How often can you get a deep tissue massage

The key words in these two questions are ‘should’ or ‘could’. There is no rule saying they you ‘should’ have a deep tissue massage.. In fact, there is no saying you ‘should’ have any sort of massage treatment. Massage is optional. However, the benefits that may be gained from receiving massage therapy is enormous.

But what about the second question, how often could you have a DTM? The straightforward answer would be, every day. However, that is not realistic for several reasons.

For example, a deep tissue massage is a form of corrective massage, it can help ‘re-balancing’  the body or particular muscle layer. In fact, this type of massage was designed to have an overall remedial effect. How getting into balance manifests itself in an individual is simply that….individual. Each person has a different case history, including mental, physical, emotional and medical aspects etc.

Each person has different requirements to achieve balance

Having a daily deep tissue remedial massage is likely to have a drawback. Muscles may become tender from the amount of attention they receive and generally, the body can become ‘overtreated’ thus possibly creating strong reactions as the body tries to get into balance.

The type and the strength of reaction will vary from person to person but include nausea, headaches and muscular tenderness to mention a few. That is not really how you want to feel and if you react this way, you are less likely to come back for more massage sessions.

So, though deep tissue massage could be received daily (depending on the answers in the consultation), it is not recommended.

Other aspects not yet mentioned are cost and boredom factor. The second point sounds an odd thing to say, but if you have the same thing every day, there is a risk of becoming bored withstand so you may not get the full benefit of massage therapy.

So how often do you recommend someone has a deep tissue massage?

An average is usually once per month. It may depend on whether we massage client at home, or at the massage health center, how often we do home visit massage or clinics, and how long the massage is it for, the case history of the client, etc. We offer our clients professional advice. Each case is different and so we must have the knowledge, experience, and common sense.

Sometimes it is really easy to identify why you felt different but there may be more than one reason. Some of those reasons could include the room you were in, a different practitioner carrying the massage, the type of massage technique, the massage oils provided for the treatment, your expectations, the empathy shown by the massage therapist, the massage routine. The list goes on.

Reasons, specifically in relation to tissue massage

The massage room

We recently talked about the type of room required when performing the treatment by making it inviting and relaxing. Some therapist like to put a couple of drops of essential oils on a tissue. Be cautious about doing this as not everyone will like the aroma.

Different massage therapist

Massage is a personal thing and the choice of practitioner is generally a personal one. Those who have regular deep massages usually find someone who suits them and as a result, they return to the same professional massage therapist on a regular basis.

Type of massage therapy

Depending on the therapist’s qualifications, there may be a choice of the type of massage therapies available (massage strokes: effleurage, petrissage, friction, tapotement, kneading etc). Sometime the client may well have a preference but don’t know which style to choose. Different types of massage modalities include aromatherapy massage, Swedish massage, sports therapy, kahuna massage.

Equipment for the deep tissue massage treatment

A massage table would be required for a full body massage. They are now many different makes of massage table available. The massage clinic usually provides this equipment and should be adept at ensuring the adjustments are set correctly so that the client is comfortable throughout the massage.

Your expectations

This is something that should be established by the deep tissue massage therapist before you receive the massage treatment, particularly if you have never had this type, or in fact, any type of massage.

Therapist, empathy and deep tissue massage technique

This is extremely important. Clients should certainly ascertain the qualifications, years of massage experience and level of insurance of practitioners before allowing them to book a massage. Experience is very important, though this will obviously vary from person to person.

However just because the deep tissue massage therapist has a qualification, this does not necessarily mean that he or she is a good masseur. There are those in the field who simply ‘massage by numbers’. By that, I mean that they do exactly the same massage routine, in exactly the same way, every time, regardless of the requirements of the client.

For example, sports massage is a corrective form of massage, the session can be tailored to meet the needs of the client; the client can request that a specific part of the body, such as frozen shoulder injury receive specific attention.

The massage therapist should massage with ‘care’ i.e. they should listen to what the clients want from the massage and how he or she feeling on that particular day and adjust the massage technique accordingly.

The practitioner should try to build a relationship with each client to be able to provide the best massage possible for the individual. This includes obtaining feedback from the client during and after the deep massage (try not to ask every two minutes!). The information can be noted and the next time the clients come for a massage, the practitioner has her information to refer to.

By remembering what was good/bad about massages from the feedback you have received, you can ensure that you incorporate the good stuff and leave out the bed! We never stop learning and improving no matter how experienced we may be. The desire to be the best at what we do should always be there. As job satisfaction; how great is when our massage clients goes away extremely satisfied and feeling fantastic… Absolutely brilliant!!!

How soon can I get another deep tissue massage?

How often should you go for a deep tissue massage?

Can I get a massage 2 days in a row?

Is it OK to get deep tissue massage 2 days in a row?