massage Archives

March 5, 2020March 5, 2020

massage room hygiene

In light of the current situation, I thought now might be an ideal time to share the hygiene measures that I have in place for the comfort and safety of all clients visiting my massage room.

Please find details below of the steps I take to ensure that my massage room operates as a safe and clean space. These measures are not new, but I will continue to review and update to ensure that best practice is followed:

Me:

hand washing – I wash my hands before you arrive, and again while you are settling yourself on the table, as well as immediately after your treatment
hand sanitiser – I have a bottle of anti-bacterial and anti-viral hand sanitiser in my massage room which I apply to my hands/forearms before and after your treatment. You are welcome to use the hand sanitiser on arrival/before you leave – or bring your own if you prefer
massage wax/lotion – the massage medium is removed from the container using a wooden spatula and applied to my arm for use as required; any surplus on my arm at the end of your treatment, is thrown away

Items that you come into contact with:

table linens (ie. towels, flannels, table cover, bolster covers, etc) – when you arrive for your massage, the table will have been made up with clean linens; everything that you touch during your treatment is then stripped and replaced at the end of your session. All linens are washed at 60 degrees using a non-bio liquid detergent and an anti-bacterial laundry cleanser; all items are tumble dried. Massage room linens are always washed separately from my household laundry
face cradle – disposable face cradle covers are replaced for each client
hard surfaces (eg. arm rest, metal parts on the face cradle, side table, door handles, light switch, etc) – all surfaces are wiped with anti-bacterial wipes between clients
massage tools – these are cleaned with anti-bacterial wipes between clients and washed in hot soapy water at the end of each day
water & drinking glasses – the water carafe & glass are clean for each client; fresh water is provided for each client

My home:

massage room – the floor is wiped/swept between clients and hoovered as required (always before the first client each week and then as necessary). I sometimes dust the picture frames!
bathroom – the toilet, wash basin, bath & floor are all cleaned before the first client each week; the hand towel is changed before the first client each week and then as required
hall, stairs and landing – these areas are also cleaned prior to the first client visit each week

You:

illness – if you have any symptoms of illness, please postpone your massage until a later date; this helps to keep my massage room clean and safe for everyone, but it is also better for your body to receive a massage when you are well. If you’re not sure whether you should postpone, please get in touch beforehand
hand washing – if you use the bathroom, please wash your hands, and feel free to use the hand gel

Any questions?

Please know that I take massage room hygiene very seriously so that you can enjoy your treatment without any concerns. If you have any questions at all, please let me know.

If you have any questions/concerns specifically about coronavirus (COVID-19) please refer to the CDC website

Find out more about sports and clinical massage

January 27, 2020January 27, 2020

Sports massage & me

Introduction:

Vulnerability alert!!! As I walked the dog on Sunday morning, I had some real moments of clarity about the work I do and what I offer. I recorded them on my phone so that I didn’t lose them on the way home! Here are my thoughts on massage and what I offer as a sports massage therapist:

I’ve been thinking about what my massage work is to me and the thing that sticks in my mind is something I’ve heard said to me many times – that we should never trust a massage therapist who doesn’t go for massage themselves. Up until now, I’ve always just believed it and felt a bit pathetic because I don’t go for many massages, but a few things came up for me around this today.

I don’t really feel pain:

Firstly, I don’t really feel pain. I really, really don’t recognise pain in my body. But whatever I do feel, I think I can manage it so my thinking is why would I go for a massage if I’m not in pain? To me massage is very much about having help in managing whatever is happening in your body. In the logical part of my brain, I’m reasoning that I don’t really feel pain so I don’t feel the need to go for a massage. [Of course I know that massage is about more than pain management, but these were just my thoughts as I walked]

Massage is an exchange of trust:

Secondly, and this is the big one for me, massage is a real exchange of trust and I haven’t always felt like my body has been heard or respected when I’ve been on a massage couch. Often that’s because I’m in a learning setting and the person working on me is primarily there to learn something and not there to help me, but these experiences have unsettled me and I have pretty high anxiety when I give myself up on a massage table.

