If you are like me, you have suffered a bit with the awesome seasons. Spring and Fall are especially challenging for allergy/sinus sufferers, but that is not to say Summer and Winter are smooth sailing for us. I say "suffered a bit", because it really is just a little if you are otherwise healthy. My symptoms, depending on the season and where I am, are: trouble breathing, itchy eyes and nose, cracked voice, sneezing, stuffy nose. For others, there are many more symptoms to their sinus/allergy issues, so I am grateful mine are pretty much under control...oh, I left out the occasional wheezing I do, usually around smokers or their environments or pets. If I must be in the presence of a smoker, I can literally feel my throat lock up within minutes, then comes the sneezing. If the smoker is also a pet owner who played with the cat or dog before coming to meet, my eyes will immediately turn red and my nose will start to itch. Just imagine me on a date with a smoker! LOL I have tried it and always spent a majority of the time with myself eating alone (as my date heads out every 15 minutes to smoke, etc.), and I always went home with a headache and activated respiratory issues. Yeah fun!
Anyway, rhinitis or allergy is really my focus herein and whether or not massage is contraindicated during a flare up. (Sinusitis is something else. Sinus is important to the cushion, spacing of the bones in the head and face, the sound of voice, and the lymphatic system, which cleans internally. The over production of this "lymphatic fluid" is sinusitis and is similarly addressed since we are in the habit of using these interchangeably). Rhinitis or allergies is the immune system attempting to rid the body of foreign matter in the form of allergens/irritants. These come in different forms e.g. dust mites, pet dander, dust, microscopic bugs, odors, pollen, carpet fuzz, chemicals, and the like. Sneezing, coughing, or the urge to blow the nose are all responses of the involuntary brain, your natural defense in the stimulated nerves. These have been stimulated by the immune system, which has become sensitive to these foreign matters. This system tells the body to sneeze to get rid of the irritant and in that one signal, mucous from the sinus glands/lymphatic system, rush to gather and cluster the offending particles that the body will force out in the sneeze. Sometimes one comes before the other, i.e. the sneeze comes and then is followed up by the mucous which ensures that nothing is left behind. This is why although I said sinusitis is a different matter, I have addressed it slightly, because it's all connected. The sneezes are usually very powerful, because they are triggered very deep into the nervous system and all the muscles in the body muster together to contract for it to be effected outward...a violent eviction of this trespassing irritant.
Understanding this gives one great reason NOT to hold back a sneeze. You only get them when the body senses something foreign has entered your respiratory system (not talking about food allergies, those who sneeze for other nervous conditions, including light, sunlight, when they laugh, etc.). I believe all sneezing is a "nervous condition"; the body's way of flushing the unwanted. It is your body's blessing to your health when it forcibly flushes these harmful and unwanted "bodies". Since the sneeze forces thousands of things bad for your health out of the body, it's wise to protect yourself and those around you. This is so, especially if this foreign thing has materialized as a virus. Cover your mouth with each cough or sneeze, AND when you blow your nose, cover that too. If you blow your nose in the air, the same thing that happens if you sneeze without covering your mouth happens, i.e. virus and evicted particles are passed into the air and taken in by others. This gives real meaning to "you make me sick"!LOL
So, should you get a massage while under the effects of an allergy spell? What does your Massage Therapist think? Well, if you are sick, showing signs of a cold, flu, virus, etc., a massage is helpful, but you might want to check whether you are contagious before getting the massage so as not to compromise the health of your therapist and others. Please warn your therapist that they will need to prepare for you. Personally, I do a "sinus massage" in my private practice, and this involves lots of nerve stimulation, facial massage and reflex of the hands, ears and feet. Peppermint or eucalyptus oils are awesome to treat this ailment and I might have a crock going with steam to purify the air. Aromatherapy smells amazing and will help soothe the channels as I address your issues. (It's not on my menu yet, but I'll do it for you at the cost of the body scrub and it takes 45 minutes or so!). Massage causes drainage within the body, and this will bring much-needed relief and begin the healing process. Just make sure you have tissues nearby and/or a hot-steamed towel, which is actually better in the healing process than those tissues.... Oh and a "bucket" in case you need it....
