COVID-19 Information and Procedures

 Online booking is disabled until all regular clients and those who were COVID-canceled have been booked.  

Please call to book your appointment.  I plan to make online booking available again by July 1.

If you are experiencing pain or discomfort, please feel free to call me for my best self-care tips.  After 23 years of doing massage, I have lots of good ideas.

All last-minute cancellation/reschedule fees are waived until further notice.  As always, if you simply "no show" me (fail to show up without calling me), you will be charged the full session amount.

•  No extra people.  Only the client will be allowed into the office, so please don't bring anyone else with you expecting them to sit in the waiting area. This reduces our risk by limiting the number of people/germs in my office to 3 to 4 a day plus myself. 
• Face masks must be worn at all times by both therapist and client.  
• Air Filter-- a high-quality HEPA filter/air purifier will be run at all times (on max speed/noise when clients are not present and quieter when they are)
• Floor Coverings -- hard vinyl floor coverings that can be cleaned between clients have been added to the office (to avoid the problem of sanitizing carpet)
• Anti-Viral Essential Oils will be diffused (more info at bottom of page)
• Many furnishings and decorations have been removed (to make disinfecting as easy as possible).  It's definitely a more clinical look.
• Facial massage will not be included in your session. (I'll still get your head and anterior neck though.)
• Hot stones and cupping will be unavailable until the COVID-related blood clotting issues are better understood in the context of massage therapy.
• Price Increases have been implemented by $5 to $10 a service to cover COVID-related supplies, to cover the extra 20 to 30 minutes of disinfecting time, and to make my rates comparable with local spas and franchises. 

The ambiance will not be the same but the massage will still be effective and relaxing.

 Masks are required for both of us at all times.  If you forget yours, I can meet you in the parking lot with a disposable surgical mask.  

I will be leaving 45 to 60 minutes, instead of my usual 30, between clients to allow for this longer process plus all the extra disinfecting.  Please be patient as we learn this together.  

Erring on the side of caution:

• If you have the opportunity, use the restroom and wash your hands before leaving your home or office.  
• Clients will call or text me from their vehicles upon arrival and I will let them know that it is safe to come into my office.
• We'll do our check-in/session planning over the phone before you come in to minimize talking in my office (the more we talk, the less well the masks fit).
• Please put on a mask before entering the building. 
• I will meet you at my suite door and use a touchless thermometer to take your temperature. (Clients at/above 100.4 will be asked to reschedule)
• I'll have you sanitize your hands at the door and we'll proceed directly into the treatment room.
• I'll leave the room.
• Clients will undress keeping your mask on and get unto the massage table while I go down the hall to wash my hands
• I'll use a paper towel to turn off the water and handle all surfaces until returning to my office
• After I enter the treatment room, I'll use a hand sanitizer
• We'll then do your massage with me pausing to sanitize my hands after working near your head or on your hands or feet.
• I'll sanitize my hands upon leaving the room
• You will get dressed and open the door.
• We'll do hands free payment and rescheduling (which is to say that I'll use my hands on my phone and you won't touch anything but your own phone). 
• Then we'll both use hand sanitizer again before you depart.

 Between clients:

• (as always) there will be lots of hand washing
• all hard surfaces in the waiting room and treatment room will be wiped down with an EPA-approved COVID disinfectant and left wet for the required time (light switches, lamp switches, doorknobs, tables, chairs, water bottle, cell phone, credit card reader, music system, massage lotion, essential oil bottles, basically, everything I can think of)
• (as always) sheets and blankets will be changed between clients
• the massage table will be wiped down, including the legs
• the vinyl covering on the massage table will be wiped down
• the face cradle and the metal "holder" for it will be disinfected
• my rolling stool will be wiped down (including the legs)
• hard vinyl floor coverings will be mopped
• I will change shirts, pants, and face masks
• I will disinfect my shoes
• HEPA filter will be set to maximum air volume until the next client's arrival

Cinnamon bark oil, thyme, lemongrass, oregano, tea tree, clove, rosemary, basil, lemon, orange, bergamot, and eucalyptus essential oils all have anti-viral properties.  (PubMed and the NIH websites have lots of studies, so you don't just have to take my word for it.)  I'll be diffusing a combination of organic antiviral essential oils in my office until further notice. 

All these oils are safe for pregnancy when diffused in the air.  

Allergy sufferer? Essential oils do not contain the plant proteins that cause histamine responses. Therefore, I'm not expecting anyone to have allergic reactions.  Case in point:  I'm horribly allergic to lavender as a plant and as an ingredient in many products but have no reaction to it as an essential oil. So far, I've not found an essential oil I'm allergic too and I'm allergic to many lotions, shampoo, perfumes, cleaning products, etc. 

But please call me to discuss your situation if you expect difficulties with the essential oils.  Perhaps you could see if the "plant protein" theory is accurate for you?