I think lots of it comes from way back in my childhood. I’ve been self-sufficient all my life, for as long as I remember and so it’s really unnatural for me to put my trust in someone else. And, whenever I have done, in lots of different situations, I haven’t always felt that I had a good outcome. I’ve learned to trust myself and support myself and it’s really hard for me to undo that.

Recently on a sports massage course, on the first week, someone asked the question ‘do you ever have someone come to you that doesn’t like massage?’ and I put my hand up and said ‘oh that’s me; I really don’t like having a massage’. I probably didn’t say it right because that isn’t true – it’s not that I don’t like having a massage, it just is a very uncomfortable situation for me.

Anyway, in the room there was one guy and when we had to work together later that day he just looked at me and said ‘oh that’s right, you don’t like to be touched, do you’. He made me feel like nothing. He made me feel that he hadn’t heard me, that he hadn’t bothered to listen or tried to understand. I felt he just dismissed me as some freaky person who doesn’t like to be touched (I accept this is how I felt and probably not what he intended at all, but the end result was the same either way). He straight away made me feel on edge – he hadn’t heard me and I didn’t feel that I could trust him – and that never changed over the whole course. As a result of that early comment, there was nothing within him that I wanted to connect with, and maybe that was my bad, but that’s how he made me feel with those words.

What I offer you:

I think the idea of not putting your trust in someone who doesn’t go for regular massage isn’t really as simple as that. There are a lot of times in my life (nothing to do with massage) when my trust has been betrayed or not reciprocated. I’ve learned to live around that, and some of that means that I don’t always feel safe to make myself vulnerable, but none of that takes away from my skills as a soft tissue therapist.

I just want to let you know that although I don’t go for regular massage, I do go for massage when I need it and I have some amazing local therapists that I trust implicitly. But I also want you to know that if you come to me for a sports massage, the thing I hope that I always offer is that you can trust me.

I want you to feel safe. I don’t want you to feel vulnerable like I have done. If you are anxious, I hope that I can help you to feel heard, and listened to, and supported, and I hope that you feel that you are definitely in my care while you’re here.

That’s what I offer.

Yes, I can get ‘knots’ out of muscles which are sore; yes I can help you move better; I can help you feel better in your body. But really, truthfully, what I want to offer you is a feeling of being safe and secure, and being listened to and heard.

Massage is about facilitating change in the soft tissues and within the nervous system, and change doesn’t happen when we don’t feel safe.

Please let me know if you would like to discuss how sports massage can help you to move & feel better in your body.

Find out more here

November 15, 2019November 15, 2019

Gift vouchers

I’m not ready Christmas this early in the year, but I have had some questions about gift vouchers so here are the options available in case you like to get organised in advance.

Massage gift vouchers & packages:

Regular massage offers many benefits including reduced pain, improved mobility, stress-reduction, better sleep and a sense of general well-being. Giving the gift of massage will definitely improve your popularity!

I have three options available for sports massage vouchers –

I have created a 4 session package which is great for someone who has an on-going soft tissue concern, where an initial course of several treatments within a shorter space of time will help to reduce symptoms.

This voucher will give the recipient four treatments over the course of 10-weeks, taken at intervals to suit their schedule, and it will earn you a whole lot of brownie points! If you are buying this as a Christmas gift, the voucher can be dated to start from 6th January 2020

I also offer a 10 session package which can be a gift voucher for someone else, or a gift to yourself! I have a special offer available when one of these options is purchased by 29th November, giving 11 sessions instead of 10 at no extra charge.

If you are buying it as a Christmas gift it can be dated to start from 6th January 2020; if you are nearing the end of a current block of 10 sessions, the start date can be amended to follow-on immediately afterwards, so that you can still take advantage of the 11 for 10 price.

I can also set up a gift voucher for any specific amount to be off-set against future treatments. Please get in touch to arrange this bespoke option.

Personal training packages:

I have recently introduced a 10 session package for personal training and this can also be purchased as a gift voucher. Please make sure your recipient will appreciate your gift before purchasing! Please get in touch to discuss and purchase this bespoke option.

Please let me know if you have any questions at all about any of the voucher options or packages available Jx