Let’s talk about body image. In this blog post we are going to honestly address a number of all-too-common body image issues from the perspective of massage therapists.

We don’t think you are too big.
You are not too fat to get a massage. We hold absolutely no judgment about the size of your body. The only times your weight is a consideration is to ensure our massage table can safely support both your body weight and our own, and wanting to make sure the way we position you during a massage is comfortable for you. Beyond safety and comfort your weight is not something we give any further thought to.

The size of your body is not a problem. We may need to make adjustments and accommodations – we do this for a lot of people for a lot of different reasons. We are used to it, and happy to do so because what motivates us is providing you with a great massage experience.

We don’t think you are too small.
You are not too thin, small, or bony to get a massage. Just like we accommodate larger people, we want to accommodate smaller people. We do not care about your size – we care about your comfort.

We also do not assume anything about the level of pressure you prefer based on your body size. Tall, short, fat, thin – we are going to check in with you about your comfort during your massage session no matter what.

We don’t care about your body hair.
You do not need to apologize if you didn’t shave your legs that morning. It does not bother us. It does not change anything about your massage.

We don’t care if you have a hairy back. Or hairy feet. Or hairy whatever. Body hair is one of the easiest things for us to accommodate. Know how we do it? We use a little more massage cream or massage oil to counteract the friction from more hair. That’s it. We don’t even think about it, we just do it, because body hair is completely normal.

We don’t think your feet are weird.
Feet are just feet! They’re all a little different and we understand that feet do a lot for us. They get some wear and tear. As professionals we are also on our feet a lot while we work – we get it! We really don’t care what your feet look like.

There are three things we do care about when it comes to feet:

  • We do care that they are clean.
    We aren’t looking for freshly washed, pristine feet here. Just be kind.
  • We also care about warts and athlete’s foot – because these are contagious!
    If you know you have either of these things going on with your feet just tell us. This helps us protect you by not spreading them to other parts of your body – and it helps protect us. We will not judge you for having plantar warts or athlete’s foot. These are both very common things that affect many people. We just want to keep you, ourselves, and our other clients safe and healthy.
  • We care if your feet are super ticklish.
    Give us a heads up if you know your feet are really ticklish. We won’t skip massaging your feet if you still really want your feet rubbed, but knowing you’re ticklish lets us approach with more caution. Bottom line here is we don’t want to be kicked, it’s just that simple.

We will ask you about your skin.
If we see cuts, bruises, discoloration, or unusual texture on your skin we will ask about it. We do not ask out of judgment – we ask because we want to make sure our massage does not hurt you and that you know about any skin issues in areas of your body that might be more difficult to see yourself.

For cuts and bruises we are making sure we won’t hurt you. We aren’t going to massage over an open cut. We aren’t going to massage over recent bruising.

We are mole watchers. We are trained to be. Especially on places like your back – if we have not worked with you before and we see a mole that looks a little out of the ordinary we will gently inquire about it and ask if you know it is there and if it has been checked by a dermatologist. We are not trying to break the flow of the massage or interrupt your zen – we are asking because as much as we care about your comfort we care more about your health, and skin cancer is no joke.

Want to know what we really think about your body?
Here is the honest truth about what massage therapists REALLY think about their client’s bodies:

-When we look at you we see muscles, bones, and fascia
-We think all bodies are worthy of therapeutic touch
-We are filled with joy hearing our clients feel good after a massage

You do not have to wait to get a massage until you’ve overcome any body image issues you may have. Take them with you, schedule that massage, and trust us that when your massage therapist sees you what they’re really seeing is your muscles and what they care about is providing you with a great experience.