RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: Massage therapy involves direct contact between the therapist and the client in a clinical setting, which can result in the transfer of bacteria. The purpose of this study was to determine the degree of bacteria transfer between a therapist and a client during a massage session and differences between types of lubricants used. DESIGN: Medium cultures were taken from the therapist's palms and the client's skin before, during, and after the massage session. Experiments proceeded with the following settings: use of three different types of lubricants, without the use of a lubricant, and without massage as control. After each massage session, the therapist washed his or her hands and a bacterial sample was again taken. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Changes in bacteria count. RESULTS: (1) Bacteria count on the therapist's palms increased during and after massage with and without the use of lubricant. There was no change in the case of no massage. (2) Bacteria count on the client's skin decreased during and after massage with the use of three different kinds of lubricants compared to the no-massage control. However, an increase was evident when no lubricant was used. (3) After hand washing with water for 20 seconds after each massage session, there were still bacteria on the therapist's palms. However, bacteria count differed with the type of lubricant used. CONCLUSION: Bacteria from the client's skin transferred to the therapist's hands during massage therapy. Bacteria count when no lubricant was used was greater than massage sessions using lubricants.
