How to Choose your 1st Massage Table

Choosing your first massage table doesn’t need to be a chore. If you’re just starting now your massage therapy business, a massage table is a must. After all, this is where the client (or patient) will be for the next 30-40 minutes receiving their massage treatment. Treat your first purchase of a massage table as a long time investment, which means that buying the best that you can afford is a must.

There are various massage tables on the market, and some tables are also called reiki tables. First, let’s clear up the confusion of massage table vs reiki table. Some even called it ‘reiki massage table’. The two are not the same, but they are not that different either.

Without going into details, reiki is a healing art that uses the universal life force, or spiritual energy to heal a person. Just as massage, reiki needs a table for the patient to lie on for the duration of the healing session. The two tables can be used interchangeably, as long as the end of the table matches for both practices.

Basically a regular massage table is enough for reiki, however in the long run it will tire out the reiki practitioner, and this is why. Reiki tables have an open end which means that the knees will easily fit under the table. That is a major convenience for a practitioner considering the long duration of such a treatment. This opening is usually not available for the massage tables, which have often criss-cross bars at both ends. Nowadays many massage tables have reiki end panels which make it a perfect choice for reiki therapists to use massage tables as well.

An important consideration before buying your first massage or reiki table is portability. Will your table be placed in a room and left there, or you will need to take it with you while travelling? Many massage and reiki therapists make home visits and take their table with them to set up in the client’s room. You’d be surprised at the number of people asking me if I can come to their homes to give them reiki treatment. I’ve never been happier to have a portable table since now I can tell them ‘Yes I can’ since now I have more customers than ever before.

Quality and price make another important aspect of buying your first massage, or reiki table. If you are a massage therapist, or want to open up your own practice, do not go into the temptation of sacrificing quality for the cheaper price. It is not worth it. The few hundred dollars you are saving on your first massage table will mean that in less than a year you will have wasted the money you spent on your first table when you have to buy your new one.

Buy a good quality table from the start and you will not regret it. Neither will your customer, who will want full comfort while enjoying the massage. Good portable massage tables start at around $400, and you can find a wide variety of styles and designs. You can find very good bamboo massage tables for around $1000, and if you want to use a table that you will not move from its location, this is one that I’d buy. It is very stable, very reliable, extremely comfortable and the price is right as well.

I have the same bamboo massage table for the last 10 years, and I haven’t been happier with my first choice. And I can say the same for my returning customers.