Honesty and your massage

By Tessa Brooks

Have you ever forgotten to tell your doctor something important? Or maybe thought it wasn’t important enough to say something about? Leaving out “unimportant” information during your interview whether with a doctor or your massage therapist can make a huge difference in your experience.
It all comes down to being honest with your therapist.

Honesty is important in any area of your life, and this holds true in massage therapy, or any therapy. You know your body better than anyone else. You are your own expert on how you feel and what hurts the most, however, your therapist can only do their job if they know about these aches and pains.

The interview process is when the therapist establishes with you what it is you are looking for out of the experience. This is why giving any information such as a recent fall, surgery, or accident can help the therapist decide if getting a massage is right for you. There are medical circumstances where receiving a massage can be very detrimental to your health.
We all get embarrassed with making mistakes that lead to odd injuries like tripping over our own feet or falling “up” the stairs. These are the times that make us human and leave nice bruises we like to show off to our friends, or laugh about to ourselves later. These are also the things your therapist needs to know. Not every injury is major, but all of them have some effect on your body. Because massage therapy manipulates the muscles, causes more blood flow, and flushes out toxins, massaging even small injuries can lead to pain or larger injuries later on.
This also goes for during your massage… If there is a technique you don’t like or the therapist is using too little/too much pressure letting them know will give you a better experience. Massage therapists are trained to be able to gauge pressure and tailor each massage to the client’s needs and likes. If you do not tell them, they do not know.

By being as honest and up front as possible, you and your therapist can decide the best course of action to take to take to avoid any recent injuries and let them heal.
Remember, the more honest and forthcoming you are with important and “unimportant” information before and during your massage, the better your massage experience will be!

Comments:

Time for a tell all.  Give us an example of information you should have told someone and later regretted withholding!