Question I had a massage therapist at my chiropractors office massage my glute muscle I think it is. It is on my but to be quite frank. At the time I didn't think much about it but after I left it dawned on me she wasn't wearing gloves. Is that normal?
AnswerAaah, Thanks for the question Donna.
The short question: yes, totally normal and fine. Well within the standards of practice. But your practitioner should have made darn sure that you knew what to expect and you should have had the opportunity to ask questions, change the treatment, etc. in the form of an 'Informed Consent', which is your contract with the person of what to do and how.
The long answer: Certain regions of the body are socially awkward to treat - the butt (which is the biggest, most powerful muscle area and causes back problems like CRAZY!), women's breasts (which should be treated to prevent cystic formation (lumps) and increase lymphatic drainage.
The problem with the glute region is social. There is no reason to wear gloves unless there is risk of body fluid contamination - if she had open cuts, or if you were, um, unclean.
There are even (a very, very few) treatments that might go into your anus; for example, the Piriformis muscle has a triggerpoint release point which is accessable intra-anally. It doesn't sound like this is your case; it was totally away from your anus so there's no chance of contamination.
She should have your permission to work on the area at all, and detail what the treatment consists of.
You didnt' mention where you were from; different regions have different regulations. Here in Ontario and British Columbia our designation as Registered Massage Therapists puts standards on our practice; if we break those standards we're stripped of our certification. If you're concerned of the quality of your treatment get in touch with that practitioners' regulatory body; you can contact me for further info on this. You also need to know what kind of practitioner it was - shiatsu therapist? RMT? These all change the standards of what to expect from that person.
Hope this helps,
Glenn
