Episode 138: Five Overlooked Niches for Massage Therapists

When massage therapists talk about choosing a niche, the same groups tend to appear: pregnancy, athletes, corporate clients and people seeking help with a particular pain or injury.

For more episodes on niching check out:

• Episode 005 – Finding Your Niche and Standing Out (and 5 niches you’ve probably never thought about)
• Episode 085: Kylie Bradley – Why Niching Your Massage Business Could Change Everything
• Episode 088 – Five More Niches for Massage Therapists You Probably Haven’t Thought Of

These are established markets, but they are not the only places where massage therapists can develop specialised and valuable work. Some client groups have needs that are less visible. They may already be looking for a therapist who understands them, but cannot tell from a clinic’s website, intake process or treatment environment whether they will receive appropriate care.

In Episode 138 of the Folding Towels Podcast, Jackie and David explore five niches that massage therapists may not have considered: people with smell or chemical sensitivities, clients with scars, neurodivergent clients, people with hypermobility or connective tissue disorders, and active older adults.

These niches are not simply marketing categories. Each involves specific treatment considerations, communication needs and potential gaps in care.

Start with the need, not the earning potential

Niching advice is often framed around profitability. Find a lucrative market, establish yourself as an expert and charge accordingly.

A massage business still needs to generate income, but income alone is a weak foundation for choosing the people you want to work with. A niche is more useful when it begins with a genuine need that you are interested and equipped to meet.

As David puts it in the episode, therapists may need to “flip your thinking from money to need”.

A suitable niche sits at the intersection of client need, practitioner interest and professional capability. It may emerge from the clients already appearing in your clinic rather than from a marketing exercise. You may notice that particular people feel comfortable with your communication style, treatment approach or clinic environment. They return, refer others and gradually form a recognisable part of your practice.

The following five groups illustrate how much opportunity can sit beneath needs that are not immediately obvious.

1. People with smell, chemical and product sensitivities

Massage clinics often use scent to create atmosphere. Essential oil diffusers, fragranced laundry products, room sprays and scented massage products are frequently treated as harmless features of the experience.

For some clients, they are barriers to entering the clinic.

David describes experiencing strong reactions to certain artificial fragrances, including perfume carried into his treatment room by clients. The effects can continue after the person has left because fragrance may remain in towels, furnishings or the massage table.

Sensitivity can also involve laundry products, cleaning chemicals, massage oils, balms and other topical products. A client may have an allergy to a particular ingredient, dislike its texture or associate a smell with a distressing experience. A scent that one person considers relaxing may cause discomfort or a strong emotional response in someone else.

Lavender is a common example. Its familiarity does not make it universally acceptable. Some people dislike it intensely, while others may be sensitive or allergic to products containing it. Spraying a scented product near someone’s face without consent is particularly difficult to justify, even when the intention is to finish the treatment with a calming ritual.

Therapists working with this group need to know exactly what their products contain. If an intake form identifies an allergy or sensitivity, the information should be discussed before treatment rather than assumed to be self-explanatory. Suitable alternatives also need to be available.

A clinic wishing to serve this niche could make its approach visible by explaining that it uses unscented products, avoids diffusers or can adapt products where required. Clear information reduces the burden on clients who are accustomed to investigating every environment before they enter it.

These clients often share recommendations within their communities. Once they find a practitioner who listens, understands their concerns and follows through consistently, word of mouth can become far more effective than general advertising.

2. People seeking informed care around scars

Scars can result from caesarean sections, joint replacements, cancer treatment, skin lesion removal, burns, injuries, chest tubes and many other medical or traumatic events. Some are immediately visible. Others are hidden beneath clothing or are easy for the client to forget when completing an intake form.

The physical scar is only one part of the conversation.

Some people are comfortable with their scars and see them as an accepted part of their body. Others feel disfigured, avoid looking at the area or do not want anyone to touch it. A therapist who discovers a scar during treatment should not assume how the client feels about it.

The language used around scars also needs care. Describing surgical scars as either “planned” or “unplanned” may sound straightforward, but it can oversimplify the person’s experience. A caesarean may have been scheduled and chosen. It may also have occurred during an emergency in circumstances the person experienced as frightening or overwhelming.

Massage therapists working in scar care need enough training to understand when direct work may be appropriate, how to communicate about the area and when treatment should be deferred. They also need to remain within their professional scope. The therapist is not providing psychological treatment, but should be able to respond appropriately when a client has difficult feelings or memories associated with a scar.

David describes becoming interested in scar work after receiving treatment around a chest-tube scar. The scar was small and positioned between his ribs, but working around it produced strong sensations and changed how freely he felt able to breathe.

Clients may also benefit from gradually becoming more comfortable touching and caring for their own scars. This should be approached carefully and without imposing a narrative of recovery or emotional release.

Scar work can begin before a scheduled procedure. A therapist may discuss how treatment will be adapted during recovery and explain when it may be appropriate to return. After surgery, direct treatment should only proceed when the tissue is adequately healed, relevant medical guidance has been considered and the practitioner has suitable training.

3. Neurodivergent clients

Neurodivergence includes a broad range of ways in which people process information, communicate, regulate attention and experience sensory input. Autism and ADHD are commonly recognised examples, but the term may also be used in relation to dyslexia, obsessive-compulsive disorder and other differences.

