Some people avoid getting a massage due to worries about what their therapist might see. As a practicing therapist, I would like to try to allay some of those concerns...
1) Are you looking at my wobbly legs/belly/arms?
Nope. I do not see a body-part as big/small/flabby/cellulite-marked or otherwise. I see a lovely set of muscles. Muscles fascinate me; my job is to make muscles feel good. Differently sized and shaped people provide me with new challenges. If I didn't enjoy working on all shapes & sizes, I would not be doing this job. I could tell you tales of wonderfully unusual body-parts (but of course I never break confidentiality), let's just say that I really have seen it all before and I can promise you that I have never once encountered a person I did not enjoy working with.
2) Men get erections on the massage couch, don't they?
Sometimes. As the body relaxes, the parasympathetic nervous system activates and this can cause a partial or full erection. This has nothing to do a personal reaction to the therapist; it's from the same batch of involuntary responses as drooling or passing wind whilst on the couch. Fear of an erection happening really is no reason to avoid getting a massage. Let me explain why not... therapists are taught how to drape a body in towels, so that only the part of the body being worked is 'on show'. I triple-drape the middle of the male body as this has several advantages; it keeps the client warm, makes them feel secure and it also makes it virtually impossible to see details of their body underneath. When I ask clients to turn over (from front to back), the triple-layered towels rumple up and there is no way for me to tell what is (or is not), going on.
3) I haven't shaved my legs...
The length of your body hair makes no difference to your massage, except if you have just shaved; in which case, your skin may be more sensitive than usual. In my view, it's better to have a bit of stubble than sore skin. Massage oil is a viscous liquid and it's very difficult to feel leg-stubble through it. As a straw-poll, I recently asked seven massage therapists whether their last female client had shaved her legs or not. Not one of them could remember noticing either way.
4) My underwear is tatty/going grey...
Thank goodness! That means I won't ruin good clothes with massage oil. If a client hops on the couch in a posh pair of pants, I worry about oil-stains reaching the material when the client moves. By the way, I don't actually 'see' your pants, just the very edges across your back, and at your hips, as I tuck in your towels (to prevent an oil-ruination scenario).
1) Are you looking at my wobbly legs/belly/arms?
Nope. I do not see a body-part as big/small/flabby/cellulite-marked or otherwise. I see a lovely set of muscles. Muscles fascinate me; my job is to make muscles feel good. Differently sized and shaped people provide me with new challenges. If I didn't enjoy working on all shapes & sizes, I would not be doing this job. I could tell you tales of wonderfully unusual body-parts (but of course I never break confidentiality), let's just say that I really have seen it all before and I can promise you that I have never once encountered a person I did not enjoy working with.
2) Men get erections on the massage couch, don't they?
Sometimes. As the body relaxes, the parasympathetic nervous system activates and this can cause a partial or full erection. This has nothing to do a personal reaction to the therapist; it's from the same batch of involuntary responses as drooling or passing wind whilst on the couch. Fear of an erection happening really is no reason to avoid getting a massage. Let me explain why not... therapists are taught how to drape a body in towels, so that only the part of the body being worked is 'on show'. I triple-drape the middle of the male body as this has several advantages; it keeps the client warm, makes them feel secure and it also makes it virtually impossible to see details of their body underneath. When I ask clients to turn over (from front to back), the triple-layered towels rumple up and there is no way for me to tell what is (or is not), going on.
3) I haven't shaved my legs...
The length of your body hair makes no difference to your massage, except if you have just shaved; in which case, your skin may be more sensitive than usual. In my view, it's better to have a bit of stubble than sore skin. Massage oil is a viscous liquid and it's very difficult to feel leg-stubble through it. As a straw-poll, I recently asked seven massage therapists whether their last female client had shaved her legs or not. Not one of them could remember noticing either way.
4) My underwear is tatty/going grey...
Thank goodness! That means I won't ruin good clothes with massage oil. If a client hops on the couch in a posh pair of pants, I worry about oil-stains reaching the material when the client moves. By the way, I don't actually 'see' your pants, just the very edges across your back, and at your hips, as I tuck in your towels (to prevent an oil-ruination scenario).
