With health care costs on the rise, everyone is looking to save money. Health care is looking to automation to help offset expenses. Most industries transition from labor intensive to capital intensive. Now we are seeing the potential of massage therapy transitioning to capital intensive or the use of machines/equipment. With the rise of massage chairs, many massage techniques can be delivered effectively with these chairs. How is money actually saved in this situation?
Let us take an example. We go to get our massage at the day spa. First, we need to call them and schedule a time. We are going to have travel time to go and come back from the massage. There is also the total time involved. Massage time is the bonus time the rest of the time can be considered the cost involved. The massage is not free, so we must pay for the time of the massage and a gratuity. If we go 3 times every month, by the end of the year we are spending thousands.
You may already be getting treatment for an ailment that you have. Perhaps you are seeing a chiropractor. The good doctor puts you through a barrage of therapies, adjustments, exercises and more. The chiropractor is helping you to get your situation corrected. But you also need to make changes to keep those conditions from recurring. Many chiropractors use massage therapy to help their patients. If you insurance requires co-pays and other deductables then you may be payings hundreds per year or more.
Now, if you really need massage therapy, then you have options. You can certainly see a massage therapist. A massage therapist is definitely a great way to go, when you can afford both the time and the money. However, massage chairs are another viable alternative. Massage chairs range in price from $599 to $5,999 and offer a terrific range of massage therapies and full body massages.
The interesting thing is people look at massage chairs as expensive. They see the total cost of say $3,000 and they think, Wow! That is expensive for massage therapy. But they really do not look at paying $75 plus tip once a week as expensive. Let us say that a massage therapist runs $75 plus tip at $10 for a total of $85 per a one hour session. Let us assume that we visit the massage therapist once a week. How long does it take until we pay for the cost of a $3,000 massage chair? It takes 35 weeks or 35 massage therapy sessions.
When we look at the cost of the masseuse on an hourly basis and we a paying $85 dollars. It would take us 35 hours of masseuse hours to purchase a $3,000 massage chair. If we were to buy a massage chair for this price, how much massage therapy would we get. A massage chair in the midrange level of $3,000 would have a machine life of 1,000 hours. That means the massage chair is rated to last 1,000 hours under the warranty period. How much does it cost for an hour of massage therapy? To calculate this, divide the cost of the chair of $3,000 by the 1,000 hour rating and you are paying $3.00 per hour for massage therapy!
The real economics of the massage recliner is that it is a vastly superior value to traditional massage therapy. Obviously, getting a massage from a masseuse has its advantages beyond just the economics. But massage chairs also have some major advantages of availability and accessibility. Not to mention the overwhelming economic advantage. There certainly is tremendous value over the long run with a massage chair.
