At Ballaura Wellness Spa in Olympia, Washington, it is our goal to help you achieve your wellness needs. As such, it is very important to us that you get the most out of your massage experience. Here, we discuss common situations that clients might have during their massage and how to effectively communicate your needs to your massage therapist.
The pressure isn’t deep enough for me but I don’t want to hurt my therapist’s feelings. What should I say?
Your massage therapist is there to work to your level of comfort and you won’t hurt their feelings. They are used to clients giving them feedback about pressure being either too little or too much for an area and actually appreciate it! That is the type of communication that massage therapists advocate for with their clients in order to make the massage most comfortable.
No pain no gain, so should I be on the verge of tears during my massage at some points?
Never! Very deep tissue massage should only reach a maximum of an 8 of a 9 on a pain scale of 1-10, so that means that you should let your therapist know that the pressure is too much. If you bruise from the massage, that also means that the pressure was too much. Let your therapist know and they will gladly lighten up to help you feel comfortable.
That tickled- what should I do?
Sometimes people’s response to pain is a feeling of being tickled. If something tickles, let your massage therapist know so that they can be mindful of that area. It also might help the therapist assess which muscles are affected and holding tension.
Is it alright if I fall asleep during my massage?
Absolutely! We expect this as a normal response to massage due to being relaxed. It also means that you are comfortable with your therapist and your therapist will take that as a complement! If you are worried about it, feel free to let your therapist know at the beginning of the session that you might fall asleep so that you feel less stressed out about it. They might also attend to your needs to make sure you do end up falling asleep to get the most out of your massage.
The only time we prefer if you don’t fall asleep during a massage is if you are a medical/ insurance massage client and your therapist needs to get more information from you in terms of health history or feedback during the massage. This can be discussed during the beginning of the session as well.
I like my massage therapist, but they can be too talkative during my massage. What should I do?
Please speak up and tell them that you’d prefer quiet to talking as it would help make you more relaxed. Your therapist will not be offended- if you are worried about hurting their feelings, then also let them know that you are not trying to be rude but trying to fully experience the moment and relax during the session. Your therapist will understand and let you relax!
Overall, communicating with your massage therapist to achieve your needs and wellness goals is our priority. These are some common situations that clients often need help with communicating to their therapist. We hope this helped to offer insight as to how to approach each situation and how to get what you want from your massage therapy session at Ballaura Wellness Spa.