Massage, undies or nude?

[Team Edward!]

It's funny how this subject keeps cropping up! Surely it is up to the client. I am a mobile masseur and treat mainly female clients, I always instruct my clients to turn up the heating and always present a covered couch with plenty of towels. However, I also give the clients a clear choice before the massage begins. I explain how I will start the massage on the back and shoulders then progress to the glutes and legs. I also perform 3 types of chest massage which includes the MLD style, normal chest massage and just the top of the chest if they prefer to be covered up giving them the choice at the start of the treatment.

It is up to my clients how they receive the massage - most of them (90-95%) have the glutes and full chest massage and are naked under towels. I give the choice but only about 5% prefer to be uncovered.

If you ask me how I prefer to be massaged the answer will be naked and uncovered but I would never do anything to make my clients feel uncomfortable, hence I give them the choice. After all, they pay my bills and 98% of them book monthly sessions year after year.

Have I answered your question or have I just been rambling on again? Perhaps I ned a massage to help unscramble my brain!!!

 

[McLovin]

I love the fact this subject keeps cropping up, some of the posts make me giggle every time!

I'm on a VTCT course, as far as our tutor is concerned, if we are massaging someone of the opposite sex the legs do end half way up the thigh! She said this is about 'respecting client boundaries' (but seems a bit sexist that we can go as far as we like up the leg of same-sex people!). We can do the glutes through towels (but this is cumbersome - I'm always pummelling the towels out of the way by accident so the client ends up with their bum exposed anyway!

 

[Pompal 09.]

Hi

I have had lots of massages and I have also trained as one. May be its me but I am too shy I would never give or receive a massage being naked or on a naked person - too shy!

 

[jh4kd]

Reverting to Cricket’s original questions – I am a male sports massage therapist. The majority of my clients request specific injury treatment rather than full body massage, so the question of nudity doesn’t arise. Almost all of my clients who do ask for a full body massage are female. We discussed this at some length on an earlier thread entitled ‘sexual discrimination in massage therapy’ – but basically I think that most heterosexual men who want a full body massage will choose a female therapist. Of the women who do ask for a full body massage, I would estimate that about 70% keep underwear on and about 30% undress completely. My experience is that older women are more likely to undress completely and that younger women are more likely to keep their underwear on. I am not sure whether the fact that I am in my 50s has any relevance to this! I always use towels for draping. Incidentally in view of Cricket’s initial comments about gluteal massage, it maybe worth mentioning that if the client is nude, it is possible to drape the towel diagonally so that the gluteal cleft remains covered: there is a good demonstration of this on the Sean Riehl DVD 'Deep Tissue and Neuromuscular Therapy'.
I was interested to read Cricket’s assumption that “more people nowadays prefer nude”. I think that the reverse may be the case: as massage has become more widespread and mainstream, so it has attracted more people (tutors and therapists as well as clients) who are uncomfortable with nudity. When I trained at the London College of Massage (in 1999), the tutors encouraged us to undress completely to receive massage. And the College website included the advice



When I last looked at the College’s website earlier this year, that statement had disappeared. And my impression from discussions with other therapists (mainly on CPD courses) is that very few tutors nowadays actively encourage nudity in the classroom, and that some positively forbid it.
As Sunanda pointed out, there have been previous threads on this subject, but I have the impression that some of our newer contributors may not have read them. So it might be worth commenting that the American website http://spas.about.com/cs/spa101/a/SpaEtiquette.htm
gives the following advice



Finally, some time ago the Sunday Times published a reader’s query



The reply given was



I think that it is clear from this forum that ’99.9%’ is an overestimate, presumably because the Sunday Times confined its research to established spas rather than small clinics.

Alan

 

[jattLoots]

I am a 36 year old male who used to have massages with my underwear on. But what I would find is that it was uncomfortable having the therapist pulling my underwear down for both her and I, and often having underwear on signaled to the therapist that I didn't want my glutes done, which was not the case. I think it makes it easier for the therapist to be able to do longer, flowing strokes and makes the massage easier without clothes. Anyhow, once I decided to unclothed, provided the therapist is OK with that, I never went back to wearing underwear for a massage.

 

[cajuncutie]

I am not a massage therapist and therefore I don't have as much experience about this issue as most of you, but I would like to give my evidence to thread.

I receive regulalry massage and I prefer to wear my undied and not be naked. I understand that in order to receive a relaxing or healing massage, feeling comfortable is very important, but have never felt comfortable when naked in front of others (except my gf )

 

[misspelled99]

as stated in other post had microdermabrasion yesterday what i didnt realise was the neck and uppershoulders were involved too. She asked me to take my top off( not bra just top) Me suspicious asked why she explained so thatw as ok. she put towel on me
so that I could take top off in privacy and she only pulled bra straps down to get access to shoulders. That was ok.

also my freind who is a masseur says it is against ethics to massage naked clients. so I explained to her about this forum she refused to consider massaging naked people thats her opinion.Tbh( to be honest) I would feel weird naked in front of her!

Amethsytfairy

 

[~*T!NK*~]

Just few thoughts and questions

What is unethical about nudity ?

Yes of course "undress style" must be such that the massage recipient is comfortable

If you are going for a massage surely you must realise that at least some clothes must come off, and perhaps you should be told that you will recieve a higher quality massage if there is nothing in the therapists way.

