What is Massage? And other FAQs
What is massage?
Massage is a gentle therapy that can relieve pain and, in combination with medical attention, heal certain conditions and help prevent return. Massage is one of the best known remedies for stress.
Reducing stress improves your outlook on life and, in the process reduces your likelihood of illness. It can relieve symptoms in conditions that are aggravated by anxiety. Massage relieves most muscle tightness. Massage acts directly on your muscles with stretching and kneading motions. It also stimulates the nervous system to instruct muscles to relax even more.
When should I get a massage?
Any time is a good time to get a massage.
You don't need to wait until you're stressed or injured. Too often I see clients who wait until they reach this state to see me. Massage works wonders as preventive care for a person's body and mind. Instead of waiting until your back hurts from overwork or stress, or the headaches that start at the back of your skull begin to pound, or the stress of every day life makes you want to pop your cork, get a massage before these things happen. 
A regular massage is a wonderful way to cope with stress, both physical and emotional, and to keep it from causing discomfort or harm to your body. If you've found yourself dealing with a nagging minor injury, sore muscles, or are completely stressed out, find a massage therapist and see what he or she can do for you. First, check out the next question in the FAQs.
When should I not get a massage?
There are several contraindications for receiving a massage. If you have any of the following conditions, you should not get a massage:
Fever
Any type of infectious disease
Systemic infections
Severe cold
Fracture, bleeding, burns or other acute injury
Liver and kidney diseases
Blood clot
Pregnancy-induced diabetes, toxemia, preeclampsia/eclampsia
High blood pressure (unless under control with medication)
Heart disease
Cancer
Open skin lesions or sores (therapist may work around them if localized)
The guidelines here are pretty straightforward. You don't want the massage to make an underlying medical condition worse, and you don't want to pass anything contagious to the massage therapist. If you're unsure about whether a minor condition should prohibit you from getting a massage, call your therapist before your appointment. If you have a chronic medical condition, check with your doctor before proceeding on a course of massage therapy.