7 Tips In Choosing Your Massage Therapist

We all live busy, active lives. The responsibilities of our jobs, family life, volunteer groups and other commitments can sometimes wear us down. We feel like we can only do so much in a given day or week. At times, our muscles ache and our heads spin with all the deadlines and stress that we are facing.

Stressful times like this are the perfect time to take a step back and focus on what's really important. It's also a good time to start taking better care of yourself mentally, physically and emotionally. For some of us, a good stress release is having a relaxing massage.

Massage therapy has been used for years to help relieve stress and anxiety. Massage therapists work on soft tissue areas of the body to reduce tightness and tension and to help their patients feel more at ease with themselves. Most of their customers leave their sessions feeling at ease.

There are websites including foot palace of Athens and others that have a lot of helpful information about massage therapy and massage therapists. You can also find out more by visiting your local spa, fitness center or massage parlor.

Here are some good tips to consider when selecting a good massage therapist:

1. Quality customer service. A good massage therapist takes the time to listen to their clients. They find out what is bothering them, and offer massage services to meet their needs. If a customer is feeling pain during the massage or is still feeling tense after the session, their therapist should react accordingly. Satisfied customers lead to more new and repeat business for them.

2. Good rapport. Part of having good customer service is establishing an effective working relationship with each client. Understanding exactly what the client needs and delivering exactly what they want during a massage are important steps toward building and maintaining a long-term client base. Happy customers will often sign up for repeated sessions, and will gladly refer their family members and friends to the business.

3. Ask questions. 

Because there are so many options available, you want to make sure you're selecting the right massage therapist that can properly assist in relieving stress and tension. Ask things like:

- What are your hours of operation?

- Are you open on the weekends?

- What's your cancellation policy?

- Is there a package discount?

- Could this be covered by my insurance?

Asking these questions and any other relevant ones that you can think of us can help you narrow down your selections. If the people you call can't give you satisfactory answers to your questions, then it's time to cross them off of your list.

4. Training and certifications. 

While you're doing your research, make sure that you find out about the certification and experience for each potential massage therapist. There are professional organizations such as the Associated Bodywork Massage Professionals and the American Massage Therapy Association that have certification records for many massage therapists. Most certified massage therapists have at least 500 hours of training and some are nationally certified by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork.

5. Specialization. 

Some massage therapists offer additional services including aromatherapy, Swedish massage or deep tissue massage, for example. Review the services they offer or talk to them directly to see if one or more of these services meet your needs.

6. Proper techniques. 

A good massage therapist should work with the areas of the body that are providing the most strain. If they are too rough or are just not good at effectively working on the problem areas or listening to your concerns, there's no need to go back to them a second time.

7. Personal goals. 

One thing to ask yourself before going in for a massage is: what do I want to accomplish from this? If you're trying to reduce pain in a certain region of the body or just relieve stress, focus on those areas and communicate those goals with your massage therapist. You both need to work together to achieve the results you want.

These are just some of the many things to contemplate when choosing a massage therapist. Do your homework carefully, and don't just settle on the first business you see online, in the Yellow Pages or at the local mall. Taking time to relieve pain and feel comfortable is a vital part of improving your overall health.