Yesterday, DeathLlama and I treated ourselves to 1-hour Swedish massages at a local spa in celebration of/treatment for finishing the first week of teaching. I’d never had a professional massage before (no, not the kind that offer a “happy ending”), and maaaaaaaan…it felt great. But–I found myself feeling awkward about one thing: making any noise.
When DL rubs me, I’ll moan, squeal, say “Oh yeah, right there…wow…oooh…” However, with the masseuse, I just felt weird about making any sounds. But at the same time, I wanted her to know that it did feel good, and that was just the right spot, so every now and then I’d let out a “Mmm” and a “Oh, that feels nice.”
So my question is for the rest of the Dopers that have had a nice professional massage–do you make sounds of pleasure? And–any Dopers out there that are a masseuse? What are you used to hearing, or is silence typical?
I get professional massages as often as I can afford to. Now that I’m working again, it’s every two weeks until I feeling good enough to just have one once a month. I used to go to the spa, but my massage therapist left the place and now he comes to my home.
I “graduated” from Swedish massage to deep tissue massage (which has a lot more long-lasting positive effects for me). So often I’m saying “ow” rather than “mmmmmm.” But when something feels particularly good I usually say something. If I’m still coherant, it’s usually “That feels really good.” If I’m less coherant, it’s usually “mmmmmmm.”
I get one once a week, and most of the noises I make are just variations on exhaling; louder or softer depending on how much pressure was used (I get a combination Swedish/deep tissue massage). Occasionally, something like a small squeak comes out, but it’s involuntary. I don’t talk while being massaged, unless it’s in answer to a question. My masseuse is great, but I wouldn’t feel comfortable making any more noise than I do.
My ex-S.O. was a professional massage therapist. (Yeah, I know, why did I break up withhim? Besides the fact that he was a cheating manipulative bastard, I mean? Well, have you seen the Seinfeld episode where Jerry is dating a massage therapist? It’s exactly like that.)
Obviously, if he was working on me, I’d make all kinds of noises. In fact, I was a demonstration model as he was triying to drum up new business for his private practice at a street fair; my happy noises got him LOTS of new clients, because he’s damn good at what he does.
Personally, I’d feel awkward going for massage to anyone I didn’t know personally, but believe me, they’ve seen/heard it all. Do what feels natural; whether that’s complete silence or loud moans of pleasure, I guarantee any professional has heard it before and won’t be freaked out.
I get between 5 and 10 professional massages a year and, IMHO, a massage is like any encounter between two people, especially involving touching: communication is key. I tend to tell the massage therapist that I:
a) Like a very firm massage
b) do tend to make noise
c) and that they should only back off when I say “no” or “stop, please” - anything else is just me letting go
Every time I have ever done this, the massage person has said “okay, great - I really like it when a person makes noise and tells me what to listen for.” Apparently, they appreciate the feedback, whether it is a moan to keep going, or words to stop. Which kinda makes sense.
I find that my stating that stuff up front makes me feel better - like it is part of a process and not inappropriately sexual.
I’m a massage therapist. Some of my clients make noise, some don’t; some talk about everything under the sun, and some sleep. Do whatever makes you feel the best and don’t worry. The more comfortable you are, the better your massage will be, and as an MT, that’s my goal - the best possible experience for my client. WordMan, your approach sounds great to me.
The only thing you shouldn’t do is not speak up when the MT is doing something you don’t like. If I’m using too much pressure (I tend to be sort of a brute), or you have a sensitive area, or even ticklish feet you’d rather have untouched, let me know. I’d much rather be told what your needs are than guess at them and cause you any sort of discomfort. I’d be willing to bet that most professional bodyworkers feel the same way.
I try to keep the noise to a minimum, but the last time I had one the massage therapist was working around my ears and jaw and it felt so incredible good that I started to smile, then giggle, then laughed may ass off. That started the therapist laughing and we sort of fed off each other. Damn that felt good!
I’ve been to a number of different massage therapists over the years and generally limit myself to the breathing and “nine,” which seems a pretty common way of saying “you’re at nine on my scale of ten for pain, so please don’t go any deeper.”