Massage PSAs

As a massage therapist I love to see new clients become regular clients. It’s good for business and I enjoy not only meeting new people, but getting to know them. So, it’s good for me. You knew that.

What you may not know is that it’s also good for you. Aside from the obvious benefits of regular massage, stress reduction, healthier muscle and joint function, and the satisfaction of knowing that you’re taking an active role in caring for your body you also have an ally to turn to when your body does you wrong.

A regular client recently called me in extreme pain from a chronic condition that had flared up. She was seeking an appointment for pain relief after having visited an acupuncturist twice while on vacation the previous week and her doctor that day (who told her she couldn’t help until she got the muscles to loosen up and to get a massage).

I was fully booked for the week so I had a choice to make. Figure out how to get her in or refer her to another therapist. Because she is a regular client and I am familiar with her case, I didn’t really want to refer her to someone else who might not be able to help her. So since she is a regular client and a stellar one at that (is always prompt, gives plenty of notice if she has to reschedule, tips, refers friends, etc.) I decided to pull her in on my day off. Twice.

Now, I don’t really enjoy working on my days off, but I do think it’s important to take care of my regular clients when they are in crisis. Would I schedule a new client on my day off? Doubtful. Would I schedule a new client with an emergency on my day off? Maybe, but then I’ve been burned with that “emergency” word before.

So what does it take to become a regular client? Not much really. I have regular clients who come once a month, once a quarter and a few who wait until they’re in pain before they schedule. The key is coming more than once.

So go find yourself a massage therapist that you like and go see them. Twice.

Examining the Cosmetics and Body Products

I learned that many of the chemicals and preservatives put into body products and cosmetics are not good for us and are suspected to play a role in the breast cancer epidemic sweeping our country currently.

Thus I began looking at all the products my family uses. Soaps, lotions, shampoos, laundry detergents nothing escaped scrutiny. And you know what I found? I found that some of the products we use are considered relatively benign. Others, not so much.

Imagine my surprise when talking with another massage therapist about some of these issues, he told me that I was using a product in my practice that was loaded with the very preservatives I’d been ridding my home of.

Searching for Better Products

So I’ve been on the hunt for an alternative because not only am I concerned about the types and amounts of chemicals your skin absorbs while receiving massage, I am very concerned about what my skin is also absorbing. For every hour of massage you receive, my skin absorbs that same hours worth of product and since I do multiple hours of massage weekly I want the products I’m putting on our bodies to be safe.

The latest product I’ve ordered is natural, organic and paraben and propylene glycol free. The only problem I’m finding with it is that it’s too much like lotion and less like a cream. This is important because lotions dry out relatively quickly requiring me to waste precious massaging time on reapplying product.

Thus the hunt is still on for a safe product that performs the way I need it to in order to deliver a superior massage experience. Never fear, though, I have a new lead on a new product that sounds like it will fit the bill.

♥

Hope Santa brings you your heart’s desire and you get to spend lots of time with those you love.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Every now and then I have a client come in who says something to the effect of, “I have a friend who wants to come see you, but they’re funny about feet. Do you do massage with your hands?”

To those of you who have stopped by and are grossed out or otherwise bothered by feet, I just want to assure you, I still do hands-on massage. And I wear my shoes while I do hands-on massage in case you just don’t like the way feet look.

Now, do I do deep tissue massage with my hands? Well, that depends on your perception of deep work, but overall not really. Hands-on deep tissue work hurts me to perform which is why I learned to use my feet.

And no, it doesn’t hurt my feelings when someone doesn’t want a barefoot massage. I enjoy helping people feel better in whatever way helps them feel better. So call me and don’t be shy about telling me you don’t like feet.

Hi All! I’m going to have a few daytime appointments available this month.

Availabilities are on November 22nd and 23rd, the Monday and Tuesday before Thanksgiving.

If you’re interested, please give me a call to schedule!

Recently I was talking with a friend about how it was time for me to buy a new mattress. I had been agonizing over whether to go with a traditional inner spring or spring for one of the new memory foam beds that are all the rage. Then the conversation turned to boxsprings. She asked me my professional opinion on whether or not one should throw in for a new boxspring when purchasing the new mattress.

And for a moment I was stunned as she explained how she just assumed I would know about these things as a bodyworker. This led me to quite a bit of research online.

As you might expect there are two different schools of thought on the issue. The Better Sleep Council, an industry-funded sleep organization, recommends purchasing the boxspring as the mattress and boxspring are engineered as a set and designed to work together optimally. This makes sense to me from an engineering point of view. That the organization making the recommendation is funded by the manufacturers is troubling though.

On the other side of the coin, industry professionals occasionally offer that as long as your existing boxspring isn’t warped or bowed (you can check it with a level) it’s okay to use. This also makes sense to me as platform beds serve the same purpose as a boxspring, a firm, level surface.

Having spent a tremendous amount of time and money yesterday while buying a new mattress, here is my personal opinion. If it’s been ten years since you purchased a new sleep system, the mattress and boxspring are probably going to be sold as a set unless you’re going with a platform bed in which case you don’t need a boxspring at all. Instead perhaps you should focus on finding the best mattress you can afford which is a different conversation for a different day.