Understandably, most therapists will advise against getting a massage while you are dealing with rhinitis/allergy and sinus congestion. No one wants to deliberately expose themselves to a cold, et al virus, i.e. unless they are knowledgeable about how to help you get the drainage you need and get well, while protecting self. Personal care is needed before, during and after your session to ensure that transference was minimal to none. I believe even with my allergy symptoms, that my spirit, mind and body are strong enough to offset these ailments, so I don't worry about it usually. Always communicate with the establishment and especially with your therapist. Discuss your situation and let them decide whether they want to treat you in/out (to protect employees, out at your place might be best), or wait. Don't show up at the spa sniffling and sneezing and expect not to be turned away, even if you say it's just sinuses. We can tell there is a temperature sometimes by looking at you and listening to the movement of air when you talk. The people you will be around, might not be strong enough in their own "systems" to not catch your cold.
Massage is not always indicated when rhinitis, et al respiratory issues are active. Much research says no, don't get massages, but I think it's a case by case thing. Keep in mind that a therapeutic massage provides for movement of every kind inside the body, as well as a reset/re-charge of the systems. Your immune system might need help to fight off whatever it is you have contracted and a massage might be this help. However, it could also produce a very strong response, which may appear to hinder your progress. Massage therapy sets things on a bit of an "over drive" inside the body and if you are already feeling "low" it might force you to go "lower" as the systems repair the damages caused by the virus. This would be perfect time to amp up your vitamins, natural foods, "eat with purpose," and sleep, so as to give your body the time needed to recover. As usual, the therapist must take care of self, even more so, when they have treated or are about to treat an ailing client. This is the same suggestion or requirement if the client has cancer, aids or some other debilitating concern. Therapists should always work with the client's doctor, the client who has spoken truthfully about the doctor's recommendations; and maintain their own bodies whether they are taking care of healthy or sick clients. If a care-giver doesn't take good care of him or herself, then they are not capable of providing the best care to others and risk greater transference between both vulnerable and contaminated Beings. Contamination of spirit will be the result....
It's timely to share that I sneeze, symptom of my rhinitis, when I am over heated. It may also be my personal reaction to "energy", and it's weird, but if the massage room is becoming hot my body tells me! At first glance, a massage room is quite cozy. There's the towel warmer and/or crock pot with hot water and hot stones, a heated blanket on the table you're lying on, and a therapist, hopefully working hard relieving your tension and giving you professional love. You are expelling energy and he or she is expelling energy. You are both breathing, all in this tiny, 8 x 10 room with air circulating minimally. You are hopefully comfortably naked under the sheet, but many times your therapist is wearing black or some other "formal" color. All these contribute to the temperature in the room. I sneeze in reaction to "high energy" and this is connected to my being a "natural intuitive", processing your aura as you pass, and as I work. Today, I sneezed within moments of entering the room and placing my dominant hand on the lower back of my first client. One sneeze!...which allowed me to check in with self before venturing further. My client was a smoker, among other things, and I didn't have to ask.
If I sneeze during session, it is usually not because I am catching a cold. My allergy/rhinitis or my body is indicating that I'm becoming overheated and/or need to protect self. There are times when I have had this involuntary response to a "very toxic person". Honestly, an energy worker Massage Therapist can tell when some things are "up" with the client on the table. Many times, at first touch, the transference is so overwhelming that the immune system triggers this "warning" in response. My sneezing is not a bad thing even in this instance, but is just my body putting each party on notice (as this happens the other way too where the client sneezes when touched by a toxic therapist) that something has happened that might compromise your body so proceed with caution. LOL Yes, some of us humans do come with a warning sign!
Rhinitis sufferers who are health-conscious should be careful not to take massages from people with unhealthy habits. For example, I have had two massages from two different smokers. In each instance, I didn't know that they smoked until they began working on me. Imagine that for the next 50 minutes, I was trapped on that table. It's like being trapped in an ashtray or a smoke-filled room with nowhere to turn for fresh air. I sneezed, itched and scratched all over and with every touch, my throat locked up and my lymph nodes became on full alert. I felt "it would seem rude" to stop the service and run away (plus these people were practicing their skills in class), but this made me unable to relax. No amount of meditation could get me to zone out to that beach in my mind when this "dirty" person was touching my skin. I couldn't help imagining the nails, whether the hair was otherwise clean or whether stuff would fall from their heads onto my naked body. I felt I couldn't breathe because every whiff of air had stench of smoke, tobacco and ganja. It was torture! I have vowed never to have another smoker give me a massage and it made me more aware of how my body affects my client. This is a very important realization in the body work business. Just imagine that you are already at risk because of your respiratory issues, and the dominant/controlled energy in the room to make you feel better is actually exasperating your health. The "controlled energy" in the room with the more dominant presence is the therapist administering treatment, not the vulnerable client on the table.
