I had to put a snarky sign up in my lobby last week. At least, it felt snarky to me. As a massage therapist, one of my least favorite things to do is tell a patient that they are not able to receive massage therapy. There are a few things that most people know are contraindications for massage: open wounds, contagious skin conditions, blood clots—these things are a “no brainer”. I never seem to get push-back when I tell a patient that they cannot have a massage with these things—but let me tell a patient that they cannot receive a massage from me when they come in with a cold or the flu and the sparks start flying! So, I thought it would be a good idea to cover this issue in this week’s blog post.

First of all, let me say that I GET IT. When you have a cold, the flu, or even a bacterial infection—you feel like garbage. When you feel like garbage, all you want is to FEEL BETTER. The idea of having a massage to find relief makes total sense. I have felt the same way at times when I have been sick. It’s tempting. But here’s the thing: Massage Therapy when you are ill can actually end up making you feel WORSE. If you think your cold or flu symptoms are bad now—just wait until they get worse. My job as your massage therapist is to help you feel BETTER, and I am not comfortable doing anything that could set you back. This is the #1 reason that I will not massage you when you are unwell.

Second, and this is just as important to me: I will not massage a patient who is ill because of all the patients scheduled to come in afterward. Door handles, hangers, and OF COURSE the massage table—I do my absolute best to keep all of these things disinfected between every patient—but I cannot possibly sanitize the entire office hourly. I work on patients one right after the other, so there are usually two people in my office at the same time—one coming in as the one before leaves. I do not massage patients who are sick so that ALL of my patients remain protected. Nobody wants to be the massage therapist that allows her patients to become sick. It’s crazy out there right now, one of my patients was just telling me that she sends prescriptions to pharmacies where she works and there were NO pharmacies in Sebring that had prescription-strength cough medicine in stock. I do not want to contribute to the problem.

Lastly, I have to do everything that I can to stay away from illness myself. This time of year, I am usually running over a month ahead with my busy season (meaning that it takes over a month to get an appointment with me if you are a new patient). I feel terrible making people wait to see me, especially since most of my patients are hurting when they call me. The massage therapists that I would normally refer a hurting patient to are just as busy because all their nothern patients are also in town. Being down a week for an illness would push me several months behind in my scheduling. I cannot do it. But—the problem is really larger than that for me. When I was in high school, I was bedridden for several months with mononucleosis—and mono stays with you (dormant, luckily) forever. I am vigilant, I do my best to eat right and take appropriate supplements for my immune system—but despite this my immune system will always suffer. I am more susceptible to a lot of things, I cannot help it.

These are the reasons I send a patient home when they come into my office sick. I reserve the right not to work on a patient when I feel it is not right to work on them, not to hurt feelings or in any way to be mean—but because it is the right thing (for all of us) to do. My illness policy is outlined in my Policies and Procedures here on my Website, and I make sure that every patient is given a hard copy of these forms when they come in for the first time. Any updates to these Policies and Procedures can always be found here on the site, and I do my best to write dedicated posts to any changes that are coming.

I apologize for not doing my regular blog posts though the holiday season—I got REALLY busy all of a sudden! To me, this seems like an “all at once” season here in Sebring. I have years where my northern patients kind of trickle in, starting in October and ramping up toward the first of the new year—but this year, my busy season was in full swing before December! I am so thankful for it, and so thankful for YOU. Please never think that I am upset if you miss an appointment with me when you are ill, it is an instant “free pass” from me. All I want is for you to feel better. I will do my best to accommodate you for a make-up appointment as soon as you are well, often staying late to make sure you get in. I posted about this to save us both—I hate it when a patient makes a trip to see me and I have to turn them away. I hope that this will prevent it. All the best to you in this New Year—and may you always BE WELL!

—Stephanie

Sharing is the kindest thing you can do!