What type of massage should you go for?

There are millions of types of massage on offer - how do you decide what’s right for you?

A deep dive into different massage styles…

Even as a trained practitioner, I never know what to expect when I’ve booked a session. One person’s Swedish massage is another’s deep tissue, and another’s deep tissue seems to be someone else’s Lomi Lomi. With so much confusion, how do you decide what type you should get? This series is to helping you to understand what each massage type offers, and how to decide which one you would like to have.

What do different massages do?

Any type should help relax your body, relieve pain, manage stress and calm your mind, but how they do this will vary. Most therapists know many styles, and so can blend techniques to meet each client’s needs. Different styles often have a lot of overlap with one another, which makes this possible.

Some types of massage do vary drastically. For example, shiatsu is performed on the floor, with the client clothed, with no oil. It uses pressing, tapping and stretching techniques, different from flowing Swedish or deep tissue which work directly on the skin with oil, cream or wax. Still, a Swedish massage might include some tools drawn from Shiatsu if your therapist knows both.

Who decides which massage is which?

Ultimately, this is subjective - each therapist and each client will have a slightly different image of what techniques go with each style. Because therapists have different ideas, clients often have different expectations based on their experiences with different practitioners. Some are unsure of what to expect at all.

These blog posts will explain what to expect if you come to me for each treatment. I will also describe the effects and benefits of them, using evidence-led and science-backed ideas only. I hope that these will also be helpful to others trying to make a decision about what to book.

I offer:

• Swedish/holistic

• Deep tissue

• Sports

• Facial