So, what exactly is a Therapeutic Massage?

Have you noticed that there are many, many types of massage? It can feel overwhelming to choose the type of massage you need.

Some of the more well-known types of massage are Deep Tissue Massage, Swedish Massage, Sports Massage, Myofascial Release, Neuromuscular Massage, and Trigger Point Therapy.

So, what exactly is Therapeutic Massage? Therapeutic Massage is the shift from “What type of massage do I need?” to “What is my massage goal?”

Instead of trying to determine the type of massage, the question needs to be, “How do I want to feel after my massage?”

You want to ask yourself, how are you feeling (or, more likely, what is bothering you at the moment)?
    Do you want to alleviate the neck pain caused by the long hours you spend sitting in front of your computer?
    Do you want to feel less stressed?
    Is your goal to have massage help you manage chronic pain from a medical condition?

Shifting your focus from what type of massage you want (Deep Tissue, Swedish, etc.) to how you want to feel after your massage simplifies the process, right?

That’s why we take time before each massage to clearly understand your massage goals. With that information, we determine what types of massage to incorporate. Each massage becomes a customized combination of deep tissue, Swedish, myofascial, etc. The best way to think about all of the different types of massage is that they are the tools in our toolbox; our training is how we choose the right combination of massage styles (i.e.tools) to get the result you want.

So before your next massage, instead of trying to figure out what type of massage you need, ask yourself, “How do I want to feel after my massage?”