A diagnostic label does not tell a massage therapist exactly what an individual client will need.

One autistic client may prefer routine, detailed preparation and the same appointment time every fortnight. Another may struggle to describe internal sensations or answer a broad question such as, “How are you feeling today?” An ADHD client may require additional reminders and support with appointment organisation. None of these characteristics should be assumed to apply to every person.

The practical starting point is more precise communication.

If a client cannot easily answer a general question, the therapist can ask which body areas they would like treated, where they currently feel discomfort or what they would like to be different after the session. At the end of treatment, specific questions may be more useful than asking for an immediate overall evaluation.

The treatment environment may also need adjustment. Towelling texture, room temperature, lighting, music, draping, pressure and conversation can all affect the experience. One client may need strong sensory input. Another may find particular textures intolerable or become overwhelmed by frequent check-ins.

Conversation preferences are worth discussing directly. Some clients want complete silence. Some prefer a short conversation before settling into quiet treatment. Others feel more comfortable talking throughout the appointment.

Previous massage experience can provide useful information. Rather than asking only whether the client has received massage before, ask what they liked, what they disliked and whether anything made them uncomfortable.

Working with neurodivergent children requires additional preparation, training and safeguards. David describes a therapist who used toys and puppets to help autistic children understand the massage interaction and build trust before receiving touch. This is specialised work and should not be entered casually.

Massage therapists must also avoid diagnosing clients. A therapist may recognise behaviours or sensory preferences associated with neurodivergence, but it is not their role to tell someone they are autistic, have ADHD or should pursue a diagnosis.

4. People with hypermobility and connective tissue disorders

People with hypermobility may seek massage because they feel persistently tight, sore or fatigued despite having considerable flexibility. Some have a diagnosed connective tissue disorder such as Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Others may have symptoms associated with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, dysautonomia, chronic pain, fatigue or temporomandibular joint problems.

Hypermobility alone does not establish any of these diagnoses. Massage therapists should not infer a medical condition from flexibility, tissue feel or a client’s neurodivergence.

Jackie describes seeing more younger clients who experience pain but do not understand why their bodies feel the way they do. Their tissues may feel different under the therapist’s hands, and aggressive treatment may aggravate rather than relieve their symptoms.

A client may ask for deep work because they feel constantly tight. However, their muscles may be working hard to provide stability around mobile joints. Applying more force or stretching already-mobile tissues may not produce the result either person expects.

Treatment may need to be slower, gentler and more responsive. Some clients bruise easily. Some are prone to tendon irritation. Others may feel unwell after lying down for an extended period or when moving back into standing.

This is an area where therapists should actively seek credible education. General online information can be inconsistent, and individual presentations vary considerably. The practitioner needs to understand the condition the client has actually been diagnosed with, ask what tends to help or aggravate symptoms and adapt each session accordingly.

Collaboration with the client’s broader healthcare team may also be appropriate. A therapist can observe, communicate and modify treatment without attempting to supply the diagnosis the client has been unable to obtain elsewhere.

5. Active older adults and retirement communities

Working with older people is sometimes discussed as though it means working exclusively in residential aged care with clients who are frail, dependent or living with dementia.

That overlooks a substantial group of active older adults.

People in their 50s, 60s, 70s and beyond may be travelling, playing golf, gardening, volunteering, caring for grandchildren and participating in regular exercise. They may have retired from paid work, but they are not withdrawing from life. They want to remain capable of doing the activities that give their weeks structure and enjoyment.

Lifestyle and retirement villages may offer a particularly practical setting for massage services. David describes a cleaner who began working for one resident in his parents-in-law’s village. Neighbours then referred neighbours, creating a concentrated group of clients within a community of approximately 200 homes.

A mobile massage therapist could use a similar model without spending the day driving across town. Depending on the village and its policies, treatment might be provided in residents’ homes or from a temporary clinic established in a shared room.

These communities also contain social clubs and organised activities. A therapist may be able to introduce their work through an educational presentation or short workshop before offering appointments.

Trust is central. A strong recommendation can travel quickly through a close community, but so can a poor experience. Therapists need a sound intake process and must understand the effects of relevant health conditions and medications. Some clients may bruise more easily, take anticoagulant medication or have little previous experience of massage.

Initial appointments do not need to be long or intensive. A 30- or 45-minute treatment may allow the client and therapist to establish comfort before progressing further.

The aim is not to treat older adults as fragile. It is to understand what they want to continue doing and adjust the service to their health, preferences and experience.

A niche requires more than a new web page

Choosing one of these niches involves more than adding a service name to a website.

The therapist may need further education, different products, revised intake questions or changes to the treatment environment. Work involving children, older adults or people considered vulnerable may also carry legal, screening or training requirements that vary between states and territories.

Those requirements need to be checked before the service is offered.

The strongest niche often develops through careful attention to the people already in the practice. Notice which clients refer others with similar needs. Listen for the features they say are difficult to find elsewhere. Review whether your environment, language and treatment methods are genuinely suitable for them.

Niching is not only about narrowing a market. It is about becoming recognisably useful to a group of people who need a practitioner prepared to understand them.

Listen to Episode 138 of the Folding Towels Podcast to hear Jackie and David discuss these five niches, the practical changes each may require and the opportunities they create for thoughtful massage therapists.