I imagine that some people might not know what to expect when they come for a massage treatment and – to be fair – my treatments are different from what you may have experienced before.  So I thought I’d write a bit about how I work, what I do and what you can expect when you come for a session.

If you’d like to have a chat on the phone before you come, you are welcome to do that and ask any questions you might have in advance.  This is especially true if you have a complex medical history and wonder whether massage is appropriate – if in doubt, always ask.

When you arrive for your first treatment, I will take a medical history to discover whether there are any conditions that massage is not safe for – there are very few.  We will discuss what you really want to achieve overall and what you’d like to achieve at your first session, plus some idea of the style of massage you’d like.

We will then do some massage – you have the choice of oiled or clothed massage.  For oiled massage, I will leave the room while you undress and get on the couch, covering yourself with a towel.  You are welcome to bring someone with you to the first session if that will help you to feel fully relaxed and for clients under 18, I do ask for a parent or guardian to be present at all times please.

You start lying on your front and – for oiled work – I only uncover the part being massaged, so your back and shoulders, then one leg, then the other.  If turning over is necessary, you are completely covered at all times by the towel.  At the end of the massage, I leave the room while you take time to integrate the work and get dressed.  You call me when you are ready.

All the way through the treatment I invite you to say if anything is uncomfortable and definitely if anything hurts as I don’t believe in the “no pain no gain” school of massage, especially for “Sports Massage”.  I get much better results with my clients relaxing fully on the table and the muscle releases I achieve are far more complete than with traditional styles of work.

Once dressed, you take a walk around the room to notice how you feel.  Then, we discuss the outcome of the session and my recommendations for a treatment package that will help you achieve your needs.  Where possible, I will offer my experience with other clients who have faced similar situations so you can see how the package might work for you – because everyone is different.  We then book in the next session, because keeping up the momentum of treatments is crucial in the early stages.

What you can Expect from Me … is lots of listening – because everyone is different and your situation is unique.  Honesty too – if I can help, I will say so and offer examples of others I have been able to help.  In the rare event that I cannot help, I will also say that too and explain why.  I will then help you find a further step that you can try.

What You Should Not Expect …Is an instant, complete solution to your problem.  There are very few situations where 1 treatment will resolve the issue.  More typically, several sessions are needed initially to make progress, then over time the gap between sessions increases until we are maintaining your health at the state that you most desire. So, the first step is to make a phone call and have a free chat – then we can go from there …