1. A good massage starts before you even set foot through the door.
How easy was it to book an appointment and how confident, professional and helpful were the staff at the end of the telephone or email? We all live busy, complicated lives so a helpful receptionist or the massage professional himself/herself will answer your enquiry promptly. He/she will also answer any questions you may have about availability and contraindications. Sometimes you may want to get a couple of quotes or just "screen" a few therapists before making a decision and asking them about a particular condition you suffer from. Did the therapist explain how a series of massage sessions can help and did he/she refer to previous successful cases that got good results with massage? Did they sound confident, friendly and knowledgeable?
2. Consultation, consultation, consultation.
Never trust a therapist who doesn't even bother asking you if you have any injuries. The best consultation I have ever had before a massage, and so far still unbeaten, was with a therapist who not only asked me about my health and family history but also about my health goals and session goals. In other words, she set herself some targets to meet at session level, plus she was actively managing the client's expectations and setting targets for follow-on treatments to achieve the required wellbeing results. As of today, I am still extremely impressed with my colleague whose passion for continual professional development shines through in everything she does.
3. Applying the right pressure is 90% skill and 10% magic.
Let me explain: a good massage will untangle your knots and possibly feel like a workout, and the therapist will check with you throughout the session if the pressure is within your pain threshold or if it needs to be increased. However, there is still an element of luck/chance/magic if you allow me the expression: in other words, there is something intangible that only very experienced therapists develop over the years and it is what I can only describe as a sixth sense. It is the ability to foretell the right amount of pressure at exactly the right time in the very precise point of the body that requires it the most. With palpation, ie, the accurate scanning of the body using light friction, the therapist can read a client's muscles like a book with their fingertips and can adapt the massage technique accordingly. A really good therapist can also detect weekly changes in the client's muscles (body pump session yesterday? Yes, I can tell) and, in the case of abdominal massage, immediately notice a change in diet (bloating can be a signal of a slight food intolerance or the presence of too much sugar). And beware of the so-called "massage by numbers" where the same massage sequence is used for all clients regardless of their conditions and preferences. The sign of a good massage is that it zones in on the areas you have highlighted as key priorities for the massage therapist to work on.
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