Please don't rub there!

[ConfusedArmyChick]

This is my first post, although I have been reading quite a bit on the forums. You guys have helped me so much with be self-conscious and getting me through that first hands on day.

Having said that, I do have a question. This is our second week of school and our first week of table massaging each other. How am I supposed to handle the areas on my body that have been previously injured and I don't want my classmates rubbing? All of my classmates are pretty heavy handed (I learned that in chair) and I'm afraid they are going to hurt me. Yesterday, we did our first table massage on each other. We worked on the muscles in the back that we had studied in the previous week. I had to tell my partner that we was hurting me because he was rubbing RIGHT next to my spine and I have two discs that aren't exactly in alignment in that area. He didn't mind and was pretty easy with me after.. well, until he got to my shoulders and I just tried to grit and bear it. I'm not one for a lot of pressure.

Tomorrow we are doing legs and I'm panicking a bit... ok a lot. I was in a bike accident in '03 and I had a severe hematoma on my left thigh and when it healed, it left a ton of scar tissue and calcium deposits in the muscle. It doesn't hurt... unless you push on it. I can't put an infant on that leg, much less have someone massage it. I don't want to have to announce it, but I'm not sure what to do. Our instructors never asked us if we had spots or problems people shouldn't be touching. Do I tell the instructor?? Do I tell my partner for the day not to touch it?? I'm really not sure how to handle it.

I know we are supposed to be the dummies, but NO ONE touches my right hip/lower back and my left thigh on the top and side. How do I set that boundary without looking like a wimp and without keeping my fellow students from practicing?

Thank you,
Liz