Things Have Changed for Massage . . . 

Thanks to Covid-19, it's no longer business as usual for massage therapy.  Thankfully, vaccines are making massage possible again with minimal risk.  Nonetheless, there will be additional waivers and consent forms to sign because even with vaccines, massage is not 100% safe.   Then again, most things aren't.  

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LINKS FOR COVID-19 INFORMATION:  

​Johns Hopkins Medical Center

World Health Organization

National Institute for Health 

Center for Disease Control (CDC) ​

​Science Daily​

One of the nasty things about Covid-19 is that it seems to thicken the blood, laying down blood clots everywhere in the body that rigorous massage could possibly dislodge, leading to potential death via pulmonary embolism, heart attack, or stroke.  So if you have had, or even suspect that you may have had Covid, you need to tell your massage therapist because you are at risk for blood clots that make massage contraindicated.  You will need a doctor's consent before you can get a massage.

​If you have any of these symptoms, or anyone in your household's contact circle has ANY of these symptoms, get thee to a doctor for a test, and don’t come see me: 

• Fever or chills
• Cough
• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• Extreme fatigue
• Headache, muscle or body aches, along with other symptoms
• New loss of taste or smell
• Loss of appetite
• Sore throat
• Congestion or runny nose
• Thick mucus or phlegm
• Nausea or vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Chest pains
• Unusual ski​n discolorations or rashes​​​​

WHERE CAN I GET A VACCINE?  

Even with vaccinations, your therapist will be wearing a mask now while doing massage. For a few months even after vaccinations, you may also wish to wear a mask at least part of the time because even though both you and your therapist may be vaccinated, doctors and researchers are still unsure about whether we can potentially carry the virus in our nose and throats, possibly infecting others who haven't been vaccinated while remaining symptom-free ourselves.  Moreover, the virus that causes Covid is always mutating; it's what viruses do, and vaccines alone may not keep Covid at bay for awhile yet.  Just bring your mask, and if you forget, I have some for you.   Wearing a mask is also good practice during future flu seasons, which are usually quite virulent after a pandemic.  So as much as we'd like to ditch the masks already, we can't.  
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Disinfecting protocols, while always rigorous, ​have now taken on the nature of an obsessive compulsive disorder, as you can see in this checklist of all the things that need to be done before and after massage.

Here's why it's a good idea to wear a mask.