How to place your towels on the client

[Chris A]

Thank you for that i have just had a look i will print it off. I supose i could always ask the question on here about someone in my area willing to do massage swops

 

[__ii__]

Hi Susan,

I think this is a thread I may be returning to a number of times. I have just started an ITEC massage course at a local training academy and interestingly, I am the only male member of the class. That aside, draping using towels is something I am going to be learning. We've only had two lessons so far and during our first practical session I had to leave the room several times as the ladies got undressed and on the couches (and vice versa).

During our second practical this weekend the lady I was working with waited for my return - the tutor then explained how one goes about maintaining the client's modesty. I was able to hold the towel to shield my classmate while she undressed and how to 'follow' her as she laid on the couch. During the massage I was shown how to arrange for her to turn over while staying covered and when the session ended, how to get her back off the couch and dressed again.

I'm pleased to say (for my sake and hers) I managed all this without any slip-ups .. obviously it will become easier and more like second nature as the course progresses.

 

[owexhuseiygimnemk]

Hi Wootonman. Like you, I was the only male in the class when I took my VTCT course but we had curtains around each couch which made things far easier. One question - I assume both you and the ladies retained their underwear while receving a massage?

One of the modalities I practice is Lomilomi massage which traditionally requires the receiver to be naked but draped. I attended a workshop on lomilomi in Germany earlier in the year. In the hall there were about 15 couches so there must have been at least 30 people attending the workshop. People, both male and female, receiving the massage were quite happy to strip off at the side of the hall and walk naked to their couch where they were then drapped. What a difference in attitude the English channel makes!!!

 

[Ent for Rent]

This concept i do not like at all, infact it would make me never return to a therapist that did this ever again. When i go for a massage i prefer to be left to get undressed and to get myself on the couch and covered while the therapist is washing their hands or out of the room, i cannot imagine standing there stripping down to my undies while some poor therapists hovers around me with a towel in the air looking like casper the friendly ghost!!! yes hold it up while i turn over that is the best way to stop the towels from wrapping around the client. When the massage is done i prefer to be left to my own devices for ten minutes to come round slowly and again get dressed in private without the scenario mentioned above.

This is with a male or female therapist. As a therapist myself i do as i would like being done to me. I explain all this before hand and if i have some clients with mobility problems i am there to help them on and off the bed of course i wouldnt just leave them.

Nothing wrong in popping out of the room to wash your hands for 5 mins.

Bodywork also has a point and i am also fine with Lomi Lomi being done traditionally and undraped. Yes we do maintain the clients modesty but as bodywork practitioners we cannot come across as ashamed to see or touch the body. I have been for massages where i have been covered in a white bed sheet and each body part rolled back only so far missing large parts of my body, i felt as if the therapist didnt want to work on me and was ashamed, to top it off i felt like i was laid on a morgue table, so take care about what you drape with not just how you do it!!! When you qualify you will find your own comfortable and natural way of doing things. Some of my clients are happy for me to stay in the room when they get undressed and some tell me not even to bother putting the screen up, thats fine by me i am not ashamed or embarrassed, its a body like our own afterall.

 

[toughcountryfucker]

Hi Isis & Bodywork,

This business of towel draping just seems to be because that's the way the ITEC examiners expect it to be done. So the tutors get you used to doing things that way and being able to move the towels and client with no loss of modesty. I gather at exam time itself the clients will already be on the couch when we start the treatment. Another aspect of the practical exam is that the massage will all be done from one side of the couch. This is purely for practical purposes as there are 7 of us in the class and so a number of couches will be in use at the same time.

When I have been for treatments myself I have been left to undress and get on the couch and cover myself. This is what I would expect and when I eventually start giving treatments this will be my approach unless the client specifically says otherwise. Likewise, after the treatment has finished and I have come round I have been left to get dressed again. But in the meantime I'm willing to go along with the ITEC way of things.

I think one benefit of doing things this way may be to make everyone on the course less body aware. As I mentioned, some of them hadn't even thought about there being a man on the course. At present we are just working on the back & shoulders so it is only tops that are having to be removed. But as we start work on leg movements trousers will need to come off as well. And in answer to bodywork's question - yes underwear currently stays on and I wouldn't expect that to change! I don't have a problem with any of this to be honest. I am a naturist so I am quite used to naked bodies. As bodywork says, people on the continent seem to have a much more relaxed attitude.

 

[vyogndqn]

Wow when you practise massage are you doing it from just one side too?
If you are then this is not good from my point of view, you need to be moving about the body to get at it from all angles and also to help your own body posture to prevent aches and pains. If i did all my treatments from just one side of the bed i wouldnt be too chuffed! I think you should be taught moving about the bed, and assessed moving about the bed and no matter how many couches this shouldnt be an excuse, they should make the room or take less students!

Yes in practise undies stay on but i have some clients who dont wear them - mainly the men haha but again remaining professional overcomes obstacles like this. Yes I am with you and bodywork folk on the continent are much more relaxed. Abroad Therapists often just whip away the towel and get to work and the ones without the draping have been some of the best massages i have ever had.... Stop faffing with towels and worying about tucking me up like my mother used to and get on with a dam fine massage please! hahaha

 

[lucilla]

Couldn't agree more. Not only does working from one side of the table put your own body at risk but for the receiver the difference in strokes is very noticeable. I look for balance and you can't get this working from one side only.



What a refreshing attitude.



Och... I use cotton sheets or sarongs for my draping. Mind you, the sheets are brushed cotton so hopefully do not resemble a shroud!!!!!

 

[Abenthered]

Hi Isis,

I have already started moving to the other side of the couch during one of the practise sessions - I can see that continuing as we progress onto more movements. I seem to recall in the ITEC exam you only massage one arm, one leg and that's why keeping to one side of the couch at that time won't be a big deal.

 

[read it and weep.]

Hi All,
In my experience everyone i've seen has placed and used towels in different ways which i raised in my thread 'Client Modesty' and was in a thread some time ago about Towel coverage.