If the concern is about the risk of touching the untouchable bits, then surely that is best achieved if you can see what you are doing rather than being dressed and/or draped and risking just that, or giving up half way up the thigh with a consequent lower overal quality of massage.

And just another question - is massage a sensual experience ?

 

[Kristy-lee]

The title of the thread is a little bit misleading - the question is actually Massage, undies or nude, under a drape (sheet/towel/whatever). There is a huge difference between nude and nude under a drape, I doubt most practitioners would consider nude under a drape against ethics.
The most important thing is that the client AND the therapist be comfortable - for most therapists, that means a drape. For most of them whatever makes the client comfortable under the drape is OK, some prefer people keep their underwear on, and they should make it clear if it is a big concern. If there is lots of streching and leg waving due to sports style massage or whatever, ther therapist will usually say keep undies/shorts on and may not use a drape at all. Most massage therapists prefer bra off for the client because of oil concerns, and can cope with clients leaving their undies on or off under the drape - it really doesn't make that much difference for the therapist.

A different discussion is whether no drape is OK or not, and most people aren't interested in that. A minority ARE interested in no drape, and that seems to get an inordinate amount of discussion for the number of people interested in it. lots of earlier threads about that can be found

As for isn't it better to be able to see what you are working on, for most therapists, it doesn't make much difference. Massage is done sensing what the muscles are doing and that is mainly done through touch rather than visual evaluation.

 

[?s?? -> ???]

A different discussion is whether no drape is OK or not, and most people aren't interested in that. A minority ARE interested in no drape, and that seems to get an inordinate amount of discussion for the number of people interested in it. lots of earlier threads about that can be found
quote]

Inordinate is exactly the word for it. Given that many of the people here work on bodies on a regular basis, what is this fascination with nakedness?

 

[lovincupcakez]

I think this is the crux of the issue perhaps concerning nudity in massage - I personally do think massage can be 'sensual' if you use the dictionary definition 'of or pertaining to the senses or physical sensation;' or 'arousing or exciting the senses or appetites.' It does stimulate the senses, which to my mind makes it a sensual experience (of the senses)... however, I wonder what others think and also how often 'sensual' is equated with 'sexual'? I know this is the main issue my boyfriend has with me training as a massage therapist - he sees sensuality as closely tied up to sexuality, whereas I can quite happily separate and define between the two.

I don't think nudity in itself is unethical... i think ideally it should be up to the client how they wish to receive massage (undies or nude). Perhaps insisting a client goes nude might be unethical if they don't feel comfortable with it.

 

[armywife2004]

Of course massage is a sensual experience but a lot of people, unfortunately, do not differenciate between sensual and sexual. Is this link the reason why a lot of people have a strong preference for the gender of their therapist?

I personally can't understand why any therapist would insist on their client wearing underwear or massaging glutes through a towel. If they do that, why not keep the client clothed and do the whole massage through clothes?

 

[vpeccumpiizifyerz]

I think this could be why many people have strong preferences about the gender of their therapist - I know very few men (except you open-minded folks on here maybe) who would be happy to have a whole body massage given by another man! I often hear them say 'I wouldn't want another man touching me all over' etc... the only reason I can see as to why men feel uncomfortable with this is that they equate the sensuality with sexuality (unless anyone has any other ideas?).

I've heard the same things said by people attending sexual health examinations at GUM clinics though... The men I know of usually prefer a woman to examine them, whereas most women I know are either not bothered, or would prefer another female to examine them. This is just a generalisation based on my own experience though, but I do think it's interesting.

 

[wildflower333]

Funny you should say that. Although I have, of course, had plenty of men say exactly that to me, it occurred to me last night that a growing proportion of my massage clients are now men.

Maybe enlightenment is spreading..?

 

[Pompal 09.]

My friends a massage therapist, and she says that more men are actually choosing male therapists to massage them, because they have a much firmer hold.
I prefer female myself but would not dismiss using a male therapist.

 

[reinvests]

"Professional sports people do not have issues with the gender of their therapist" is the arguement I use for that one.



I had a massage swap with a lady at the weekend and she left me feeling bruised and quite sore so again gender is not the issue. An 8 stone female using her body weight correctly should be able to provide enough pressure to suit all occassions.

 

[JM..<3]

"Professional sports people do not have issues with the gender of their therapist" is the arguement I use for that one.

quote]

That's great! I'll have to remember that line next time I get those comments from the guys! You are right of course, it really should not matter.

 

[K Yo]

I am male and would only go to a female therapist. I've had a lot of personal health issues for a long time with fatigue, lightheadedness, headaches, etc... Aside from the truth that a male therapist that was gay would leave me more than a little creeped out, the main thing is that men are trained to be tough and to kind of grin and bear it. So while I am going though difficult physical problems, I guess I just feel more comfortable whining or venting about my physical problems to a female rather than to another male. Men aren't brought up to get emotional around other males so I just have a difficult time with that and wouldn't relax during the massage..

 

[Brittnay]

It's sad that men feel they can't be massaged by men, must be a very British thing.

I felt reserved about massaging my first male, but very soon I realised doing a massage is doing a massage and gender should have nothing to do with it. As for the sexuality of the person giving or receiving a massage, that should never be an issue either.

Myarka.

 

[TheBald]

Exactly!!!