Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/72093
education PATHOLOGY PERSPECTIVES | BODY AWARENESS | FUNCTIONAL ANATOMY | SOMATIC RESEARCH Every now and then, Massage & Bodywork readers clamor for a basic hygienic practices refresher article. In this column, we will look at the actions of an entirely fictional massage therapist who is in a hurry and makes a few unfortunate errors in how she sets up her office for the day. Hygiene Fact and Fiction Taking Care of Us to Take Care of Them By Ruth Werner MEET MYRTLE Myrtle the massage therapist was—as usual—running late on a Monday morning. Fortunately, on Friday she had started to launder her favorite colorful flannel sheets and face cradle covers. She is conscientious about energy use, so she washed them all in cold water, but she used extra non- chlorine bleach so they'd be really clean. The wet laundry sat in her washing machine for a couple of days, but she luckily remembered to put it all in the dryer early in the morning. Everything was mostly dry by the time she tossed it all into the back of her car and drove to her office. She hoped her first client wouldn't notice that her uniform shirt was still a little damp. Grabbing her armful of unfolded laundry, Myrtle hustled into her session room. Her table was marked with oily handprints—not the kind of impression she wanted to make. Dropping her sheets on the floor, she grabbed a translucent bottle of 10 percent bleach solution off her open shelf. She realized the bottle had been there for several months, so she took a careful whiff of the contents. It was still potent enough to make her eyes water, so she spritzed her table and quickly wiped it off with a paper towel. 36 massage & bodywork may/june 2012