11. What parts of my body will be massaged?

The one area you can be assured that won't receive any stimulation will be the genitals.

There are different reasons why some massage therapists skip different areas of the body. For some it may just allow them to concentrate on areas of the body that are typically the areas that need the most work. They would rather give fuller attention to these areas and not do areas that are not a problem for you.

Some therapists will ask you during the intake if you have any areas of your body that you would prefer not to be massaged. This may be verbal or you might have to check off areas of the body on a chart on the intake form. The therapist will respect your wishes.

Should you request that any part of your body not be massaged? This is another area where the answer is not so easy. A person getting massaged should be relaxed. If anything during the massage causes them to tighten their muscles, than the benefits from the massage won't be obtained. So if having your buttocks massaged makes you suddenly tense every muscle in your body, then massaging this area is a waste of time. On the other hand, the body is one interconnected organism. Even though you may feel discomfort in one part of your body before a massage, the cause of the problem may rest in a different area of the body. Overcompensation for an ache or nagging injury by limping, walking differently, or carrying yourself other than your normal way will cause muscles throughout the body to suffer. To reap the most benefits from a massage, all areas should be addressed. Skipping an area like the buttocks will ignore all the large and important muscles in that area that connect the torso to the lower limbs.

A massage therapist has seen and massaged hundreds or thousands of different bodies. They won't get excited seeing or massaging any part of your body. You'll find that even on parts of your body you might be nervous about having touched, that the therapist will use the same sure, confident strokes that they've used everywhere else. Numerous times I've started on a new client's buttocks, and felt a small twinge of nervousness from them as I did, but by the time I was finished with it, they were relaxed, and often made the comment that they didn't realize they were sore there.

The other area besides the buttocks that cause a lot of nervousness is working around a women's breasts. Some therapists skip this area completely so as not to make the client nervous. Others work the pectoralis muscles (your pecs) above the breast, and sometimes to the side of the breast near the armpit. They keep as much of the breast draped as possible while working these areas. Again, it can be an important area, especially if you have upper back problems. Tightness in the chest muscles can affect the muscles in the upper back. The same caveat applies, though, that if you cease to be relaxed because this area is being worked, then the benefits of the massage will be lost.

As a general rule, just try to stay relaxed as much as possible during a massage. If it's your first massage, and you suddenly find yourself nervous as the therapist moves to a new area, just try to make your mind float and enjoy the feeling of having the stress worked out the muscles there. As you see more of the therapist in future visits, your nervousness about these areas will probably go away pretty quickly as you come to trust their strokes and professional approach to their work.