Most of us are put off by the inaccessibility of a regular massage. Usually, discounting exceptions, you have to plan ahead for a massage. You phone in for an appointment. If you’re lucky you will get the appointment for the day and time that you want. Otherwise, you will have to adjust your schedule to match the appointment set by the massage therapist. If that can’t be done, then tough luck! You don’t get a massage. Or you have to repeat the whole exercise with another massage parlor. The chair massage (aka the on-site massage) is the ideal alternative for such of us who cannot seem to set aside the time to visit a regular massage parlor. It is a partial body massage. A chair massage is a service provided at or near many places with heavy visitor traffic, like shopping malls and corporate offices. It has gained favor with harried executives and busy housewives alike. Nothing better than a chair massage after all that heavy shopping!

As the name suggests this form of massage can be given anywhere. You don’t need to remove your clothes, and so it can be given in full public view. Chair massage services abound in large corporate offices. A typical chair massage takes about half an hour, but a “quick” massage can be done in about five minutes!

Chair massage service providers usually set up shop at sites which are heavily frequented by office goers, or by shoppers, or people seeking entertainment. They usually operate in the open or from temporary kiosks and stalls. The service is based on the ‘spontaneity’ of the opportunity – the right place, the right time, the right mood. Of these, the right ‘place’ is the operative word. It’s right there, where you are! You don’t have to go to the mountain…!

Chair massage therapists are commonly found in shopping malls and arcades. Some set up shop near stores selling health or natural foods. Spas, health and fitness institutes, gyms, dance schools are other places where you can find chair massage services being offered to the visiting clientele. If you do not go anywhere near the places just mentioned, then do what most people do – they call the chair massage therapist to their office!

The chair massage service is gaining popularity for another reason as well: plain and simple shyness. Some people have a problem with going au natural in front of a masseur. Some have a problem with getting touched, on their bare body, by the masseur. They understand that this all absolutely reputable, and that the masseur is doing a thoroughly professional job, very much like a medical practitioner. Yet there are those who fight shy of disrobing for a massage. A chair massage avoids all these issues. You don’t have to take off a thing except maybe your footwear if you’re getting your feet massaged. The masseur doesn’t touch your bare body except those which are already exposed. So those people who were chary of getting a full body massage for this reason, are now lining up for a chair massage.

It is not out of place to mention here that the cost of a chair massage is much, much less than that of a salon massage. The chair massage provider does not have the high overheads that a salon massage provider incurs in running the massage service. Besides, the time spent per person is much less in a chair massage than in a salon massage. Hence the chair massage works out to be very affordable by everyone, and you can indulge in one much oftener than a salon massage.

Work-related stress is more common today than it ever was before and the way things are going, it is only going to increase. The convenience of the chair massage gives it a big advantage over the regular salon massage as a wonderful, therapeutic and effective way to relieve yourself of all your stress. Do yourself a favor, get a chair massage now. All you have to do is stop by the next chair massage kiosk on your way to the car park.