Should you be expected to tip your massage therapist?

So, the service you just received has released weeks of stress you had been carrying in your body. Relieved, you stroll over to the cash register.

- MANUELA VEGA

The decision whether to tip your massage therapist or your chiropractor may depend on where you receive your service, some experts say.

To your surprise, the POS system prompts you to tip.

What do you do? And should you have been tipping all along? Here's what the experts say.

Should you tip your massage therapist? It depends.

Whether you should tip your massage therapist depends on where you're receiving care, but "there are no rules," and feelings on the matter vary between massage therapists, one practitioner told the Star.

Nicki Iskander, a registered massage therapist (RMT) who provides body-positive, trans-friendly service for women out of her Parkdale home, does not accept tips in her own practice.

One reason for that is because "massage therapy is health care," she said, and she believes accepting tips can give the public the impression that massage is a luxury, when for many people, it is a necessity.

"The massage therapists that came before me fought for recognition as health-care providers. Massage therapists have extensive training in the sciences like anatomy, physiology, neurology, pathology, we can be an integral part of a person's injury rehabilitation or chronic pain management or post operative care," she said. "But not everyone knows this."

Having worked at a franchise spa, a chiropractic clinic and a massage studio in the past, though, Iskander highlighted that the norms aren't the same across the board.

“If you go to a clinic, like a chiropractic clinic or physiotherapy clinic or multidisciplinary clinic, tipping is sometimes welcome, but less expected,” Iskander said.