Chair Massage Practice

Chair massage is mostly using acupressure with the client fully clothed in a massage chair. The client's face is placed in a covered donut-like shaped face cradle, his chest is leaning against the chest rest. His arms are resting on the armrest, and his legs are on the leg rests from the bent knees down, as he straddles the seat. The chair has been fully adjusted to comfortably fit the client.Most massage chairs are portable, which means they fold up so you can carry them anywhere and set them up in just minutes. They are also adjustable so you can make them fit your clients, since we know that people come in many sizes--short, medium, and tall.

Also known as onsite massage or seated massage, a chair massage practice can be performed in the office or any work site, airports, malls, beauty shops, health food stores, conventions, beaches, outdoor sporting events, and almost anywhere you can imagine.

The portability of a massage chair makes chair massage practice available to almost anyone. The massage therapist can fold it up, put it in its case, load it in the car, and drive to the event or office. Some cases have wheels so you can actually wheel the case instead of having to carry it.

Depending upon your geographic location, this type of massage is usually about a dollar a minute and in 10 to 15 minutes, a good massage therapist can have you feeling revived and ready to take on the world. In some cities, the going rate is $1.50 or $2 a minute. If you are working all day long and the typical massage is 15 to 20 minutes long, you can make a living with a chair massage practice. Some massage therapists use chair massage alone, and others combine their chair massage practice with their table massage practice.

Normally, seated massage focuses on the neck, shoulders, back and arms. Trying to massage a client's legs and feet in seated massage can injure the therapist and is more suited for table massage.

The client remains fully clothed during the chair massage so some of the muscles are not as easily accessible as in table massage.But this makes a lot more people try massage. So many of my family and friends said they were uncomfortable with the idea of taking their clothes off, even though they would be properly draped on the table.

No messy oil is used during chair massage. However, sometimes lotion is used on the client's hands while the hands are being massaged. This means that even in the middle of the day, someone can get a chair massage without having to worry about getting their makeup or hair messed up. Their skin will not get oily, staining their clothes.

Several chair massage techniques are used when performing chair massage. They are mostly made up of East Asian and Swedish massage movements and stretches.

Superficial friction is performed by rapid movement of the palms back and forth on tissue to warm it.This technique is also used in table massage.

Deep friction is moving the skin over bone with the finger, thumb, elbow, fist, palm, or heel of hand. This is more difficult to do through layers of clothing. Likewise, friction is used in table massage.

Effleurage or gliding is used for relaxing muscles. There is also a gliding stroke called ironing. This is performed with the forearm and is great for the back since it covers large areas at a time. In ironing, the forearm glides deeply and slowly down the back after completing the back treatment to realign the muscle fibers. Effleurage is used in table massage.

Petrissage is grasping, lifting, kneading or rolling soft tissue. Petrissage is used in table massage and feels so great on the back! This is my favorite part of a table massage--petrissage on the back.

Compression with the heel of the hand or loose fists is used on the muscles of the back and forearm. The client should exhale as the therapist applies pressure and inhale as the pressure is released. Again, this is used in table massage.

Sustained pressure or acupressure is applied with the finger, thumb, elbow or a massage tool. It relieves trigger points found by palpating tissue with deep friction and petrissage. Acupressure moves fluids in tissues that are being compressed and it spreads the fibers of a muscle and puts a stop to muscle spasms.

Vibration or light shaking is used on the upper arms; it is also used in table massage.

Tapotement or percussion is used to stimulate the client at the end of the massage on the back, head, arms, and hips. Tapping and light pinching (it should not hurt at all) are used on the scalp. This should be used if you want to leave the client feeling wide awake at the end of the massage and can also be used for table massage.

Seated chair massage techniques take some practice on the part of the massage therapist. Once they are mastered, the chair massages should feel fabulous. You can make a living with chair massage. Word of mouth advertising will make your chair massage practice grow.

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