When I left that room, every lymph node under my neck, ears, and thighs were in full attack mode and I lost my voice for 24 hours. Throughout one of the sessions, the therapist was sweating profusely as the room was hot and it was summer time and there were a few drops of sweat on my bare back and neck when I turned over. Therapists must know that this is the kind of preventable thing an "unhealthy person" subjects their clients to. Keep in mind that although this works the other way too in the case of the client being the "culprit", they are not in control of the flow of the massage when they are in session. The therapist is the dominant presence in the room for the most part so the transference is not the same level. In the case of a client being "toxic", I can effectively breathe through the session and immediately afterwards take some supplements and perform some reasonable self-care prior to attending to the next client. Not the same scenario when the tables are turned. However, if you are a smoker, please take your fix before your shower to go in for your massage (yes please shower prior!). You can always reach for your "smokes" as soon as you leave the spa. If you must come in after you have smoked, we won't turn you away, just freshen up in the bathroom before getting on the table. It might be a good idea also to request a therapist that smokes as well. On this note, it is o.k., and rather highly recommended, that if you are as sensitive as me with your respiratory issues and your body, that you request a non-smoking therapist each time you go to the spa.
Another thing that happens with sinus/allergy sufferers is that their nose gets blocked once they go prone (face down) on the table. There are many reasons for this including movement of lymph, your face is directly facing carpeting/mats containing chemicals, dust, dust mites, et al allergens, there's mold in the room, especially if the heating or air conditioning system is running, or maybe you are catching a cold and the massage has triggered your body to fight. Remember, the mucous is sent by the immune system to gather and flush out what's got trapped in there. Your therapist should know this and should have a box of tissues in the room. I usually offer before you ask, but if I don't please ask. If there are none, it's o.k. to sneeze or blow your nose in a towel. It goes directly into the laundry after, I promise. Actually, I believe this is a better way to contain germs and not irritate the nose further, i.e. blowing into a soft towel that gets washed in hot water. Tissues, I believe, are designed to make you sneeze more so that you buy more...and they irritate your nose and skin so you will need to moisturize your nose more to not get sores, etc....
Sometimes, the client doesn't have any cold/rhinitis symptoms, but as soon as the therapist begins to work, they notice the channels get cleared and drainage begins (drainage in back of the throat forcing you to swallow and/or followed by nasal/eye drainage and sometimes drool). Usually, this is because some blockage in the digestive/stomach channel has been triggered. Feel gratitude for your therapist and the thorough work that your body is already responding to. Just drink more water afterwards to help the systems flush and do what they do, and without the dehydration effect that happens if you don't drink up.
So, don't get embarrassed about your drainage. Don't hold the sneeze back. Don't imagine that you must swallow....eeeww...LOL...and every day, be grateful for your immune system and the fight it puts up to rid the body of the unwanted "prospective tenants". (I made "the face" at the "swallowing" bit because of my belief that my body is rejecting it for a reason so discrete spitting is fine! LOL. However, the acids in the stomach are great at breaking down things so no worries that if you swallow, you might be harming your health). Do what you can to minimize the sensitivity of your immune system by taking your supplements, drinking lots of water, having tea/soup, laying off dairy and pasta (produce extra mucous and Candida), cutting down on foods producing Candida growth in the body (allergy and overproduction of sinus/mucus starts, like most everything else, in the stomach); wash your sheets and pillows often, vacuum with hepa filter vacuums or the like, get rid of Fido or Sophie the cat (I know...Tough one! I love dogs...and baby cats, but I can't have them especially in my sleeping quarters, and I've known of people who were more willing to have an operation to get rid of their polyps than go without the pets...). Get rid of the plants, artificial or live, from the home. They are fine on the porch or in the kitchen or somewhere where they will be healthy and so will you. Dust often, including the plants if you choose to have them, and keep the pets clean and their hair trimmed if you chose to have them too.
Be grateful for your sinuses, your immune and nervous system (well all of the systems, but especially these two) during allergy season, and don't interpret your therapist's sneezing as something else unless you thought he or she was sick when you first got there...in which case don't take the massage unless you feel equipped to fight off whatever it is he/she has. Remember that transference happens in the air and through the hands and the skin is a great conduit for everything; i.e. the therapist's skin and yours. Reschedule and address it if you have to or request another therapist if that's an option!
Universal love, light and blessings with your health and especially your respiratory health in allergy season and always! Pay attention to the signals your body gives you naturally and do what you can to help the systems carry out their task of keeping you healthy. This is what it means to be health-conscious.
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