Nobody wants to work on sick clients. In fact, we’re not legally allowed to in Ohio. Especially this time of year, when we are in close proximity with multiple clients in often small, heated rooms, it’s important to understand who you can work on in regards to common illnesses. Today, I’m going to talk about the difference between viruses and when antibiotics are used.
Part 1 focuses on 4 common viruses, how long they’re contagious, and the symptoms. At the end of the post, I’ve got a list of what to do if a sick person has come into the office. Part 2, coming next Friday, concentrates on antibiotics, their use, and contraindications.
Will antibiotics help?
Antibiotics will not improve viral infections–we just need to “ride them out”. Antibiotics are prescribed for the treatment of a bacterial infection, but they are NOT effective against viral infections.
Viral infections, and how long to keep people off your massage table.
On Wednesday, I wrote about the deliciousness of using heat during a massage. Because of the multitude of benefits that the combination of heat and massage can provide, instructor Sara Newberry and I (Mary-Claire Fredette) teamed together to create the world’s first…
Hot Ashi!
It’s a combination of heated Mother Earth Pillows and, you guessed it, barefoot massage! It’s first in our specialty class lineup.
A little history on how this came about…
I’ve been doing barefoot massage since 2002. The trouble is that my hands and feet were always cold after washing them. A heating pad has been my feet’s friend since about Day 1. When I learned “thermal connective tissue release” Pillossage with Mother Earth founder Karen Kowal back in 2011, I knew I had found the answer to my cold hands.
Almost ALL of us love to be warm when we get a massage. There’s something so comforting about even just lying down on a heated massage table. It’s like stepping into a warm bubble bath, knowing you relaxation is going to commence immediately.
Have you ever dabbled with using heat for a massage? Maybe you’ve played around using a heating pad to keep your clients feet warm, or set a small oscillating heater to blow warm air on your clients.
Perhaps you’ve draped warm Mother Earth pillows over an aching joint or shoulders, because you know how good that feels.
(As I write this, I’m alternating a Mother Earth flax pillow between my lap and my shoulders. Ahh…)
No matter what you’re celebrating today – “Merry Christmas!”, “Happy Holidays!”, “Happy Kwanzaa!”, or even “¡Feliz Navidad!”, we hope you’re having an awesome time with family and friends.?
Each one of our team members took a few minutes out of our busy schedules to send you a message. We hope you like it. ❤️
What are you doing this week? Pop your answers into the comments! We’d love to hear from you.
If you’re not aware of how you use both your feet and hands (applying lubricant, moving sheets or limbs, etc.) then it’s quite possible you aren’t giving your clients the best massage ever.
And that’s our goal. Every. Dang. Time.
You may be amazing in treating your clients with the appropriate pressure and perfect moves, but if everything else isn’t spot on, fuggedaboutit.
From Jiffy Lube to Sheet Shredders, here’s what to look out for:
In this Tuesday Toesday tip, we’ll show you how to add in a delightfully warm pillow to enhance your barefoot or hands-on massage. It’s perfect for the winter or even if you keep air conditioning running in your massage room year ’round.
Items needed (in addition to your massage table and all that jazz):
❀ an inexpensive heating pad. I actually like them better than the expensive, flexible ones for this trick.
❀ a standard pillowcase to cover the heating pad. Small is good.
❀ a king pillow (not a bolster) with a pillowcase on it. King is better than standard as even your sprawling clients will have support under their legs.
❀ a massage table heating pad, turned on
(The “how-to” video’s at the bottom of this post.)
Cover the heating pad with the standard case. You could use the one that comes with it, but you only get one and it will need to be washed if you stand on it. Fold the corners over like you’re wrapping a present so you know where the heating pad actually is (this prevents you from placing the pillow on what appears to be the heating pad but is actually just the pillowcase).
Place the heating pad on a stable surface-I use a stool with a folded blanket on top to protect the wood. I have also used a heat-resistant cutting board. It’s misplaced in a “safe place” right now, though.
You could use a chair or a table with something to protect it from the heat on it or even on top of a large hot towel cabi. Whatever you use, make sure the surface won’t get ruined with a hot heating pad on it.
