It's been asked a million times over. How much clothing should I take off when getting a massage?
Doing massage since '08 has given me plenty of insight on this matter.
When I arrived at Massage School for the first time I had never received a professional massage and was told by my teacher to strip down and only leave a thong on if it's that time of the month. As a shy 19 year old I was terrified of that concept, and that white sheet we used as a drape felt very thin. But, as time went on and I felt how massage was changing my body for the better, I was willing to take everything off so my muscles could be manually worked on without restriction.
Many massage therapists say "undress to your comfort level" and even though I would never want someone uncomfortable on my table I want to explain my 3 big reasons why I, as a therapist, prefer my clients to be fully undressed.
1) Muscles get covered by the clothing.
2) Loss of hand on time.
3) Choppy massage.
First lets talk about you females: You'll notice that the fascial waist line and Gluteals are the main thing covered by women's underwear but if you look closely you'll seen a lot of the attachments for the thighs and lower abdomen are also covered.
Now you guy's out there: You're preferred boxers cover more than HALF the thigh muscles and Gluteals as well as the waist line of fascia.
Some therapist see this as no problem and just move the underwear so these areas are accessible, or just do some compression work over the sheet. I personally don't like doing that because to me touching a clients underwear feels more intrusive and creepy than massaging those areas.
Other therapists just see clothing as caution tape and just continue with the massage avoiding these areas all together. I don't enjoy doing this either because not only is there a huge lump of Lymph Nodes right in the line of the hip but the gluteals and abdomen being tight is a huge contributer to low back pain and is seem frequently in those who drive or sit at a desk a lot.
Now I ask you to put on your Client hat and to think about the massage session you are wanting, if you're just coming in for some shoulder work then underwear won't be an issue but if you have low back pain, tight thighs or are coming in for lymphatic work then there is a lot conflict.
It is a personal requirement of mine to do FULL draping at all times, that means even if you choose to wear clothes I will uncover only the areas being worked on, the only exception to this rule is Ashiatsu where the back (and gluteals) stays undraped during leg work to allow full body strokes but even then your privates (as I have indicated as a black bar on the muscle man and woman) will stay properly and securely covered.
Which brings me to point #2 and 3:
Clothing and sheets enjoy sticking to each other causing you to become a human burrito when being turned over. The fabrics sticking together also doesn't allow the sheet to stay securely tucked when draping the leg or low back. Not only is this highly frustrating it forces the massage therapist to spend more time to properly drape and make sure you are comfortable and unexposed on the table, which means you lose hands on time.
With this extra time being spent draping and re-draping even the smoothest swedish massage will feel choppy. To those that get Deep Tissue massage on the regular this might not seem like a problem but I pride myself on being able to help clients drift of to sleep while working on their deepest fascial restrictions and muscular knots and messing with the sheet disturbs the flow big time.
In my eyes as a massage therapist, this muscle man and woman above are what I see in my clients. I do not have "hot" or "ugly" or "fat" clients: I have clients that need bodywork, and that comes in all shapes and sizes.
Now, a few disclaimers before I end this ramble. I know some of you probably just can't get comfortable without underwear. I have a family member that feels that way, even with me as her massage therapist. I don't judge them better or worse than those who rely on draping for their modesty. I just ask women, please wear a thong if you want your gluteal worked; men, wear whitie tighties to allow your full thigh to be worked.
Also, a few therapist prefer to have their clients wear some form of clothing, sometimes it's spandex when a lot of stretching is involved, or just underwear because that's just how they are comfortable.
The most important thing is COMMUNICATION. If you are unsure or uncomfortable with something let your therapist know immediately. Do not force yourself to spend the whole massage uncomfortable, you are the client and this is YOUR session, if a therapist isn't right for you move on never feel obligated to just take it because you think they know more than you. Every BODY is different and it's important to communicate what feels good to you and what doesn't.
Please feel free to comment or contact me with any questions.
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