Find the Perfect Massage Therapist, and So Much More

• Related to an Injury
• Headache, sciatica, or joint pain
• Common muscle pain or back pain (sore or painful muscles due to stress, bad posture, sleeping incorrectly, over exercising, or bad motion)

• Recent injury (less than a week ago)
• Prior injury (one that occurred over a week ago but resulted in lingering pain)

• Yes
• no

An area that is swollen or infected should not be massaged. After an injury resulting from an impact, or sudden twist, you should allow at least three days for the injured section to stop swelling and begin healing. The best course of action is to rest the injured part keeping it elevated as much as possible. After being hurt, apply ice as quickly as possible to reduce swelling. The amount of damage that occurs from swelling after an injury is proportional to the amount of time that you take to apply ice to it. Ice should be applied for no longer than 25 minutes at any given time. Any injury that is infected requires immediate medical attention. In such cases, see your doctor.

Lymphatic massage is the only recommended modality this early in the healing process in order to help with the swelling.

For most cases involving a recent injury, you may want to seek a therapist that is certified and experienced in medical massage, or has extensive sports and rehabilitative massage training.
Depending on the type of injury, you may want to allow a couple of days rest before seeking massage.

The following are good modalities to consider:

• Medical massage
• Sports massage
• Neuromuscular therapy

• yes
• no

Joint issues, especially those resulting from injuries, can be very complex; involving not only the joint itself, but surrounding muscles and tendons. In the very least you should consider finding a therapist with experience dealing with similar cases. Because of the complexity and possible causes of your particular type of pain, many different modalities can offer considerable amount of relief. This is because joint pain, even that which is a result of a past injury can simply be caused by an imbalance in the tension and health of the muscles that surround, stabilize and move the joint. In which case, an experienced therapist utilizing nothing more that basic Swedish massage, could address and remedy the issue. On the other hand, if the cause is of a more complex nature, possibly dealing with ligaments in the joint or other complicated structures, then a thorough understanding of the mechanics involved will be necessary, and such expertease usually is in the realm of strictly medical modalities.

The following recommendations are ordered for cases involving the most complex to the simplest solutions:

• Medical massage
• Neuromuscular therapy
• Sports massage
• Swedish (Deep Tissue)

Chronic pain from injuries can be a result of several factors. Knowing what is causing the pain, is a good first step to correcting the problem.

When the cause is muscular in origin, the following are good modalities to consider:

• Neuromuscular therapy
• Swedish (Deep Tissue)
• Medical massage
• Rolfing
• Sports massage
• Shiatsu

• A headache
• Sciatica
• Joint pain

• Stress or tension headache
• Migraine

For most cases involving a tension headaches, muscle tightness along the neck and upper back are the main cause. Heightened hormonal activity, and blood pressure may also play a contributing role. A general relaxing massage with an emphasis on loosening the muscles of the upper body is your best bet.

The following are good modalities to consider

• Swedish massage (both deep tissue and regular)
• Shiatsu
• Neuromuscular therapy
• Medical massage
• Trager

Migraine headaches can be a result of several factors, including past trauma, hypertension, hormonal imbalances, blood pressure, and even barometric changes in the weather. Depending on the cause of your migraines, you may experience different degrees of relief from a massage session.

The following are good modalities to consider

• Neuromuscular therapy
• Medical massage
• Swedish massage (both deep tissue and regular)
• Shiatsu
• Acupressure
• Structural energetic therapy
• Trager

Sciatic pain is usually a result of improper posture while sitting, or standing for long periods of time. It can also result from an imbalance in the pelvic region, or an excessive amount of repetitive motion involving the outward twisting of one leg. Although most massage school programs which teach Swedish massage address sciatica in their curriculum, you should seek a therapist who has had experience in treating it.

The following are good modalities to consider

• Neuromuscular therapy
• Medical massage
• Swedish massage (deep tissue)
• Shiatsu
• Acupressure
• Structural energetic therapy
• Trager

Common joint pain can be a result of many factors, but the three most common causes are: arthritis, issues in the bone structure or a wearing down of the padding material, and muscle tension resulting in improper alignment and friction during motion. Muscle tension results from imbalances in the strength and conditioning of opposing muscle groups. This then puts stresses on the joint causing it to become painful and in some cases leading to swelling of the tendons and ligaments.

For issues involving arthritis, or the structure in the joint bony material, massage only plays a secondary role to other treatment protocols. Remember that when swelling is present, massage other than lymphatic, should not be performed.

In the case of muscle tension and imbalances, massage along with an exercise component will yield great results. Physical therapy, especially in chronic cases can be an excellent compliment to massage therapy. A physical therapist will assess and teach you how to strengthen any weak muscles which are contributing to the imbalances on the joint.

