On-site massage - chair or desktop unit?

[wanttoknowbasis]

I have been asked by the company I work for if I would be willing to provide massages to their employees once a week. When I did an on site massage course earlier this year we trained using a massage chair, but I have seen the smaller desktop units that look a bit more portable and wondered whether they were worth getting? Does anybody have any advice as to which I should go for?

Thanks!

 

[PermaSmirk]

Hi Serenitysue,

Which do you think you will get most use from. Do you know if you will have a seperate room to work in. If you have a seperate room then I like the chairs to work with as they are so comfortable for the client.
Check to see if you would be comfortable massaging at the height of the work station without strain on you.

Helen

 

[Jonathan B]

Thanks Helen!

My employer likes the idea of me massaging people at their desks - means that people can look on, get interested and hopefully book one for themselves. I guess the desktop one would be more suitable for this? That's a good point about checking the height of workstations though - I will need to double check.

Personally I would prefer a separate room to treat people, in which case I would definitely go for a chair, I think. Just need to make sure they can provide one! I guess what I really needed to know was that the desktop units are an acceptable alternative to a chair - having never used one I have no idea how good they are!

 

[Bragger S]

Hi, I haven't done OSM for years so the desktop units may have improved a lot in that time. However, I did have one a long time ago, and eventually got rid of it barely used. I didn't find it that stable - with a bit of pressure, it could slide on the desk. Also (I'm 5 foot 7), I just couldn't get myself comfortable - the back of the desk chair was constantly in the way, and/or I couldn't get near enough to get the pressure right. And that's without even thinking about the fact that most office chairs are on casters. Quite frankly, I found it a waste of money, and I ended up having to bring a stool as well for people to sit on, so it didn't even reduce what I had to carry, which was the whole point! If you can afford it at all, I would go for a folding chair and a carry bag. I wouldn't worry about doing it in a separate room - think how successful the OSM people are in Waterstones' and Border's at the weekend!

 

[JakeDD]

That's exactly what I was worried about! Thanks for sharing, it's always good to hear other people's experiences. On reflection I think I will probably go for a chair - sounds like the safest bet to me!

Many thanks to both of you!

 

[Epipsegrerb]

I use the chair, I find it better than having people leaning on a desk
if you have a look on ebay there are some great chairs from germany - I got one for my collegue a while ago - just watch out for the exchange rate - it cost us another £10 because of this - it was still a great price and did include a great carry bag

 

[Entrophy85]

I do agree that the German chairs on Ebay are great, however the face cradle on mine broke on the third use, as I was packing it away! So fortunate. It works, but I wouldn't bother doing a lot with the head / neck using that particular brand.

I'd prefer the full chair I think, as it does look more professional, I agree that the portable stations are great, but as most people have computer chairs it can be limiting.

 

[Pompal 09.]

Fantastic advice everyone - thanks so much for replying! Sounds like a chair is the way to go then ...

 

[ntisme]

On the back of this, can you attach these to the bottom of a massage table instead?

I have a chance of a treatment room and the room already comes with a massage table but being small and having only done massage using a massage chair Im not sure I could transfer my moves, especially the head, neck and some of the shoulder ones to a massage table.

PS I am also very short ( 5 feet ) so getting 'purchase' with client sitting up on a massage table could be a problem