By Ian Chow, Certified Massage Therapist / Infant Massage Instructor / Oncology Massage Trainer
Length: 2.5 mins read (552 words)
If you do enjoy reading the content of this blog, please do consider in buying me a cup of coffee by clicking here.
The continuation from the first part of the same titled article. This is mainly stem from meeting more interesting client over my massage therapy sessions.
Note: The header of these categories may not be a proper English word but it makes easier to understand.
1. Dead silent – this kinda scare me a little. They are so still, so quiet that you can basically hear a pin drop. At times, I can’t even see the rise of their chest (posteriorly) or their stomach (laterally). I have to put my hand on them to basically feel whether they are still breathing. 🙂 Having a client / patient dying on massage table is definitely extremely rare but not something that I want too.
2. Director – not as bad as the “Know-It-All” category (from Part 1 of the article) but they will dictate most (if not all) the areas that they want to be worked on, even though most times, what they stated in their client intake form differs.
3. Mysterious – despite sending them the intake form, they will not say much but would like you to use your skill to find / investigate their possible dysfunction, areas that would like to be worked on, their sensitive / sore areas and later, share with them accordingly (despite they already have an idea on all these). I do find this a bit condescending. It is as though they are testing your knowledge and skill.
4. 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 as the muscle “auto guard”. But massage works wonder on how it relaxes their body as the routine go along.
5. Mover – similar to “tenser” but they will twitch and jerk or even move quite a fair bit or unnecessarily on the massage table. Some are just fidgety, like an active child who can’t sit still. But some I do acknowledge that is due to the technique used that is either too painful, ticklish or they are staying in a position for too long.
6. 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).
7. Combo – You can be categorised in two or more category as above.
If you are not in any of these category, do feel free to share how would you be best described when receiving a massage.
Before: Oh My Client! Which One Are You? Part 1
Next: What is Massage? (In Malaysia context)
Ian Chow Massage Therapy 