FAQ: What Kind of Massages do you do?

Scene

Dinner Party

New Friend: “So what do you do for work?

Me: “I’m a Licensed Massage Therapist”

New Friend: “Oh my God! I get massages all the time from insert chain spa here

Me: “Ah I love that for you. Mine’s a little different than a spa massage”

New Friend: “There’s more to massages than a relaxing spa massage?”

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This is a normal conversation in my life.  People often ask me, “What kind of massages do you do?”

It’s a loaded question !

I don’t want to say relaxation, because it can be, but for some it is not.

I don’t want to say “Deep Tissue”, because in most people’s minds that assumes they will be in pain during the session.  Some moves in my session can be painful, but it should be a “hurts so good” rather than an “OW”.  If it is ever an “OW”, tell me, and I can find another way.

I like to respond with “I provide therapeutic massages tailored to what the client is looking for in a session.  It is more than just putting lotion on the body. I tackle each client issue like a science experiment.  A client provides me with their problem.  I come up with an educated hypothesis.  From there I observe from seeing and feeling issues in the body and go a structured procedural approach based on mainly science but also some intuition.  From this, we should have enough results to ease the issues and come up with a plan to keep you out of pain moving forward, although it may take some time and work on your end.”

Every body is different, so no massage is the same.  

Your body at 18 feels different than your body at 30 or 50.   Every massage you receive while being a client of mine will also be adapted to what you are feeling, what I am feeling, and what you are comfortable receiving that day.  

Can I give a relaxing massage? YES.  Can you ask for one instead of a therapy session? YES.

Having said that, if you are coming to relax, my first question to you usually will be, if I find something to fix, can I, or wait until next time?  It is all up to you.

Most clients come to me in pain, we tackle that issue and anything that comes up.  As soon as that is handle, we move on to more “maintenance” massage sessions which should be less “painful” in most peoples eyes.  

In an ideal world, all my clients come to me in pain and then after a few sessions have maintenance sessions every 4-6 weeks, like an oil change for your car.  

Thanks!

Frank Gioeli, LMT

Massage Is Therapy For Me