Do You Have To Be Naked For A Massage? What is the Clothing Etiquette?

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If you have never visited a massage parlor before a therapy session, it is normal to feel uneasy about it.

Laying still on a massage table in a private room for a massage therapist to work on you is unfamiliar, and potentially weirdly intimate.

Among the many things running through your mind is likely to be this question: do you have to be naked for a massage? The answer is: no, you can cover yourself to whatever level you feel comfortable, as long as your therapist can still access the specific areas for work.

Awkwardness is possibility is the biggest reason why many people shy away from getting a Thai massage or a full body massage. And why many more will never get one.

Lying partly to completely naked before a stranger does not come naturally to many of us. We’ll discuss this below.


Do You Have To Be Naked For A Massage?

It’s actually uncommon to be completely naked during a massage. Typically you’ll have at least a towel or sheet covering your private areas. When you go into the full body massage room for a massage session, you don’t have to lay naked on the massage table.

Your massage therapist will tell you to make yourself as comfortable as possible. You have the option to strip down to your underwear or to strip completely, and go naked as you lay under a sheet to cover your modesty.

The choice will always be yours.

It’s actually uncommon to be completely naked during a massage. Typically you’ll have at least a towel covering your private areas.

Whether you choose to be completely naked or partly clothed, you will likely be in a private room, and there shouldn’t be cameras in there.

So if you are new to full-body massage therapy, there is nothing to worry about. You can undress to the level of your comfort, and still enjoy an amazing, relaxing massage.


Being Clothed May Be Counter-Productive

The massage therapist will not force you to remove all your clothes, of course! But having too much in the way of clothing will eventually become counter-productive for a few reasons.

Clothes Block Access

Clothing reduces the limit the full body massage therapist can do to massage your muscles. They serve as a prevention barrier, even though that’s not your intention.

With layers of clothes on, the therapist will be unable access your muscles to an appropriate level. The therapist will typically need skin contact in order to get the feedback they need to do their job properly.

Want Some Massage Oil On Your Shirt?

Another reason is that massage therapists often use certain oils that are designed to penetrate your skin pores. If you’ve got clothing on, the therapist won’t be able to use them.

Massage therapists are not allowed to reach under your clothes to access your skin. So if you have clothes on, you limit their access. And by extension, the effect of the massage therapy and spa treatments, whether it’s Thai massage, reflexology, Lomi Lomi massage, etc.

Massage therapists are not allowed to reach under your clothes to access your skin. So if you have clothes on, you limit their access, and by extension, the effect of the massage

So you don’t have to worry about the massage therapist seeing your nakedness. This is because they won’t, should you decide to remove your clothes.

Before you do so, they will hand you sheets to wrap your body with. Most of the time, one may be laying on the massage table, so you only have to slide into it.

Before you undress for spa treatments, they will exit the room and will only come in when you permit them to. So they never really see you naked if that is the deal-breaker for you.

Massage rooms are very private. They are also furnished to provide comfort with warming pads. And enough to make the session worth your while.


What To Expect During A Massage?

Here are things to expect when you visit a massage therapist.

1. Quick Questions

Most massage therapists may ask you some questions about whether you have had a massage before. Or if it is your first time when you walk in for your massage appointment.

This question is to make judgment calls on how to perform the session. They will also ask you some questions about your medical history. These light questions are meant to make you relax before the deep tissue massage commences.

2. Privacy

Massage rooms are very private. And you will only deal with the massage therapist and no other party in the treatment room.

3. Soft Music

In most massage parlors, soft music may be played to lighten the client’s mood before their first massage.


Conclusion

Do you have to be naked for a massage? No, you can wear whatever level of clothing you are comfortable with.

But taking off most of your clothes will help the therapist do a better job, and will allow the therapist to use massage oils on your skin.

Should you choose to do so, the parlor will provide you with sheets to cover your modesty before the session.

You can opt for a female therapist or a male therapist. After the massage, consider offering the therapist a tip for a very good job.