What will change and how things will change is the million-dollar question. Normally we could talk things through. I could give you several scenarios of what the problem is, how we deal with it now, and what precautions we will take in the future. But the frustrating thing about CO-VID is, we have no idea at this point what we are truly working with. So many unknowns.

Here’s what I can tell you. Your massage experience will change. Although therapists should already be cleaning and sanitizing using standards set by the Center for Disease Control and OSHA, as a group, we will be going above and beyond what is expected.

Speaking for myself, I don’t know if we will be required to wear a mask. We will probably have to, and the discussion is still on for whether you, our client, will have to wear a mask.  I will be sanitizing between clients as always, but will also sanitize the doorknobs to my office, the doorknobs to the bathrooms, the fixtures in the bathrooms, and the doorknobs leading out of the building. Where there might have been cleaned a few times a day, now they’ll be cleaned before and after each client.

When checking out with a credit card, your card will be cleaned before I hand it to you, and my phone cleaned before you’re asked to sign for your receipt. Perhaps there are contactless ways to pay for your appointment, and therapists will be looking at that as well.

I’m throwing these suggestions out to you so you’ll realize that we’re not sure if we’re doing everything we can. The data changes (for instance, data for wearing a face mask) weekly, so massage therapists are doing their best to decide what we can do so as not to infect or harm our clients. Your safety is our first priority. And we deserve to be protected as well.

Our industry is watching closely and waiting on guidance from our board, the CDC, OSHA, and task-forces formed to help us return safely to work. Things will never go back to ‘normal’. We’ll have a new normal and I look forward to working with my clients again soon. If you have questions about what changes your therapist is making, feel free to reach out to them. Communication is the key to knowing what will be expected. They’ll be happy to tell you how they plan to make your massage experience safe and healthy for everyone.