To find a practitioner, ask someone you know who is experienced with receiving treatment, look in newpaper ads, ask a school or try a search on our home page.

When you have found a practitioner, question to ask include:

• How long have you been practicing?
• In what modalities do you specialize?
• What problems can you handle and what problems would contraindicate your treatment?
• Where did you go to school?
• Location?
• Rate?
• Insurance?
• Hours?
• Cancellation policy?

After choosing a practitioner, prepare some questions so that you know what you want to receive. The practitioner should listen to the client's questions and respond to client's requests. Will they work on the face, feet, hands, buttocks? It is always the client's choice. Momentary discomfort is common during some modalities, but the clients should speak up if there is pain. Do you want music, discussion or quiet. Temperature, light, fragrance... make it known. They should have some knowledge about affects of the treatments. Working on one area may significantly affect another area, but if they mention centripetal forces or tachyons, then get a second opinion.

Some modalities are effective primarily to help with a specific problem for one to three sessions, while others may be for a chronic condition or long term therapy on a weekly basis. Whatever modality is used, the practitioner needs to know your condition before, and during the session. The client should communicate concerns immediately.

Frequently Asked Questions about Bodywork Therapy

Client Intake: A brief consultation should be conducted by bodyworker before the treatment, so that the therapist can know how to work. The client should honestly answer questions, such as prior incidence of surgery, injury or medications, such as blood-thinning medications. The therapist should ask at least, "Do you have any changes since your last treatment?" This is the best time to state on which body areas to concentrate, and which areas to avoid.

Dressing: Many modalities work on bare skin, so undressing to the level of comfort choice of the client is customary. Some people prefer to be completely nude, while others prefer to keep their panties or briefs on. In North America, the bodyworker should leave the room for client to remove clothing and lie on the massage table (usually face down first) under the top sheet. The bodyworker should knock before reentering the room. If taking your clothes off doesn't seem relaxing or if time is limited, try a chair massage, barefoot deep tissue, shiatsu, Thai massage or other clothed modality which may be done in the open, rather than in a private room. Being self-conscious should never keep you from seeking health care, whether it's visiting your doctor or seeing a massage therapist. If you're self-conscious about a certain part of your body, you can ask the massage therapist to avoid that area.

Special Requests: I'd rather see a female massage therapist. Should I request this? Yrd. The client should make any requests within the practitioner's field to make the clients as comfortable as possible. For various reasons, some men and women don’t feel comfortable having a massage by a male massage therapist. It may be due to questionable or outdated social and media stereotypes of the profession.

During treatment: Communicate openly with the massage therapist if there is a need. The client should speak up if: the room is too hot or too cold, pain or discomfort, questions related to the treatment, anything you forgot to mention during the consultation.

Drooling and other occurences: If a massage client drools, as it often occurs when clients are face down on the massage table, the client should not be shy about asking for a tissue. If the client needs to go to the bathroom, then they can excuse themselves.
What if I get an erection during the massage? Some men don't get massage therapy because they worry that they'll get an erection. Or they get the massage, but are unable to relax during the massage because of this fear. But there is no reason to be embarrassed. It's perfectly normal for men to occasionally have an erection during a non-sexual, therapeutic massage, just as during sleep. Erection is a common physiological response that happens when the parasympathetic nervous system is activated by touch. Your massage therapist (male or female) understands this and will generally ignore it. The client may wear a men's bikini bathing suit during the massage, which provides more support than boxers.

Tipping: At a spa or hotel, a 15% to 20% tip is standard for good services. For private practice massage it is customary to tip 10%. In a medical or clinical setting, tipping is not generally appropriate. The client should not be afraid to ask if tipping is customary. Call ahead to ask if you don't want to do it face to face. If tipping is not appropriate, appreciation may be shown by referring friends, family and co-workers to the practitioner.

Readers are encouraged to try different practitioners and modalities of massage and other therapies, to see what works for their needs.

For specific questions about bodywork, it is suggested to post questions in the forum.

• Articles and Forum Sections of the site are for all readers. To add material, please register at Forum, and use same password for Articles. Feel free to promote your business, as long as it is relevant (see terms and conditions.)

For explanations of various modalities and specialties, select from the list:

Select Specialty Acupressure Acupuncture Alexander Technique Applied Kinesiology Aromatherapy Biofeedback Barefoot Deep Tissue Breath Work Buteyko Breathing Chinese Medicine Craniosacral Dietician (Registered) Ear Candling Feldenkrais Method Hot Stone Massage Lymphatic Drainage Myofascial Release Medical Doctor Polarity Therapy Pregnancy/ Doula Qi Gong/ Tai Chi Reflexology Reiki Rolfing Shamanism Shiatsu Sports Massage Swedish Thai Massage Trigger Point Therapy Sound Energy Therapy Yoga

Another resource for definitions is: http://www.massagetherapy.com/glossary/index.php