We checked every common tip for preparing for a massage against a pathology textbook and public health pages. A few are rules with a reason; the rest are harmless habit. Here is which is which, and what our spa in Hội An asks.
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Search for how to prepare for a massage and you get the same list from almost every spa: drink plenty of water, eat light, shower, arrive early, no alcohol. We sell massages, so we went through that list the way we go through our own pages: for each tip, who says it, and what reason they give. The answer is that a few of the tips are rules, with a textbook or a health body behind them and a reason attached, and the rest are habit, harmless and sometimes sensible, that nobody we could find has tested. This page sorts them, then tells you what preparing for a massage at our spa actually involves. We are Nghê Prana, a riverside hotel and spa on the Thu Bồn in Hội An, open to anyone, staying with us or not.
| The tip | Rule or habit? | Who says it, and why | What we ask |
|---|---|---|---|
| Do not come drunk | Rule | Werner's pathology textbook: reschedule; the reason is the load on the liver (pp. 170, 173). Tuổi Trẻ and Vinmec say the same | Move the booking; a glass of wine at dinner is a conversation, not a refusal |
| Not too full, not too hungry | Rule, without a number | University of Minnesota: do not eat just before. Ho Chi Minh City health-education centre: not when too full or too hungry | Finish a light meal before you set off |
| Fever, fresh sunburn, a new medicine dose | Rule | University of Minnesota: reschedule. Werner: a blistered sunburn is a second-degree burn (p. 52) | Tell us, and we will move it or change the treatment |
| Tell the therapist about your health and medicines | Rule | University of Minnesota: massage can strengthen or weaken some drugs, blood-pressure tablets for one | The one-minute consultation after you book |
| Arrive unhurried | Advice | University of Minnesota: arriving stressed means a slower start | Five minutes before; ten to fifteen on a first visit |
| Drink extra water for days beforehand | Advice, untested | University of Minnesota and Vinmec both say it; neither gives a reason, and we found no trial | Drink normally; use the toilet before you lie down |
| Shower first, hot | Habit | One manual says a warm bath or shower first helps you relax (Lidell, p. 161); some spas say hot water makes you sweat. No study either way | A courtesy, not a rule; a rinse if you come from the beach |
| Shave, skip coffee, do not exercise | Habit | No source we read mentions them | Nothing |
How we sorted them: we read the University of Minnesota's Taking Charge page on a first massage, Vinmec's page on headaches after massage (updated 22 July 2024), a Tuổi Trẻ piece from the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Health Communication and Education (21 April 2017), and the eight massage books on our shelf, among them Ruth Werner's A Massage Therapist's Guide to Pathology, 5th edition, all between 11 and 13 November 2026. A tip counts as a rule when one of them says to reschedule or not to do it and gives a reason; as advice when a source recommends it but gives no reason, or only a soft one; as habit when we found no source at all. We did not find a trial that tested any of these tips, and say so where it matters.
Of everything on the list, this is the tip most sources agree on, and none of them gives a number of hours. The University of Minnesota's page puts it in one line: "Do not eat just before your massage." The Tuổi Trẻ piece lists the times not to have a massage, and the first two are "khi no quá, đói quá": when too full, when too hungry. The "one to two hours" you will read on spa pages is a sensible guess, not a measurement. The reason is easy to feel for yourself: half of a full-body massage is spent face down, with your weight on your stomach, and a big meal makes that the least comfortable half of the hour.
In Hội An this is simple. A bowl of mì Quảng or cao lầu at lunch is a light meal; a long seafood dinner on the beach is not, and it is better after an evening massage than before it. If you are booking straight off a flight or after a long day out, have something small rather than nothing: an empty stomach is on the same list as a full one. Our page on the best time to get a massage has the rest of the timing.
Werner's pathology textbook, written for massage therapists, is the plainest source on our shelf: clients who are intoxicated "need to reschedule" (p. 170). A few pages on she gives the reason, the risk of overloading a liver that is already busy with the alcohol, and the grey area: it is "a judgment call", and one glass of wine is different from a fifth of vodka (p. 173). The Vietnamese sources agree, and one goes further. Vinmec's list says not to drink before a massage, and the Tuổi Trẻ piece calls the old habit of going for a steam and a massage to sober up "rất là tai hại", very harmful. So a glass of wine at dinner before a 20:00 massage is something to mention, not a reason to cancel; a long afternoon of beer is a reason to move the booking, and we would rather move it than have you dizzy on the table. Our page on massage when you are sick, sunburned or hungover covers the morning after.
