By Ian Chow, Certified Massage Therapist / Infant Massage Instructor / Oncology Massage Trainer
Length: 4 mins read (888 words)
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This is my second compilation of “What If” questions that could come across your mind before, during or after going through a massage therapy session. Some of these questions have been asked by some client of mine as well (throughout my experience as a therapist). If you have not, you may also check out Part 1 here and on another hand, there is also another list of questions “Should I….?” Or simply just click here to read about other massage related topics that I write about.
What if I farted?
When a therapist work on certain part of your body or acupressure points, it may trigger certain reactions in your body including releasing of gas via burping and farting. Even when at times when you are fully relaxed, your body do have this natural ability to heal and expel out waste including via farting. There is really nothing to be shy about. It happened to me once as a receiver. 😛 And if it happen to you, a simple “excuse me” or “sorry” will be good enough to just dispel the feeling of embarrassment with the therapist.
What if I have body odor?
Firstly, having body odor should not be a deterrent factor for you to get a massage. In this case, you may want to consider taking a shower before the session. But if yours are a medical condition, what will be really good is for you to pre warn your therapist so that he or she can prepare perhaps an aroma diffuser or candle. On a side note, in long run, you may also need to consider seeking professional medical help to deal with the condition.
What if I feel ticklish?
I am not a stranger to this especially when a therapist massage on my inner thigh. All of us have different ticklish points. At the end of the day, I guess it boils down to communication once again. You should tell your therapist the sensation that you are experiencing during the session so he / she can adjust their technique. If it become unbearable, do consider to avoid that area completely. What should not happen is for you to tense up your body to withstand the ticklish sensation.
What if the pressure is not deep enough for me (despite telling a few times)?
This is always a tough question to get through. As a therapist, I don’t believe in “no pain, no gain” concept and the effective technique that the therapist used may not need to be deep pressure all the times. Sadly, especially in Asian massage industry, this can be hard to convince. Also, certain therapists may not really be able to go harder and harder or deeper and deeper due to numerous reasons. All I can say is, as a therapist, I may end up losing the client and I don’t mind losing him / her if I don’t think I am able to deliver an effective treatment based on their expectation. As a client, it is ultimately my choice if I want to stop the session, change my therapist or just continue with the session.
What if I have my period?
There is no hard rules to say that you can’t be receiving massage when you have your period. However, do inform your therapist on your current condition and do wear a sanitary pad when you are receiving a treatment. In fact, if you are experiencing pain and discomfort, a massage may be able to soothe it too.
What if my therapist become too “touchy”?
You have every right to stop the session immediately if your therapist makes you feel uncomfortable or violated at any point in the session. You need not tolerate and you need not compromise. Likewise, if the situation is reversed between therapist and the client, I would do the same thing as well (I will give a warning to the client and if it repeats, I will stop, pack up and leave even though I may not have gotten my pay yet).
What if my therapist talk too much?
Throughout my experience as a receiver, I have came across therapists who are extremely quiet but also on the opposite end, the extremely chatty one. If you are not in the mood for conversation, you may politely tell your therapist that you would like to enjoy the stillness / quietness of the moment and to clear your mind too. And if they still don’t get the hint, do be straight forward to just tell them that you wouldn’t want to have a conversation. Worse is for you to suffer through 60 to 90 mins of blabbering that may irritate you and make the session less effective than it should be.
As a therapist, most times I will do my chatting or explanation at the beginning or the end of the session. I will refrain from chatting especially while working on the clients’ back cos this is an area where the client tend to fall asleep easier. For the doTERRA AromaTouch technique that I do, I will keep absolute silent while I perform the routine so the client can enjoy the total stillness and calmness with just the serene music at the background.
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