What to do when you are too sick for a massage

Obviously, we’re all big fans of the healing powers of a good massage, and we love to tell you all about just how good a regular massage can make you feel. But there are times when a massage might not be the best way forward, and so if any of these apply to you, it might be better to reschedule for when you’re feeling better!

Coughs, colds and flu

We get it, we know you’re feeling terrible and you’d really love to get a massage when you have the aches and pains of a bad cold. The thing is; it’s probably not going to do you as much good as it would normally. In fact, it might have the opposite effect on you.

One of the great things about a massage is that it can help to boost your circulation and also your lymphatic system. If you’re fighting off a bug, the last thing your lymphatic system needs is to be made to work harder, which is what a massage will do. It’s already busy trying to fight the germs and carry them out of your system.

Putting your body under pressure to work even harder when it’s already working as hard as it can to bring you back to health again can make you feel awful. If you’re feeling the effects of a cold, or a virus, just be kind to yourself. Cancel the massage, rest up, drink lots of chicken soup and come back when you’re fully recovered and able to feel all the positive effects of your massage treatment.

When massage can make the problems worse

If you attend a massage appointment when you’re feeling under the weather, you put yourself at a higher risk of catching another bug as you’re compromising your immune system by making it work harder.

This is why massage therapists encourage their clients to not get a massage if they are unwell. The benefits are cancelled out by the pressure a massage can put on your immune system. You should definitely avoid Swedish and deep tissue style massages until you’re better as these are the massages that stimulate your circulation the most and can overload your system.

It’s not always good to share

There’s no delicate way of putting this so we’re just going to come right out and say it; we don’t want your germs!

Staying at home is best all round if you have something nasty, because you won’t feel any better for dragging yourself out to your massage appointment, and if we catch it, we won’t be well either!

Most massage therapists are self-employed so illness can be more than just an inconvenience – it could mean that we are unable to work, losing us money, because we don’t want to pass the germs on to our other clients.

We will be really pleased to see you again when you’re feeling better, but if you’re not sure whether you’re well enough to make your massage appointment, you probably aren’t. Cancel, re-book and take the day off.