How to Prepare to Get the Most from Your Massage

by Jul 25, 2021

 

 

gathering notes

How do you get ready to receive a professional massage?

Maybe you’ve had massage by different practitioners with mixed results.  Maybe you’ve never had massage but you’re interested and unsure how to go about it.  Maybe someone gave you a gift certificate to commemorate or celebrate something with a relaxing hour just for you.

Massage therapy in any of its many forms is a deeply personal experience and one of the most important ingredients is trust.  So I recommend a few things to do in advance.

1. Find out as much as you can about the practitioner you’re going to.

a. Is s/he fully licensed? In Florida, you can check with the Board of Massage Therapy through the Department of Health to see the license and if there are any disciplinary actions pending.

b. If you have a specific health concern, is s/he experienced or knowledgeable about that?

c. How long has s/he been in practice and what type of clients has s/he worked with?

d. Is the setting professional and would you feel safe there?

e. Is the establishment set for relaxation and pampering or for remedial treatments or both?

2. Know what it is you want to gain by getting a professional massage session.

a. general relaxation, stress relief

b.   regain pain-free movement

c. alleviate the effects of a chronic disease

stress free massage

3. Take supporting material with you for your first session.

a. If you have an injury, post-surgical or health condition for which you’re seeking help, gather any scan or test results you have.

b. Make a note of any medications you’re taking.

c. Try to recall the history of your condition and what brought you to this point.

4. Be prepared to spend some time talking with the practitioner to discuss all of this.

5. Give yourself plenty of time to arrive for your appointment so that you can enter calmly.

6. Ask all the questions you need to and expect the practitioner to explain how s/he will work with you.

Giving some thought to what it is you want from a massage is more likely to ensure you get that, and maybe even more than you expected.

excellent

High-quality treatment is not cheap and you deserve to receive high value for the time, energy, and money you spend with the massage practitioner of your choice.

This is about YOU – your health and your wellbeing.

There are no silly questions.  In the next post How to Participate to Get the Most from Your Massage Session  we’ll talk about how to walk away from a session knowing you got more than you paid for.

Brenda has been a full-time massage and bodywork practitioner since 1979, focusing on wholistic mind-body healing. She owns A Touch of Wellness in Largo, Florida

 

If this is valuable please Share and Follow:

Book a Massage/Bodywork Session

You might also like…

A Chilly Reason to Love Rice

An occupational therapist friend of mine shared this tip with me a few years ago, and it's been my go-to ever since to prevent swelling and bruising. What do you do when you accidentally bash into something, drop a heavy item on your foot or overwork your hands or...

0 Comments