Turn on the heating pad. I turn in on HIGH. When using one that has an actual temperature gauge, I set it to the 140°F’s to 150°F (60°C to 65.5°C. Make it too hot, and you’ll start dancing the Hot Foot Jig.
Place the pillow (in the pillowcase) on top of the heating pad. As it lies there, it’ll get super warm wherever the pillow is touching the heating pad.
When your client’s on the table, flip the pillow over so the heated side is UP, and slide it under your client’s legs. It’ll be super warm and feel amazing.
If you’re doing barefoot massage, put the heating pad on the floor and stand on it after you’ve cleaned your feet (I stand on it when I’m lubricating my client’s back). Your feet will be super cozy and warm when you start your barefoot massage. (You can see HERE how I keep my feet warm on even those days when I’m chilled to the bone.)
They can’t believe that you have even more magic feet than your amazing moves have shown thus far.
Do your massage thing.
When it’s time to flip the client over, pull out the pillow.
TURN IT OVER so the side that WAS down is now UP. Place it under your client’s legs.
More oohing and ahhing will commence.
You’re welcome. 😉
Who needs to have an awesome tip like this? Share this quick and easy, inexpensive tip to help them improve their massage!
Jeni and Mary-Claire did a podcast earlier in the year with Allissa of Massage Business Blueprint entitled, “What to Know Before Taking a Massage CE Class” (episode 147). In it, we covered many important things to know before signing up for any massage class.
Today, I’m going to mention some specifically relating to our ashiatsu classes (we can go on and on ad nauseam on the subject in general.) 😉
Before you sign up for our barefoot massage class, understand basic yet important need-to-know items such as:
❀ What are your goalsfor learning barefoot massage? We don’t want you 2 feet deep into class before you realize that your client base (or target clientele) won’t want deep tissue barefoot massage. If you want to work (or do work already) on athletes or deep tissue clients, then perfect!
❀ Do you have health issues? Can you receive deep tissue compressive massage? You’ll be receiving a lot in our classes- 2 + hours for each of the 1st 2 days.
Topical allergies? Please let us know ahead of time. We don’t want you breaking out due to someone’s detergent or foot cleaner.
Why should you start to consider using your FEET to massage with? I can think of a million reasons, but I boiled it down to just enough to count on one foot. 5 reasons to learn FasciAshi Barefoot Massage. Just five. Read on to see if we can further romance you into learning our favorite way to do deep tissue, myofascial release and trigger point work with our FasciAshi style of barefoot massage therapy.
Last month at the 2018 World Massage Festival in Las Vegas, we taught the biggest ashiatsu class on record!
We had almost 100 massage therapists (93, to be exact) sign up for a full day of training in our HandsFree Ashiatsu class at the World Massage Festival. Five of our FasciAshi instructors traveled from across the country to meet up for a feet-up just off the Vegas Strip. Jeni Spring, Mary-Claire Fredette, Julie Marciniak, Dawn Dotsonand Sara Newberryjoined forces and shared little samples of what it takes to be a Barefoot Massage Therapist.
I personally charge the same for everything I do at my office. I’ve never thought that anyone should have to pay more because their body needed a different kind of work (ie. charging more for deep tissue massage). I add on aromatherapy sometimes, and sometimes there’s…whatever I come up with. That’s my gig.
Adding on services or a modality to your massage is totally fine, but if you charge, you better let your client know ahead of time it will cost more.
(Heck yeah, I’d pay extra for an Aroma-nap after a massage. As long as I knew there was a fee first. Putting on your menu or online would be a fab idea.)
I worked on a client today who had just come back from vacation. As I work on him every week, he got a massage while he was gone. It was hands-on, but that was all that was available.
The therapist told him that it wouldn’t be as deep as barefoot massage, and he was ok with that. Because he told her he sees someone who’s been a massage therapist for 20 years and has been teaching for ages, she got a little worried about what he was expecting.
Who needs to have an awesome tip like this? Share this quick and easy, inexpensive tip to help them improve their massage!