1. You are sick
Short Answer: Even though when you are sick, a massage seems like it would help your body feel better, it actually can make you feel worse. Plus you risk infecting not only your therapist, but others in the office, and that is just not cool.
More details: When you are sick, one of the reasons that you get so tired is because all of your organs and systems are working overtime to fight the illness and kill off the bad stuff. This means an increase in things like inflammation and blood volume, and circulatory and respiratory systems working overtime. Massage increases the load on your organs and circulatory system, therefore making them work even harder which can ultimately make you feel worse and take longer to recover. Additionally, sickness means you may also be contagious, which puts you at risk of infecting your massage therapist (which often means if they get sick, they will have to cancel appointments and lose work and jeopardize their professionalism), but also their office staff, others in the waiting room, clients that come in after you, etc. Don't be that person.
2. You have a skin condition
Short answer: Rash, sunburn, warts, open sores, and more stuff on your skin is not the best for getting a massage. Depending on what it is, there is a chance the area of the issue can just be avoided, but to not spread or worsen the issue (or infect the therapist), it is best to hold off until the issue is healed or cleared up.
More details: Massage involves your skin. If your skin has something wrong with it, massage should not be done. Infections, burns, or anything that needs to heal should be allowed to heal or else massage can aggrivate it. Infectious issues such as rashes or skin-based viruses can spread to other parts of the body or infect your therapist (which is just a crappy move on your part - see above) plus it can stop it from healing or clearing up. Depending on what it is, and where it is located - like a sunburn on one shoulder - it may be able to be avoided and the rest of the body can still be massaged, but issues like rashes, shingles, or fungus should be allowed to heal completely before coming in because sometimes one never knows what can still pop up in places while healing in other places is still happening.
3. You have a serious medical condition
Short answer: Some medical issues such as uncontrolled high blood pressure, blood clots, or certain issues with the heart, lungs, liver, or kidneys are contraindications for massage. Check with your doctor to see if a condition is safe, but also be honest about your conditions with your massage therapist as well.
More details: Massage is meant to heal and bring calm to stressful and uncomfortable situations, and having serious or chronic medical conditions need calm from stress, however sometimes medical conditions make massage not advisable. If there is a cahnce that massage can make a condition worse, it may beed to be avoideed, or a different type of massage technique may need to be used until the condition clears. Sometimes this can get lost in translation, in that a doctor will say "relax and do things that keep your stress down" so a massage seems like a natural option, which is why it is important to be honest with your therapist about your medical conditions, and to keep open communication and understanding about what is best for your health.
4. You JUST had surgery or a major injury
Short answer: Massage can help with healing and recovery, especially from surgery or an injury - but massage is an aid to healing - not the thing that will actually do the healing. Let yourself heal and recover a bit before you come in for a massage, otherwise there could be complications that hinder recovery.
More details: Many massage techniques can help with post-surgical or post-injury issues such as loosening scar tissue, helping inflammation drain, and regaining mobility, but you need to heal first. Sometimes immediately after a big physical trauma, the body may not show all the damage and repercussions immediately, so taking some time to start healing and begin recovery is needed to let the body re-acclimate and heal, then massage can come in later to continue and strengthen the healing. It is best to wait until after a doctor or surgeon gives the "all clear" or in teh case of an injury, let it wait a bit before jumping into massage to make sure that the massage doesn't focus on the wrong thing or aggrivate anything that isnl't known about right away.
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