Hi

is their any legal issues on how many massages should be done a day by a therapist and any idea where i would get some info on this
thanks

I think there are,due to health and safety. The guild would probably know hopefully they will pop on and answer.

is this for yourself or are you having issues with staff?

for myself, had 5 massages last saturday all back neck and shoulders and this week got 7 massages with 3 of them being full body massages. i suffer from back problems which my employer knows and i attend a chiropractor but im shattered and in agony by the end of the day.

to be perfectly honest sweetheart i think you'll find that your employer has the right to say you should be fit for purpose. i know this sounds hard and certainly don't want to be but I have been massaging for years and your schedule doesn't seem that unreasonable.

I think 5 back massages on one day is not really reasonable! Not sure what the law is though!

lol - I am a wimp! I used to do Massage Therapy - for two years I did 3-6 a day 5 days a week. Now though - I will ONLY do relaxation massage as I snap and crack (my wrists) lol - not very relaxing for my clients! But if I limit myself - I will only do 3 a week now max! Then I am okay. If I had to do it all over again - I would never do more than three a day four days a week just because of how hard it is on your body.

As for actual guidelines - I am in Canada so cant help - I just had to throw my two cents in!

thanks for your help! im not saying im willing to do it just wanted to know the massage rules just to know but i find alot of massage makes my wrist click and very painful as well as the rest of the body

i left a spa not to long ago and all the therapists were in the same boat
on one occasion I had 4 full body massages in a row (5mins to tidy etc each client) and the rest of the day back neck and shoulder massages so about 4 of those

There was a girl who had backache too, she got a note from the doctor for about 2 weeks no massage but cant have to long otherwise I can imagine they could dismiss you for being unfit fo your job



xTashax

As far as I know there is no legal maximum on the number of treatments, there is however legislation relating to injury obtained at work etc.

I have trained with the No Hands Massage company up to Advanced Practitioner, and I am now a trainer for Injury Prevention massage in the Midlands.

Massage is a great treatment to be able to provide, its just such a shame that it causes a lot of therapists serious injury and or pain. Fortunately there is now help and training available!

Safe massage work requires an understanding of good and appropriate posture for massage, techniques and strokes that avoid stress and strain on the body, and ways of massaging that offer powerful strokes for the client without knackering the therapist.

How many of you do warm up exercises and stretches before spending a day massaging? How many marathon runners warm up before their days run?

If this is something you are interested in please check out the website linked in my signature, drop me a PM or come along to Beauty UK where Jen Longmore (director of IPM) is doing a talk about this very subject and I'll be there as the demo bunny body and to answer questions.

Mat xx

PS: Just to add I regularly have 5 massage clients a day without a problem, some days I've more.

I don't think there is a legal limit on how many massages a day a therapist can give if there were then there wouldn't be spas that employ massage therapists that do them all day every day.

This was one of the reasons I stopped working in spas as I was doing back to back massage all day, usually 4 - 5 hours of back massages with the odd full body thrown in ! I was always tired and tbh I didn't do beauty therapy just to do massage, they were always spa day or hotel guests it would of been a lot more enjoyable if they were regular clients.

The spa always said it would be no more than 2 full body or 4 back massages but this NEVER happened, if we had 16 people on a spa day and they all wanted back massages then this is what they got, I don't recall any clients being turned away as we had to much massage booked in.

The only thing they were fair on is that they tried to split the massages equally between the therapists but again this sometimes didn't work out

One of my friends actually worked with a therapist that had back problems from massage and she had some sort of doctors note that advised against her doing massage for a certain period of time and she ended up leaving the salon as the other therapists turned against her as they were all in the same boat yet they had do her massages for her, so it didn't make her very popular !!

If you are finding it that painful and your employer won't book less massage in then I think you are going to have to decide whether you want to put up with it or leave.

Sorry to hear you're suffering a bit. It does start to tell on your body after you've been doing massage (or similar) for a long time. I'm a mobile tech and I also do a lot of reflexology and I do get repetative strain in my wrists a lot - not sure if it is from carrying a lot of equipment though - so I do understand. However, your employer must already be aware of any such regulations if there are any. But isn't this what you're employed to do? There are things you should check, like the height of the couch, and your posture while performing the massage. Also you must chat to your employer about this formally - they have a duty of care to you. Good luck and take care

Sorry to say but I used to work in a spa, its the norm, 5-8 massages a day. Demand is there so we have to do it! I had back problems too, and I just had to get on with it! I loved my job that much. The doctor did sign me off when I was really bad, but then I was bored!

becki xxx

If your spa or company don't listen to your concerns they could do well to avoid learning the lesson the hard way, as Virgin Atlantic had to. Back in 2005 one of their Inflight Beauty Therapists (IFBT) succesfully sued the airline for over £100,000 compensation because of the Repititve Strain Injury she received carrying out her treatments.

You can see the story here as reported in the Daily Mail.

Since then Virgin Atlantic have taken positive steps to help protect their therapists, one such step is that an IFBT can now only perform a limited number of back / shoulder massages per flight, those passengers who aren't able to receive one are offered an alternative treatment.

So yes, there is legislation and a precedent in place to protect therapists.

Mat

To be fair to my clients and my back, I only book a maximum 3 full body massages per day. I also try to intersperse them withsome waxing, nails or something.
I feel that I wouldn't be giving my best work if I was knackered and in pain
JMO