The most important factor when coming for a massage is to tell the therapist about any and all of your heath issues or concerns both mental and physical. You will be given a form to fill out prior to treatment to make this process easy.

There are not many conditions that cause the treatment to be prohibited, but there are many that requires the treatment to be adjusted in some way.

Contraindications

You cannot receive a treatment if:

• You have a fever
• You have (an active) cancer, or have had an operation on your internal organs in the last three months
• You are intoxicated

Massage treatment, with its full but undemanding attention on you and the comforting effect of touch, is wonderful for mental health, but I have no psychotherapeutic training so serious conditions are way beyond my capabilities. I would not be comfortable treating anyone with:

• Serious psychological issues e.g. suicidal tendencies, bi-polar disorder, severe autism etc.
• Severe panic attacks, a history of complex trauma

Adjustments to treatment

The treatments can be adjusted to avoid the affected area in the cases of

• Dermatitis, arthritis, phlebitis or any other skin conditions
• Sites of orthopaedic operations, wounds or injuries.
• Varicose veins
• Hernias of any kind
• Any kind of problems with slipped discs or bulging discs at any point along the vertebral column – these conditions mean that spine twists are prohibited so this must be known before the treatment begins.

Emotional state and trauma

• If you have had some kind of accident or shock within the last 72hrs, a massage could be helpful as long as there are no serious physical injuries, but I need to know about this as there are likely to still be traces of the experience in the body tissues.
• Milder psychological issues such as apathy, stress, overwhelm and mild depression can benefit from treatment, as long as you are able to take care of yourself to the extent of being able to say what does and doesn’t work for you.