10 things your massage therapist wants to put your mind at ease about.

by Mamamia Team September 11, 2015

Image via Friends/NBC.

Being an RMT (Registered Massage Therapist), you see all kinds of people, conditions and concerns.

From routine, to severe, to weird, to even funny. In my practice, I’ve started to see some common reoccurrences emerge. After consulting some colleagues of mine, they seem to have noticed a few patterns too. So, I’ve compiled 10 points that stick out the most.

Common concerns, incidents and what your RMTs are really thinking: here are 10 things your RMT wants you to know:

1. That’s probably normal

“Is this normal? My ____ does this. My ______ has that.”

Outside of orthopedic concerns, you would be surprised what patients ask their RMTs. Do other people have hair there? My skin has cellulite there, is that normal? As regulated health care professionals, we do our best to answer your questions within our scope of practice, and if you are really concerned, go to see your doctor (we will probably refer you if we are concerned, too). But more than likely, it’s normal.

Image via iStock.

2. It really doesn’t matter that you haven’t shaved

Seriously. We truthfully don’t even notice, up until you mention it. It has no effect on our treatment; if it does, that’s what the oil and lotion is for. I mean it.

3. Do your stretches

And your exercises and your hydrotherapy and your home care, and… you see where I'm going here, right? Although it would be fun to follow you around, give you treatment and remind you of your therapeutic exercises all day long, we can’t. Our time together is very short, minutes a day, a week, a month, or even longer.

This homework RMTs are giving you, is designed along your treatment plan to help you resolve your pain and dysfunction. Your health is in your hands the rest of those minutes, days, weeks, and months. If you want to get better, you need to do your homework.

4. Your body is beautiful, too

RMTs treat hundreds of patients. That means seeing and touching their naked bodies. Guess what? They are all different. Out of all of them, not even one looks like what you see airbrushed in the media. Male or female. A few have come close, but no cigar.

It breaks our hearts a little bit when we see those patients insecure about their bodies because of the pressure of the media. It’s not often the media shows the stretch marks, scars, deformities, muscles, moles, dry skin or cellulite. that we so often see on… everyone. Those images aren’t what we see on a daily basis. (Post continues after gallery.)

Rebel Wilson

The actress said on Twitter; "I'm not trying to be hot. I'm just trying to be a good actress and entertain people." Image via @rebelwilson

Adele"The first thing to do is be happy with yourself and appreciate your body - only then should you try to change things about yourself." Image via Getty

Lady Gaga

After the media focused on her alleged weight gain in September 2012, Gaga hit back at critics by baring her body in photographs, sharing her struggles with an eating disorder, and inviting her fans to join her in a "body revolution"/ Image via @ladygaga

Ashley Judd

After the March 2012 frenzy around Judd's "puffy face" the actress fought back in 'The Daily Beast', calling the media out for making women's bodies "a source of speculation, ridicule, and invalidation, as if they belong to others". Image via @ashley_judd

Christina Aguilera

"I am always in support of someone who is willing and comfortable in their own skin enough to embrace it," the singer said in a recent interview. Image via @xtina

Lena Dunham

At the 2012 New Yorker Festival, the magazine's TV critic, Emily Nussbaum, asked Lena Dunham, producer, creator and star of the hit HBO show 'Girls' why Dunham is naked in so many scenes. Dunham responded; "I realised that what was missing in movies for me was the presence of bodies I understood." She said she plans to live until she is 105 and show her thighs every day. Image via @lenadunham

Alexa Chung

Chung responded to critics who suggested that her slight frame made her a bad role model for young women, saying: "Just because I exist in this shape doesn't mean that I'm, like, advocating it." Image via Twitter @alexa_chung

Stella BoonshoftThe NYU student started the amazing Body Love Blog, where she posted this picture of herself and wrote an open letter to those who feel entitled to shame others for the size or look of their bodies. Image via http://thebodyloveblog.tumblr.com"> Body Love Blog

Beth Ditto

This five-foot-tall, 200-pound singer spoke openly about her weight to 'The Advocate' saying, "I feel sorry ... for people who've had skinny privilege and then have it taken away from them. I have had a lifetime to adjust to seeing how people treat women who aren't their idea of beautiful and therefore aren't their idea of useful, and I had to find ways to become useful to myself." Image via @marybethditto

There is only one condition your body should be in, male or female, young or old: healthy. And that looks a little different for everyone. Your RMT is here as a vessel for health. We are not here to judge. And we want to tell you: Your body is beautiful, just how it is, as long as you are on your journey to health.

5. When you 're-make' the table, I smile inside

Post-treatment, when we come in for reassessment, check ins, clean ups, etc. and we see that all of the linens have been attempted to be put back, tidied and re-made, it warms our hearts. I mean, it’s silly really, they all go off to be sterilised and sanitised. It’s completely unnecessary, but it’s also really sweet for some funny reason.

6. Don’t call us 'masseuses'

We are Registered Massage Therapists. With years of training, education then certification, experience and legal responsibilities. The word masseuse is… ugh. Shudder-worthy. It’s associated with under-the-table, sketchy, “happy ending” type massage. And that is not what we do.

I'm a MASSAGE THERAPIST, not a MASSEUSE. Image via Seinfeld.

RMTs provide well thought-out, research-based treatment plans to assist our patients' return to or maintenance of health. Please call us by our hard-earned titles: Registered Massage Therapist, Massage Therapist, or simply, RMT.

7. Don’t be shy about your butt

In our world, it’s a large muscle; actually it’s three. We call your bum gluteals or glutes. It’s not a booty or ass and we don’t see it as fat, tiny, jiggly or bony. We observe your bodies in a clinical sense, and if you have pain associated with your low back, legs, hips or glutes, don’t be shy. We’re here to help — let us know!

8. …But, please, don’t undrape yourself

As RMTs we are legally required to follow draping protocols to protect you and ourselves. We only undrape the area being treated at that time, then redrape fully, before undraping any other areas. Please keep yourself covered. And no, we are not interested in seeing your bits (see number six if you need clarification of what we do). (Post continues after gallery.)

Your body during a massage