Hopefully this will not seem too odd, as my first post, but I just wanted to say Thank you to all of you who have put in the time and money and energy to become Massage Therapists.
I have only had a few (5) full body professional massages (I've probably have had a dozen chair massages, those are just too short though) but the effects of all of them have been simply wonderful, even the worst one... not that it was bad, but I rate them in my head from the best to the not as best, have all been good.
Massage has always been a part of my family. I think my dad was the first family member to get a massage as he was having back problems. Massage coupled with acupuncture. After his massages he would come home and do some of the massage movements? (not sure what they are called) on the rest of us. Even as a kid I really liked the feeling of having the stress (emotional / physical, I played lots of sports) removed from my body. He would just do neck and back and sometimes feet and arms/hands.
Going to a chiropractor, ostepath and other people who dealt with the whole body I think helped my family realize that was a much better approach then just trying to fix whatever symptom was showing up.
I finally got a "real" massage from a true MT when I was 18, as a birthday present from my folks. Without going into detail on that massage I would rate that one as an 8 (out of 10).
My best massage experience was in NH, I was home visiting my folks this past Oct and went, stupidly, to lift something a bit too heavy (well about 200 lbs too heavy :roll: ) and pulled something in my lower right back. I believe it was my sciatic? (As a side note I use to pride myself in knowing the names of many of the muscles in the body, sadly I have forgotten most of them). I couldn't stand up straight and could only walk at a slow shuffle. We were leaving the next day to fly home (myself, my wife and two young boys, lots of heavy luggage, etc) So I was sort of worried about the shape I was in. My mom gave her MT a call and she scheduled me on her off day to come in about 2 hours. I thought that was very nice of her.
As to the massage that I recieved, she did TP and deep tissue. She worked on my lower back, glute and upper back thigh for at least 30 minutes, probably more. We had agreed upon an hour but I know that she went at least 20 minutes over. (I did end up giving her a 40% tip and I thanked her many times not only for the good job she did but for coming in on her off day).
I rate that massage as an 11 out of 10, yes it was that good. Although the pain was probably having an effect on my brain so that might help with the high rating.
Some of the things I liked about her, she told me that I could undress to my comfort level but for her to really get to the area that was hurting I should take off my underwear.
She did a very good job of draping, doing it however you all do it so nothing was showing and I felt I could concentrate on relaxing and breathing to help with the pain.
She would remind me to breathe when she was working on the sore areas, which turned out to not just be my lower back, glute and thigh but also some trigger points she found in my upper back along my shoulder blade (scapula?).
She did not rush. She would work on the trigger points until they were totally gone. She even went back to the low back area at the end and did some streching / rotating motions.
After the massage was finished she asked me how I felt and what I thought of the massage. I have had MTs ask me how I felt, after a massage was done, but that is the first time I have had one ask what I thought of it. And she did not ask it in a manner so I would simply say, "Yeah, it was good." She asked me what I did like, what I didn't like, etc.
I was able to tell her what I really liked, her totally erasing the trigger points, certain movements she did on my glute and thigh, the choice of music, the little dry ice ambient light fountain thingy that was on a small table near the head of the massage table, etc.
(Up until this massage I was not totally sold on having my glutes and thighs massaged, but ever since that massage I feel like the massage isn't complete if they aren't done. I don't think I realized how much tension I hold in my glutes and thighs, how is that even possible?? I understand how you can hold tension in your neck, but how the glutes, the rear?).
For those that are curious, after the massage I was 80% better, until the next morning unfortunately, I tightened up. And unfortunately we had an early flight so could not schedule another session with her. She had asked what time I would be leaving the next day as she said that it would be beneficial to do another session (I was all for that, except for that early flight). She had given me a few packs of Biofreeze to put on my back which did help.
But I was back to normal in about five days with no pain in my back, normal movements, etc.
Next time I am in NH, I will definately make an appointment with her.
For Christmas my wife got me a massage as a gift from a local Salon. That was good (7 out of 10) except the MT hardly talked or made eye contact, the music was 90% chanting ("Oooouuuuuuum") which I didn't care for and she only went just above my ankles when massaging my legs. She did do my chest though so that was nice since I have started back with the working out and was sore in that area. And whatever lotion or oil she used, I liked the smell of that.
Since she did not talk much or even look at me I did not share anything with her except to give her a heartfelt Thank You, which she seemed to appreciate and that was one of the few times she made eye contact with me. I don't know if she just didn't feel comfortable with me or what. I think she was either my age or slightly younger (I am in my early 30s), I don't even know if that would have anything to do with the lack of communication and eye contact. But it was this last massage I had that started me looking for more information on massage (protocol, MT behavior, client etiquette, etc). At first I went back and reviewed everything to make sure I was acting friendly and not giving off any bad vibes. I really do not think I was, so I just chalked it up to maybe the age thing or that she was not having a good day or maybe because I was a new client.
In my search I found Bodyworkonline.com, which is such a great resource for someone who is still learning about massage. It is so interesting to read some of the discussions going on, on various modalities and the things that you MTs have to deal with.
I am actually just now posting, after having lurked since early Jan because I just scheduled a massage with a local massage school, IMI (Southfield, MI) in their student clinic. Even though my appointment is not for another 3 weeks, I am already really looking forward to it.
If you have read this far, thank you for listening to me babble and again, I just wanted to say Hello and Thank you for doing what you do.
