By Ian Chow, Certified Massage Therapist / Infant Massage Instructor / Oncology Massage Trainer
Length: 3.5 mins read (723 words)
Human characters are really unique. Not forgetting the personality of each person too. In the course of these few years, I have met a lot of interesting characters and in a nutshell, this is how I categorise them being the receiver of a massage. Even I as the receiver of a massage do fall under one or two of these categories. Lol.
Note: The header of these categories may not be a proper English word but it makes easier to understand.
1. Snorer / Sleeper – This is one of the most common especially when the massage is on their back. Some of them will snore but most will just suddenly gone quiet. Some will have the twitch / jerk when they move into the next phase of sleep too. That jerk at times may even startle me.
2. Talker – Another common type where over the course of the massage, they will share with you on a lot of things or would like to have conversation with you. Some will ask a lot of questions as though we are out on a date.
3. Moaner – This is the type where they will let out a sigh of relieve or moan (in some form of ecstasy mode) whenever the therapist relieve a trigger point on their body or hit their sore points.
4. Looker – This happen when they are turn to face up (on supine). They will be looking at you doing your work or at times even stare intensely at you. Maybe they are curious but I do find it a bit uncomfortable if their eyes are following you or your strokes all the time (and some will even lift up their head at certain moment to look).
5. Harder – “Can you go harder?”, “Can you go harder still?”, “You can go harder some more”. At times, in my heart I am thinking should I just use a rod and roll over your body. 😛 So far, in my career as a therapist, there are 2 client whom I told them that I am not the right therapist for them as I am not able to go any deeper that they want me to.
6. The Nice One – this is the best client to have. This type of client do respect and have confidence in what you are doing and they are leaving their body in your good hand to be treated. Most in this category will also become my repeat client.
7. Toucher – This type can be rare but if encountered, it is the most annoying one and are up to no good. Whether on prone or supine, their hand will be wondering around trying to touch you. Warning will have to be given for them to stop.
8. Ticklish – I used to be in this category to be honest especially when they massage my thigh and leg. But that was because I was very new to massage then and not used to the strokes. But then again, whether you are new or not to massage, everyone has their own ticklish point. You may always ask the therapist to avoid that particular area(s) or change their technique in approaching those area(s).
9. Tenser – Some due to feeling ticklish but most times due to the pain, they will tense up their body. For some, I find that due to their stress level, they are in this automated mode of being in a tense state even before the routine starts. At times they don’t even realize it. But massage works wonder on how it relaxes their body as the routine go along.
10. Know-It-All – I do find this category as annoying as well. They will tend to dictate all the way through on how you approach certain part of their body (the strength, the strokes or the technique used, the point to press, what they are feeling and how to make them feel better). If you do something else than that what they said, they will repeat for you to follow them instead. Maybe best they buy their own massage gun or massage ball and do it on their own if they do not trust the therapist.
11. Combo – You can be categorised in two or more category as above.
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