MY EXPERIENCES

[O r e o]

I,m male,married and a bit of a massage addict, i have had plenty of good experiences and many poor or sub standard ones.Over the years i have compiled a diary of my experiences andi use 4 regular therapists based on my findings.My top tipsare avoid therapists/salons who say they do full Swedishbody massage but when you have the consultation they say 'oh i'm not trained in doing abdominals,glutes,chest' and when you book an appointment make it clear what areas you would like to be worked on asthis saves any embarrassing situation once in the treatment room.

 

[Nashwa]

What i think is a shame, is that you are telling people that every one is tared with the same bruch - sorry thisis not true, i am trained in Swedish Holistic body massage, i was trianed by ITEC and have the diploma to prove it. What annoys me is that i do not know of any masseur's(except the people i trained with) that will do a FULL body massage including stomach neck face or shoulders, they seem to leave these out, as to do it properly takes more that the ' one hour slot' - todya people are after the money, rather than giving people the full package

 

[not a top con & proud]

Hi Scorpio[/align][/align]Welcome to the forum.[/align][/align]You make some valid points, if you areoffering to give someonea full body then it should be a full body keeping modesty in tact of course, unfortunately a full body massage is hard work so some therapists unfortunately do cut corners.[/align][/align]Also as you say different places teach different routines for what is called a general body massage, some omit some bite and others omit other bits, and somepeople unfortunatelyperceive what they are taught as being all there is.[/align][/align]The truth is we are all taught toapply massage in a safe way in any teaching environment a bit like when you learn to drive under instruction, once you have passed you test you learn to drive properly through experience, it is the same with massage or any other therapy.[/align][/align]It is IMO the therapists job to take what they have been shown and adapt itto work in the real world and to continue adapting until they can deal with anything that they are presented with in a thoroughly professional manner.[/align][/align]Hi Chid[/align][/align]I do a full body in an hour and cover almost everything, I would require a few minuteslonger if I did a facial as well, though if I pulled out the stops I could include a facial and still be finished in under an hour and have covered any dysfunctions I found on the way round.[/align][/align]It would probably feel rushed as I would have to power into the dysfunctions to clear them faster, if I was to include a facial in all my full body treatments then I would probably allocate 75 minutes foreach session and adjust the charges accordingly.[/align]

 

[ChichiMom]

Hi Scorpio
I agree, i do do full body including all (excepts tits and bums of course!) but do it in 75 mins - 80 mins. i was a;ways lead to believe that full body was that, i have had a massage minus stomachs and face, and have felt 'not complete' and have clients that have said the same - oh well

 

[Shinea Labelle]

Hi Chid

I'm surprised by your comment



I hope that you've read the earlier thread on 'Swedish massage and buttocks'. As several people pointed out on that thread, the gluteals are a major muscle group and many institutions (including the London College of Massage and the London School of Sports Massage) teach them as part of their 'full body' routine.

Alan

 

[SrcmediaNuncari]

Hi Alan

Now..... this is where i get confused, as i was taught by ITEC qualification, which states that 'breast and bums' are a no no, but what surprised me was that our tutor said that when he was taught,(a few years ago) that he was taught to included all, so who is right, i was taught it was a no no, i have come to the conclusion that they changed the goals post yearly !!!!! but i do agree with you re the glut's

 

[ovalseUtteple]

Are we talking NO bums at all or what? I do hacking threw the towel when I'm working on the back(towel off back, but covering bum ) I wouldn't ever do a massage with hands on bums, but threw the towel seems ok-though I always ask the client first so they know what to expect and can refuse if they wish. I'd never want anyone to say I did anything inappropriate kwim?

 

[pbleek]

Hi Chid / Beth

In response to Chid, I think that one of the problems with ITEC is that individual tutors and colleges have a lot of freedom to teach massage in their own way, and that some people gain an ITEC qualification with very limited experience of practising massage. I don’t think that ITEC as an organisation have ever stated that therapists shouldn’t massage the glutes, although (unfortunately in my view) it isn’t necessary to demonstrate knowledge of how to massage the glutes in order to obtain an ITEC qualification. When I did an ITEC qualification (admittedly many years ago) the textbook we were required to use was ‘Principles & Practice of Physical Therapy’ by W Arnould-Taylor, which does include gluteal massage in its recommended massage routine: but we weren’t required to do this in the exam. Personally I am astonished that a tutor should regard the glutes as ‘taboo’: but there has already been quite a long discussion about that on a separate thread.

In response to Beth, I would politely suggest that you read the earlier thread on ‘Swedish massage and buttocks’, where this was discussed at some length. Both the LCM and LSSM teach gluteal massage on bare flesh. As I mentioned on the earlier thread, personally I think that it is better to massage the bare flesh rather than work through the towel. Firstly, I think that massaging through a towel is less effective: I doubt whether any of us would massage the shoulders through a towel ! But more importantly, when I am massaging a supine client, I use the towel to cover the genitals and (for female clients) the breasts, to mark the ‘boundary’ between the exposed area which I am going to touch and the covered area which I am not going to touch. I think that using the towel in this way is important to “create a psychological security barrier, putting the client at ease” (the quote is from Mel Cash’s book ‘Sport & Remedial Massage Therapy’). By massaging through a towel, you lose that 'security barrier'. And if a female therapist doesn't want to see too muchmale buttock, it is quite easy to work on one buttock at a time, covering the opposite buttock (and the gluteal cleft) with a towel.

Reverting to Scorpio’s original post, I would agree that therapists who aren’t “trained in doing abdominals, glutes, chest'” shouldn’t advertise themselves as offering ‘full body massage’. Until I began reading this forum, I didn’t realise just how many sub-standard therapists appear to be working in the UK ! I would agree that it is a good idea for clients to mention their specific ‘problem areas’ when they make their initial booking.

Regards

Alan

 

[Yahoo]

Thank you for that Alan, i agree with what you say, i am surprised that 'so called therapist' are allowed to practice ifthey are not qualified, surely don't clients ask to see their cert., i have mine always on show, so that they can see that i have the proper qualifications.

 

[dmg]

I have to admit that Idonot perform abdominal massage on males clients. When I first started out as a therapist I did do the whole body but unfortunatly when I was working on one man's abdomen he became very aroused and it lead to a very uncomfortable situation, that I would not like a repeat of. I realise this is unfair on the rest of the blokes who come for a full body but I have to put my own safety first. I would however always do the full treatment for female clients.