I apologize for being so verbose... I am normally a laid back not overly talkative type of guy. But when it comes to massage I actually find myself getting excited talking about it.
I have only had a few (5) full body professional massages (I've probably have had a dozen chair massages, those are just too short though) but the effects of all of them have been simply wonderful, even the worst one... not that it was bad, but I rate them in my head from the best to the not as best, have all been good.
Massage has always been a part of my family. I think my dad was the first family member to get a massage as he was having back problems. Massage coupled with acupuncture. After his massages he would come home and do some of the massage movements? (not sure what they are called) on the rest of us. Even as a kid I really liked the feeling of having the stress (emotional / physical, I played lots of sports) removed from my body. He would just do neck and back and sometimes feet and arms/hands.
Going to a chiropractor, ostepath and other people who dealt with the whole body I think helped my family realize that was a much better approach then just trying to fix whatever symptom was showing up.
I finally got a "real" massage from a true MT when I was 18, as a birthday present from my folks. Without going into detail on that massage I would rate that one as an 8 (out of 10).
My best massage experience was in NH, I was home visiting my folks this past Oct and went, stupidly, to lift something a bit too heavy (well about 200 lbs too heavy :roll: ) and pulled something in my lower right back. I believe it was my sciatic? (As a side note I use to pride myself in knowing the names of many of the muscles in the body, sadly I have forgotten most of them). I couldn't stand up straight and could only walk at a slow shuffle. We were leaving the next day to fly home (myself, my wife and two young boys, lots of heavy luggage, etc) So I was sort of worried about the shape I was in. My mom gave her MT a call and she scheduled me on her off day to come in about 2 hours. I thought that was very nice of her.
As to the massage that I recieved, she did TP and deep tissue. She worked on my lower back, glute and upper back thigh for at least 30 minutes, probably more. We had agreed upon an hour but I know that she went at least 20 minutes over. (I did end up giving her a 40% tip and I thanked her many times not only for the good job she did but for coming in on her off day).
I rate that massage as an 11 out of 10, yes it was that good. Although the pain was probably having an effect on my brain so that might help with the high rating.
Some of the things I liked about her, she told me that I could undress to my comfort level but for her to really get to the area that was hurting I should take off my underwear.
She did a very good job of draping, doing it however you all do it so nothing was showing and I felt I could concentrate on relaxing and breathing to help with the pain.
She would remind me to breathe when she was working on the sore areas, which turned out to not just be my lower back, glute and thigh but also some trigger points she found in my upper back along my shoulder blade (scapula?).
She did not rush. She would work on the trigger points until they were totally gone. She even went back to the low back area at the end and did some streching / rotating motions.
After the massage was finished she asked me how I felt and what I thought of the massage. I have had MTs ask me how I felt, after a massage was done, but that is the first time I have had one ask what I thought of it. And she did not ask it in a manner so I would simply say, "Yeah, it was good." She asked me what I did like, what I didn't like, etc.
I was able to tell her what I really liked, her totally erasing the trigger points, certain movements she did on my glute and thigh, the choice of music, the little dry ice ambient light fountain thingy that was on a small table near the head of the massage table, etc.
(Up until this massage I was not totally sold on having my glutes and thighs massaged, but ever since that massage I feel like the massage isn't complete if they aren't done. I don't think I realized how much tension I hold in my glutes and thighs, how is that even possible?? I understand how you can hold tension in your neck, but how the glutes, the rear?).
For those that are curious, after the massage I was 80% better, until the next morning unfortunately, I tightened up. And unfortunately we had an early flight so could not schedule another session with her. She had asked what time I would be leaving the next day as she said that it would be beneficial to do another session (I was all for that, except for that early flight). She had given me a few packs of Biofreeze to put on my back which did help.
But I was back to normal in about five days with no pain in my back, normal movements, etc.
Next time I am in NH, I will definately make an appointment with her.
For Christmas my wife got me a massage as a gift from a local Salon. That was good (7 out of 10) except the MT hardly talked or made eye contact, the music was 90% chanting ("Oooouuuuuuum") which I didn't care for and she only went just above my ankles when massaging my legs. She did do my chest though so that was nice since I have started back with the working out and was sore in that area. And whatever lotion or oil she used, I liked the smell of that.
Since she did not talk much or even look at me I did not share anything with her except to give her a heartfelt Thank You, which she seemed to appreciate and that was one of the few times she made eye contact with me. I don't know if she just didn't feel comfortable with me or what. I think she was either my age or slightly younger (I am in my early 30s), I don't even know if that would have anything to do with the lack of communication and eye contact. But it was this last massage I had that started me looking for more information on massage (protocol, MT behavior, client etiquette, etc). At first I went back and reviewed everything to make sure I was acting friendly and not giving off any bad vibes. I really do not think I was, so I just chalked it up to maybe the age thing or that she was not having a good day or maybe because I was a new client.
In my search I found Bodyworkonline.com, which is such a great resource for someone who is still learning about massage. It is so interesting to read some of the discussions going on, on various modalities and the things that you MTs have to deal with.
I am actually just now posting, after having lurked since early Jan because I just scheduled a massage with a local massage school, IMI (Southfield, MI) in their student clinic. Even though my appointment is not for another 3 weeks, I am already really looking forward to it.
If you have read this far, thank you for listening to me babble and again, I just wanted to say Hello and Thank you for doing what you do.
I apologize for being so verbose... I am normally a laid back not overly talkative type of guy. But when it comes to massage I actually find myself getting excited talking about it.
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