Prior To Your Visit
What to expect before your Therapeutic Massage:
A one-hour massage with your therapist is often over far too quickly. However, even if one massage won’t heal all your ills, preparing yourself in advance can maximize your experience and all its benefits. Here are some tips for your next massage.
Stay Hydrated:
Being well hydrated before your massage is very important for the elimination of toxins that are released into the body’s circulation during treatment. Drinking water or herbal teas are excellent methods for staying hydrated. Avoid regular tea, coffee, alcohol, or any other stimulants.
Eat Lightly:
Although it may not bother your therapist, it can be awkward if your stomach is noisy due to digestion. It’s preferable to eat at least one hour in advance of your massage or, if you’re afraid you’ll get hungry, eat a fruit or other food that’s easy to digest.
Take A Hot Shower:
A massage is a hands-on treatment during which your therapist massages your muscles as well as your skin. Therefore, there’s nothing better than feeling clean before treating yourself to a massage. Yes, you’ll have to take another shower afterward to remove the excess oil or gel, but hot water on your body will also help relax your muscles.
Dress Comfortably:
Wearing comfortable clothes will not only put you in a relaxed state before your massage but will also keep you relaxed afterward. Shoes are no exception to this rule. Avoid high heels as they may cause your leg muscles to contract unnecessarily.
Arrive In Advance:
Arriving 10 to 15 minutes before your first massage will allow you to fill out a health questionnaire without impinging on your table time. You’ll also be able to take a moment to go to the restroom or have a bottle of water if need be. If you arrive at the last minute, short of breath with your heart beating wildly, you’ll have a harder time relaxing during your massage.
Communicate Your Needs:
Once you are settled in for your treatment, your massage therapist will review your client intake form with you and will ask you further questions if need be. This is the moment to tell your therapist everything: your preferences, needs, expectations, and so on. Please let your therapist know if you want them to pay special attention to one part of your body or to avoid a specific area. Let them know how much pressure you enjoy. Let them know what you don’t enjoy. The more you communicate your needs, the better your therapist will be able to respond to them.
Draping:
During your massage treatment, we will remove the top sheet to expose the area of the body being worked on, while the remainder of the body is covered with the sheet. This is called draping. Proper draping is used to respect the privacy of the client.
Relax during the Massage:
During your treatment, concentrate on your breathing, making sure to take long, deep breaths. This will help to reduce stress and chase away negative thoughts. Almost no effort is needed from you. Your massage therapist will know very well how to lift your arm or your head; your help is not required!
Practice relaxation breathing
(deep, full inhalation, long, slow exhalation) through deeper work especially, though relaxation breathing will greatly enhance your experience.
Even when the massage is underway, let your therapist know your preferences or if you feel uncomfortable. By leaving nothing to chance, you’ll get the maximum benefits from your massage. Too hot, too cold; pressure; bright or low lighting; loud or low music; massage cream or oil; with or without essential oils… It’s your massage – you decide.
Enjoy your treatment!
What to expect before your Therapeutic Massage.
Once you arrive for your massage session, We will give you a client intake form to complete. To save time please click on the appropriate intake form at the bottom of this page and print the form and complete it prior to your visit. Please do not be anxious about this process, it is the initial means by which we may better assist you. We will do a review and assessment of your medical history to develop a comprehensive treatment plan. We will discuss your goals for the session, whether you just want to relax during the massage or if you have muscle tension/adhesion’s that need focus.
There is a brief intake form that you will complete, detailing your confidential personal health history, past and present, this will let us know if there are any contraindications, or reasons that massage may not be advisable. As emphasized, we consider every aspect of your session, beginning with the interview, as completely confidential. After you fill out the intake form, we will talk about your goals and what you hope to achieve from your massage session, including any long-term health goals. In this way, we can assess which massage modality/style would most benefit you and which approach is most suitable.
Fill out your intake forms and bring them with you to your appointment.
Click the buttons below to download and print your intake forms.