How to Master Chair Massage

Chair massage is a brief massage performed through the clothes, usually on-site at a job, in health food stores or at the gym, with the client seated in a specially designed chair. According to Susan G. Salvo in "Massage Therapy: Principles and Practice," seated massage reduces stress, relieves pain and improves cognitive skills. This form of massage can be used as a source of extra income, a promotional tool for table massage or as a stand-alone business. A client who has trouble getting off or on a massage table will find a chair massage more comfortable. Chair massage makes the client feel more comfortable because he doesn't have to disrobe, he can get better acquainted with the practitioner, and it is inexpensive.

Instructions

Fundamentals

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Pick a massage chair that is portable and lightweight if the massages are performed from place to place. Use a chair that is capable of bearing more weight if massages are going to be practiced at one site. Demonstrate for the client how to sit in the massage chair: face in the head cradle. Make sure the chest pad is below the collar bone. Ensure that people with a barrel chest or large breasts can reach the face cradle to their comfort. Armrest support should support the arms without the shoulders sagging or being raised.

2

Perfect your body motion by relaxing your upper body and positioning it over the hips and feet. Maintain a flat back with shoulders down, and keep your head in line with your torso. Place your body even with the client's body. Use your body weight to apply pressure to the back of the client. Stand in the lunge position with your back leg is extended while performing chair massage. Avoid knee strain by not extending the knee beyond the foot. Do not hyperextend your fingers or thumbs. Avoid burnout. Exercise, get proper rest, take breaks, eat healthy food, and drink plenty of water.

3




Ask questions before the massage begins such as, "Are there any areas I should be aware of, avoid or areas on which I need to focus?" Ask periodically during the massage, "How is this pressure?" When a tense spot is felt, say "Your muscles feel like they have been doing a lot. Have you been exercising or doing extra work?"

Techniques

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Massage the client's back with the heel of your palm to start a 15-minute chair massage routine. Press alternately on each side of her spine, moving down to the hip and back up to the shoulders. Petrissage her trapezius by squeezing lightly and lifting using your thumbs and fingers. Make circles with your thumbs and push into the client's trapezius. Pull your fingers back into her muscles. Create a wavelike motion while keeping your hands soft. Repeat this until you feel the client relax.

5

Move to the front of the client and press down on his shoulders, using the heel of your palm. Massage on each side of his neck and move outwards on his shoulders. Use the same pressure on both shoulders and apply alternating movements. Apply pressure to the suboccipitals with your thumbs. Perform a six-second pressure hold and release. Massage down and petrissage the client's neck. Move down his neck and outward on the shoulders.

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Return to the back of the client, place your thumbs two inches away from her spine on either side, and compress towards her spine. Lift your thumbs superiorly and pull away with firm pressure. Slowly move down her back to T10 or T12. Switch your hand positions to fists. Compress and twist your fists away from the client's spine. Move down to the top of her ilium. Compress with the heels of your hands on either side of the client's spine. Walk up her back, pushing muscles away from her spine, up to the trapezius, and squeeze with firm pressure.

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Move around to the side of the client. Use firm compressions starting at her deltoid, work down her arm and back up the arm three times. Apply light to medium petrissage on her upper arm. Work down to her lower arm. Switch to separating her muscles with your hands on either side and with your fingers on top of her forearm. Make friction circles around her wrist area, using lighter pressure around the carpal tunnel area on the anterior part of the arm. Grip the client's hand and interlock your fingers with hers, spreading her palm so it can be massaged. Massage the back of her hand. Compress up her arm. Repeat on the other side.

8

Pivot the client's arm behind her back and hold her arm with your outside hand. Massage underneath the medial border of her scapula at the rhomboids with your inside hand. Use the edge of your hand to trace slowly with firm pressure underneath the medial border of her scapula. Return the client's arm to the arm rest. Repeat on the opposite side.

9

Effleurage, using a light stroke, with your elbow down one side of the client's back and effleurage up the same side with your opposite hand while holding the client's shirt in place. Perform this three times in a continuous flow, ending with a shoulder massage. Repeat this on the other side. End the massage with nerve strokes from the top of her neck down to the top of her ilium.