This is the tip everyone repeats, and the one with the least behind it. The University of Minnesota's page says to drink plenty of water "in the days before your massage". Vinmec's page goes further, more water than usual for two days beforehand, though it sits on a page about headaches after massage. Neither says why, and we found no trial that tested it. Drinking normally does no harm, so we would not argue you out of it. Two practical points matter more: a full bladder is a worse hour than a dry mouth, so use the toilet before you lie down, and there is water or tea for you after the treatment. Whether you need to drink extra after a massage, the claim about flushing out toxins, is a separate question, and our page on what to do after a massage takes it apart.
No source we read says a massage works worse if you have not showered. A shower beforehand is a courtesy to the therapist, and that is a good enough reason when you have been in the sun, on a bicycle or at the beach all day: sand, sweat and sunscreen are the things worth rinsing off. On temperature the sources disagree and no study settles it. Lucy Lidell's manual, describing a relaxing massage after exertion, suggests a warm bath or shower first (p. 161); some spa pages warn that a hot shower just before makes you sweat on the table. Our reading is that warm is fine and very hot, straight before, is a matter of comfort. If you want heat before the massage, that is what our herbal steam is for (below). Whether there is a shower you can use at the spa before a single treatment is something we have not printed yet; ask at reception when you book.
These are the rules that matter most, and they are all the same rule: tell us. The University of Minnesota's page says to reschedule if you have a fever, a skin irritation such as sunburn, or if you are in the middle of adjusting a medicine, "because massage can affect the dosage needed". It also asks you to name the drugs you take, because massage "can enhance or reduce the effect" of some of them, blood-pressure tablets for one. Werner classes an ordinary sunburn as a first-degree burn that usually heals in two to three days, and a blistered one as second-degree (p. 52).
At our spa the place to say all this is the consultation, the screen after you book, which takes about a minute. It asks about a recent operation or injury, arthritis, your period, pregnancy, a heart condition and skin conditions, your pressure, where to focus and where to avoid on a body map, and any oil allergy, with a free-text line for medicines by name. If a sunburn appears on the second day of your trip, say so in the room; if only your shoulders are burnt, a foot massage (450,000₫ for 60 minutes) never goes near them. If you take blood-pressure tablets or blood thinners, or have diabetes or varicose veins, read what to tell your therapist first. On your period nothing needs to change (massage on your period); if you are pregnant, book the side-lying pregnancy treatment.
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The University of Minnesota gives the reason for this one: if you rush and arrive stressed, "it will take longer to get into a relaxed state". At our spa a start time is on the hour, between 10:00 and 20:00. We ask for five minutes before your time; on a first visit, ten to fifteen is kinder to yourself. If you are running more than fifteen minutes late, tell reception and we will rebook you rather than cut your treatment short. Plan on 80 to 90 minutes at the spa for a 60-minute massage, an estimate, not a timed figure.
We are 3.2 km from the Old Town, about ten minutes by bicycle, and the easiest way to arrive unhurried is not to drive yourself. Pickup to the spa is free from anywhere in Hội An, whether or not you are staying with us: message us on WhatsApp or Zalo at +84 896 687 961 with where you are and the time you want, and we reply within 15 minutes during spa hours (9:00 to 21:00). Leave jewellery at your hotel if you can, and wear something easy to take off; what to wear to a massage has the treatment-by-treatment detail.
If you want warmth before the massage, the order is steam first, then the massage, never the other way round. Our herbal steam (xông hơi, lemongrass and local herbs) is 250,000₫ per person for 20 minutes when two of you share it, or 300,000₫ on your own, and it does the warming a hot shower is meant to do, without the bathroom. Our page on sauna before or after a massage explains the order and the Vietnamese rule about not washing straight after a steam. Skip the heat if you have been drinking, are pregnant or are sunburned.
If you are booking as a couple, everything above applies to both of you, and the one thing to agree before you come is the order: any heat, the steam or a hot jacuzzi, before the massage, never straight after it. The prices for two, and what is and is not cheaper when you are two, are on our couple spa page; the visit itself is described in what to expect at a couples massage.
We are a hotel spa, not a clinic, and this is how we ask guests to prepare, not medical advice. The rules above come from a textbook written for massage therapists and from public health pages, read on the dates given; none of them is a trial, and where a tip has no source at all we have said so rather than invent one. If you have a condition that worries you, ask your doctor before you book, and tell us what they said.
Nghê Prana Riverside Hotel & Spa, Hẻm 384 Nguyễn Tri Phương, Cẩm Nam, Hội An, on the Thu Bồn. Book a treatment on our spa booking page, or see the whole menu with prices on the spa page. Prices are per person, VAT included, read from our live spa menu on 13 November 2026.
23 rooms on the quiet south bank of the Thu Bồn River, ten minutes by bicycle from the Ancient Town and a world from its noise.
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