men and stress release

[toffee]

ladies, you can answer here but I canvasing opinion.
Would anyone herepay for a massage. (not sexual)
Would you feel uncomfortable with a lady doing it?

This is not a joke (though joky responses will follow I know)

Seriously...
would you only go for a massage if it were for a sports injury?
woul your partner not approve?
would you think it 'soft'?

replies greatly appreciated as my pal and I thinking of doing this for women and wondering about potential business for men.

 

[pickles]

Massages are wonderful and I am having one next Wednesday......... so there

 

[toffee]

I wish they came on the NHS.(help reduce blood pressure, symptoms of stress etc)

Pickles.. would it inhibit you if your practioner was a woman?

I am trying to find out how men feel on this.

 

[toffee]

I will read reply tomorrow.
I cant be bothered listening to posts about how I supposedly feel sorry for my self etc etc...

 

[keyplayer]

Face facts - he's going for the Thai special with ping pong.

 

[toffee]

to clarify.. my above comment did not relate to this thread, just the mood of the board at the time!
night all.

 

[paulbrown]

I had a footmassage (reflexology?) done by a genuine lady masseuse (not a knocking shop) in Thailand, took a full hour, cheap as chips and very relaxing.

You could do the same in a parlour here, just say David Mellor sent you.

 

[JohnD]

I often see Osteopaths for assorted aches and pains; some include massage of the back and joints and some are women, I find it very helpful and so relaxing it can send me to sleep. I would hesitate to visit a masseuse who was not a registered therapist because I would be uneasy in the knowledge that some offer additional services and I would not anyone to think that my visit was not due to my stiff back!

 

[masona]

JohnD,

Have you heard of Bowen treatment, it's so good you only need 3/4 treatment.

Plenty of info on google

 

[JohnD]

Unfortunately I have a great many injuries and several bits of stainless steel (on the Skeletal Plan I tell them to colour in my left hand as its the only undamaged limb) but will look it up, ta.




p.s. I do sometimes exaggerate a bit.

 

[Gary_M]

I think that it is one of these things that 'time will tell' as to how this progresses in terms of running it as a business. There are still 'mixed' feelings about massage (i.e. many people still relate it to 'sexual' meanings), but I wouldn't let this put you off giving it a go as your clientele will hopefully be the ones who know and understand the benefits massage has to offer.

If you have local sports centres, it might be a good place for you to run a 'pilot' - negotiate with them and they might give you some slots in their timetable, meaning you don't have any overheads of hiring a venue.

As a word of caution - make sure you are adequately insured. I teach moving & handling (neuromuscular approach) and need to be insured for £5 million. I would suggest this should be a similar figure for you to be looking at. Unfortunately our society seems to have lost the ability of ownership and responsibility, and we have become eager to blame others (i.e. in the past you tripped on a kerb and thought how stupid you were for not looking where you were going - now, you trip on a kerb and you find a good lawyer to sue the Council !!!)

I am assuming that you are certified in massage? If not, be careful as you would have great difficulty validating things should anything go wrong.

Sorry to sound 'morbid', but my advice to anyone 'starting out' is to always think of the worst possible situation (usually some liable case) and ask yourself - can I justify everything I did? If you can, then you have nothing to worry about

Best of luck

Oh, can I book in for next Tuesday afternoon please?

 

[hermes]

I go for a back massage (from a woman) every couple of weeks because I like it. I'd be more concerned with whether they do it right than whether they are male or female, some I have had in the past have not been very good. Also, as I am doing it as a leisure thing the atmosphere has to be relaxing, eg. not in a building next to a main road with lorries thundering past.
Best paid-for massage ever was on a beach in Bali by a tiny woman who looked about 70 and had great skill.

From a business point of view, maybe it would be more profitable to concentrate on the luxury/leisure side of the market rather than sports injuries. Prices are generally higher if the whole package is a nice experience, eg freshly squeezed fruit juice in the fridge and at one place I used to go they used to had a sideline selling expensive oils that they imported from samoa or somewhere.

The place I go now, she blends oil individually for each customer each time they go, which is a nice touch I think.

 

[pickles]

Pickles.. would it inhibit you if your practioner was a woman?

I am trying to find out how men feel on this.

I don't know as this will be the first time I have actually paid for one. Possibly, although the fact that it might be a man is also a bit worrying, So I can't win really can I

 

[toffee]

thanks for the replies, its interesting.
No, Im not trained yet but we are looking at doing a course (not just a quick couple of week thing) and achieving the correct qualifications etc.
My practitioner tells me not to practice on too many friends as they will expect free treatments for life!

She has a growing number of male clients who often start off with her (or the male masseurs) as a result of injury.
Apparently, some men find it alien to take treatments purely for stress/ relaxation or view it as 'soft'.

Sadly, a problem for many women, she says, is the thought of taking off their clothes for a massage if they are a little overweight.
That is the women who are going to get a massage, worrying about their size.

 

[Steve]

One of my female friends works in a beauty place in Southport. She does everything - and i mean everything! massages, waxing, facials, the lot. The things she must see . . . . <thinks for a while . . . >

She once slept over at another friends house in Doncaster and she gave me a massage (very nice) and then things . . . turned . . . sexual . . . . (we were both drunk at the time, and i had new aftershave on, so that explains it)

And toffee, i think theres definitely a market, in todays busy-busy society, people are always looking for new ways to relax. Men included.