That depends on if you are in pain or have areas of tension or stress that are affecting your daily life. It also depends on preference. If you're new to massage, it's great to start out with a Swedish and talk to your therapist during your treatment about areas that may need more work. Your therapist can then guide you into the right service there on the table and let you know what to book for the next time you are in.
Swedish is a technique that uses mainly long "effleurage" strokes from one end of a muscle to another. It doesn't involve a lot of pressure. We consider it to be a "medium" pressure massage that relaxes your entire body, releasing tension from all areas. Deep tissue uses what we call "trigger point therapy". Trigger points are those areas deep in your muscles holding a lot of tension and bunching up. In a deep tissue, your therapist will gradually work deeper and deeper into those trigger points, working them loose and providing stimulation and circulation to those areas for healing and increased movement and flexibility. Deep tissue can be more uncomfortable than Swedish because of the depth your therapist will work into the muscle.
A healthy lifestyle should incorporate regular exercise, stretching and massage. On a general level you should be seeing your therapist about once every four weeks. However, some levels of injury or chronic areas of pain may need more frequent attention. Our therapists will take a full evaluation by having you fill out a consultation form and then will customize your treatment and give you recommendations afterwards on how often you specifically should seek treatment.
We suggest that you undress to your comfort level. Completely undressing will give your therapist the ability to reach all the muscles in their entirety so it is recommended that you do completely undress. However, it is not necessary to completely undress to receive a great massage. Your body will be draped with sheets and blankets the entire visit and only the area being worked on will be exposed. We offer robes for your privacy and our space is very secluded with minimal traffic allowing you to feel right at home.
Yes! We want you to enjoy your visit and will customize it to your comfort level at your request. If you prefer a light pressure massage, just let your therapist know and during the massage if it gets to be too firm or deep, just tell them to let up. We know that healing can be the result of just allowing yourself to relax and doesn't necessarily require deep pressure. Communicate with your therapist and they will be happy to give you just the right amount of pressure perfect for you.
We use Biotone brand lotion. It is a high quality brand that provides excellent glide while also nourishing the skin. It works for sensitive skin types as well as there are no allergens used in the formulation.
We offer aromatherapy upgrades on our massages and your therapist can provide a custom blend to suit your preferences and needs. Just inquire before about your options before your service starts. We only use high grade therapy oils meant for use in massage therapy.
In general, 72 hours is recommended before coming to see a massage therapist who can then evaluate your injury and determine what type and depth of massage would be required for healing.
Feeling sore is a normal reaction result of some deep tissue massages. It depends on how much and how deep the massage work was done. Often, a therapeutic massage can be a lot like a good workout, resulting in recovery pain. Some soreness is expected but not an excessive amount.
Your therapist can show you a wide variety of methods to keep your muscles loose and limber and extend the results of your massage. Stretching is one way to keep your muscles from returning to their previous state. Ask your therapist after your massage about what techniques she recommends for your unique conditions.
We work all the major muscle groups. There are some areas of your body that our therapists will not go into, including the groin area. We can also focus on certain areas and spend more time on them by request. Let your therapist know which areas you would like worked the most.
At this time we do not take insurance or provide services on claims. If you have a health flex spending account provided by your employers, the cards issued for such services some times do work in our system. We recommend entering your card into our online booking system to test it. If the payment card does not work at checkout, you will be responsible for paying the service prices with another method of payment.