The whole shebang

In my last post back in August I detailed what I planned to do to make your massage experience as safe as possible for both of us. Now that I’ve been back in the office for almost three months, I wanted to share my exact routine so you know precisely what I do here, especially in light of the increasing COVID numbers in Astoria and the rest of the city.

Actually, first I want to say thank you to everyone for being so awesome about mask compliance. I’d just like to ask that if possible, please wear a proper mask, preferably with ear loops- no bandanas or gaiters, please.

The first thing I do when I arrive at the office in the morning is turn on the HVAC, open the window and door, and turn on the air purifiers. (I have two air purifiers now- the first one I bought only cleans a room this size roughly twice an hour, so I purchased a second one that stays near the head of the massage table that cleans the room every 9 minutes or so, according to the company’s specs.)

I’m up on the third floor so I get pretty good air flow with the window open. The window and door stay open until I leave the room for you to get undressed for your massage. (Though if you’d like me to keep the window open during your session and the weather allows, I’m happy to do that too!)

When the appointment is over, I ask my clients to leave the door open on their way out and I open the window again until the next client. I use Nu-Foamicide to wipe down all the surfaces either of us touched while you were here (mainly the massage table, my lotion bottle, the bench and side table, and the doorknob). Then I spray the headrest and top part of the table again and let it marinate in those juices for at least 10 minutes. Once the table is dry, I wash my hands or use hand sanitizer before putting a clean set of sheets on the table for the next client.

Other stuff:

-I do sometimes remove my mask in the office. If my mask is off, the window is open. I wait at least 20 minutes after a client leaves, and put the mask back on about 20 minutes prior to my next appointment. (I figure that gives the air purifier two full cycles at 9 min per cycle). This is also partly why I ask that you arrive on time for your appointment, to make sure my mask has been on long enough before you come in.

-I am seeing fewer clients than I used to pre-COVID to make sure I have enough time to air out the room between clients. Usually this results in me seeing 4 clients a day, though occasionally I will see 5, if there are a few 45 minute sessions and time allows. There is never less than 45 minutes scheduled between appointments, usually it’s an hour or more. It’s not great for my bottom line, but safety takes precedence right now.

-I am getting COVID tested regularly, and have gone four times since returning to practice. Given the increase in cases, I am going every 2-3 weeks now. At the end of August my antibody test came back positive (no surprise given my COVID experience back in March), and I will get tested for antibodies again in November. Even with antibodies, I am still acting as a whole as though I can get and transmit COVID again, which, you know, maybe I can. Who knows.

Hopefully this is everything you wanted to know and more- if you have any questions please feel free to shoot me an email (info at sonialmt dot com).