports having massage in the past 5 years, 15% in the past 12 months. -- Caravan Opinion Research Corporation International


The number of massage therapists is between 160,000 and 220,000, including students. -- American Massage Therapy Association, Jan 2000


American Massage Therapy Association membership increased more than fourfold in the 1990s to over 41,000 members. -- American Massage Therapy Association, Jan 2000


Studies show that patients make more visits each year to alternative care practitioners (629 million times per year) than to primary care physicians (386 million). -- The New York Times

More than four in ten adults in the United States (42%) have used some type of alternative healthcare in the past year and many report a likelihood of future usage.

Massage therapy is now being used in rehabilitation, sports, stress, immune enhancement, infant massage, wellness, psychology, corporate massage, geriatric massage, and in spas and resorts.



Compiled in 2001 by Carl W. Nelson