Bodyworker talk

[Floyd]

A place for those who are body workers to share about their day and experiences. Good, bad, messy, frustrating, success. Whatever it was, come here to sound off!

[Floyd]

I do all my appointment scheduling via an online scheduler. I find that works best for me and usually my day fills up several days in advance. The night before I check to see what my schedule is going to be like the next day and it is a  full day from 10am to 10pm. The next morning I wake up to read emails and find that one or more of my clients have had to cancel. Although this can be frustrating, it give me unexpected slots in my day to do other things that I didn't think I'd have time for, so I normally don't get too bummed out about cancellations. How do you guys feel when someone or several clients have to cancel during the day? At least they are better than no-shows! What is your experience with this?

[Louis]

Cancellations especially last minute ones are frustrating, but more frustrating to me ....are the days when several clients want the same day and same time....I can usually get them to book for another day that week which makes it better.

[Louis]

To drape or not drape?
The business I work for makes us drape all clients....my personal clients which are all male...I prefer they are not draped.
I guess it might matter...state by state  according to laws in each state.

[Floyd]

Louis, this is very true. And then to double the frustration... after getting several requests for the same time slot and I have to tell them that I'm already booked during that time and I can hopefully get them to book for another time, I then an hour before the appointment, get a note from the original person who scheduled, a note saying they can't make it and it is then too late to try to get someone else for that time slot. OR... the original scheduler doesn't show up at all. All my mind dwells on is that had I known, I could have gotten someone else into that slot. 

[Floyd]

Regarding draping: I'm sure it depends on whether you are working in a business or at home self employed. The rules for working with someone else are always going to be more rigid than the ones you are able to do for your own business practice. I only work on males, and about 99.9% of them want to be undraped. One or two will ask for a towel to cover their butt when the session first starts, but after a few minutes they are comfortable on the table and usually remove the towel. 

[Louis]

I love massaging, but I find at times female clients frustrate me during the session....in my private practice I only do males, but at the other place I work I have mostly female clients....most of them are thin and want it way too deep... some only want upper body only for 60 or even 90 minutes...if you work on females I am sure you have heard the comments..."you can't hurt me" "you can go deeper" "don't get any lotion in my hair" "sorry I forgot to shave my legs"... we have the ones who are having lower back pain, but leave their  "grandma panties" on that go half way up their lower back... I could go on and on....by the time I am done with a few I am drained! .... I can massage male after male and be so happy. Just had to sound off....LOL

[Floyd]

Oh I bet! In my massage school class there were mostly girls and it was then that I realized that women clients are really high maintenance. After the hours of practicum were over and I had passed my state exam, I decided that I would only massage guys. And now it has been many many years since I had a female on the table. Sure I have some high maintenance guys too, but that isn't the general rule. I feel for you Louis!

[Floyd]

What to do when there is toilet paper in the crack....

I try not to embarrass my clients unnecessarily. So what would you do when a client is on the table and has an obvious wad of toilet paper in his butt crack. He signed up for Swedish and so there won't be any deep work inside the crack. Do you try to remove it inconspicuously, tell them about it and have them remove it, or just ignore it?

What if the client did ask for prostate and more indepth butt/anal work, how would you handle it differently?

What if it wasn't toilet paper, but fecal matter that was smeared unknowingly in the crack? 

[Floyd]

It is all about that connection that is made and the trust that develops. It is amazing!