The following are good massage modalities to consider

• Neuromuscular therapy
• Medical massage
• Swedish massage (deep tissue)
• Rolfing

Back pain and discomfort from sore muscles is a common occurrence that anyone can relate to. More than 34% of all massage visits are attributed to a desire for relief from the pain of achy muscles. There are numerous reasons why muscles can cause pain. Overworked muscles, tight muscles, weak muscles, knots, spasms, and tension all lead to pain directly from the muscles themselves or from pressure placed on nerves by them. The causes of these conditions can be anything from too much strenuous exercise, to repetitive bad posture or holding a tensed position for too long. Luckily massage is an excellent remedy for this.

All forms of massage can help to reduce muscle tension either directly or indirectly. The following are some of the best at dealing with this issue.

• Swedish massage (basic or deep tissue)
• Lomi lomi
• Sports massage
• Neuromuscular therapy
• Shiatsu/Ashiatsu
• Esalen massage
• Trager

One of the best reasons for getting a massage is to enjoy just how good it feels. This usually goes hand in hand with relaxation and stress relief. All styles of massage offer some degree of relaxation. However; there are several styles that excel at it making you feel really good, while sending you on a wonderfully relaxing journey towards bliss. Choosing the perfect relaxing massage depends on what your in the mood for.

Are you looking for a:

• Softer, gentler massage
• Medium pressure massage
• Combination of varying pressure and techniques
• Deeper massage to really ease the tension and relieve muscle tightness
• Specialty massage
• Fully clothed body work

Light massages ease muscle tension and reduce stress by working on the nervous system and your mental state. They loosen up your entire body in a wholistic fashion; and best of all, they feel wonderful while doing so. But even here, there is a large amount of variety in the different styles, as well as a subclass of massage called energy work. Since energy work rarely involves any direct contact except tose style where the therapists places there hands gently on specific areas, they will only be listed here as a category.

For light relaxing massage, we recommend the following.

• Esalen massage
• Swedish massage (light)
• Trager
• Aromatherapy
• lymphatic massage
• Energy work

Medium pressure massage is a great relaxing choice for a first massage. By not being too deep, yet utilizing enough pressure to loosen up those tighter muscles, you get both a very relaxing experience while releasing much of the tightness you are holding in those problem areas. From here you can then decide which direction you want to take the next time.

Great medium pressure styles are:

• Swedish massage (basic)
• Esalen massage
• Lomi lomi

Combination massage bring together the best of both worlds. They run the range between light to deep tissue, with most of the work being in the medium pressure range.

The following are recommended modalities that incorporate varying pressure while combining different techniques:

• Swedish massage (basic or deep)
• Esalen massage

Deep pressure massage can be very relaxing when done slowly or utilizing a smooth rythmic motion.

For relaxing deep massage we recommend:

• Swedish massage (deep tissue)
• Lomi lomi
• Shiatsu
• Thai massage
• Reflexology

Specialty massages, also known as exotic massage, come in different varieties. They can range anywhere from very light to very deep pressure, and are made special either because of the specific techniques used, or because they only address certain areas of the body. If you desire to try something different, your choices are almost endless

The following are some of the most popular specialty massage modalities:

• Trager
• Lomi lomi
• Thai massage
• Thai yoga
• Shiatsu
• Ashiatsu
• Reflexology
• Hot stone
• Aromatherapy
• Bamboo
• Energy work

Clothed body work comes in two varieties: hands on, and energy work. Hands on clothed massage offers the same kind of experience as that of traditional massage without the need to remove your clothing and without using oils. It is recommended that you wear very light and loose clothing for this kind of work.

Energy work is very different. As the name implies Energy work, involves manipulating your bodies energy fields in some way, in order to improve your health. Because they involve little or no contact, is has been debated whether these modalities should be included as massage styles.

Would you prefer:

• Hands on
• Energy work (hands off)

Except for being fully dressed and not needing oils, clothed and unclothed hands on massage is very similar. For this reason, all hands on modalities have been included in the this tool's suggestions for every possible choice. Here we give you only the clothed massage suggestions for an overall massage experience.

The following are good modalities to consider when looking for a fully clothed session:

• Thai massage
• Shiatsu
• Trager
• Thai yoga
• Reflexology
• Breema
• Chair massage
• BodyTalk

Energy work is a category of massage that involves little or no contact. You are fully clothed and can either stand, sit, or lie down as the therapist holds his/her hands inches from your body. In some cases a therapist will gently place and keep a hand on certain area for a few seconds in order to focus the energy or remove a blockage. But this is about as much contact as you can expect.

The list of Different energy work modalities continues to grow, but here are the more common ones:

• Reiki
• Polarity
• Touch for Health
• Zero Balancing

The usual modality that the majority of these people get is Swedish, but all of the following are good styles that offer both pleasure and relief from common muscle pain.

• Swedish (basic or Deep tissue)
• Thai massage
• Shiatsu
• Hot stone
• Lomi lomi

The following massages are known to enhance physical performance

• Sports massage
• Swedish (basic or Deep tissue)
• Thai massage
• Thai yoga
• Neuromuscular therapy
• Rolfing
• Lomi lomi
• Shiatsu
• Hot stone
• Bamboo
• Trager