Category: Massage

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What length of session should I book?

15, 30, 45, 60, 75 or 90 min. treatments? We have them all, but which one is right for you?

As a rule of thumb, you can assume that “half of the body” can be treated in half-an-hour. Choose a 30 minute treatment for straightforward issues of either upper or lower body. Go for a full-hour treatment when your issues are more complicated or you want both upper and lower body treated. If you are not sure, 45 minutes often can be the ideal session duration for your first visit.

15 minute treatments are useful as pre- or post-performance sessions or when you simply don’t have time for a half-hour-session.

90 minutes may be necessary for extensive work on several issues, but it can often be more advisable to choose several sessions rather than trying to sort everything out in one.

Taking good care of your body also means taking good care of small injuries before they turn into more serious ones. If you don’t feel that anything is wrong with your muscles and you feel generally fit and healthy, a regular massage session of 1 hour every 3-4 weeks will help you stay that way.

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What conditions do we get to see?

Sports and Remedial Massage or Deep Tissue Massage is a deep treatment that loosens up tight muscles, breaks up adhesions in muscle fibres, and generally focuses on restoring and/or maintaining the full functionality of your muscles. It can help your muscles perform better and prevent injury. Muscle injuries will often heal more effectively with the help of sports massage.

A lot of our clients come with issues that do not stem from sports activities. Specifically, long hours at the desk can lead to all kinds of muscular-skeletal issues. Massage often is extremely helpful in relieving the discomfort that comes with such issues. Often, we will also be able to suggest simple exercises that are likely to help.

We are faced with a multitude of conditions every day, and while it depends on circumstances how much you will benefit from a massage with your condition and there can never be guarantees of improvement, here is a list of some of the things we get to see:

  • hip pain
  • knee pain
  • shoulder pain
  • frozen shoulder
  • back pain
  • sciatic pain
  • wrist pain
  • tennis elbow
  • runner’s knee
  • piriformis syndrome
  • stress-related headaches
  • general joint pain
  • tendonitis
  • stiff neck and shoulders
  • it-band syndrome or it-band related issues
  • weak knees
  • ankle problems
  • shin splints
  • psoas tightness
  • tight quads
  • hamstring injuries or tightness
  • tight or painful calves
  • tight or painful glutes
  • pregnancy related back pain
  • pregnancy related neck/shoulder pain
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Massages for marathon runners

There are three kinds of massage relevant to marathon runners:

Deep tissue massage

Treats injuries and tightness. This treatment is ideal at any time during your training up to one week before the competition. The last week before the run is required to give the body time to recover, so the only useful massage in that time is the light pre-competition massage (see below).

The duration of the session depends on the issues to be dealt with. A simple case of scar tissue in the vastus medialis leading to knee pain, for example, can sometimes be successfully resolved in a single 30 minute session, while a case of plantar fasciitis may require a series of 45 minute sessions, for example.

For the first 24-36 hours after a deep massage, you should not subject your muscles to intense training. The tissue needs time to “implement” the benefits of the massage. Going back to full training within that period is likely to cause inflammation. You should also ensure that you drink enough water to help your body flush out waste products.

Pre-competition massage

A general massage which improves circulation throughout the soft tissues and generally loosens up the muscles. It is particularly useful in the last few days before the competition. A 30-minute session is enough for the whole body.

Post-competition massage

Uses the same approach as pre-competition massage. It can greatly support and speed up recovery after the marathon and is ideal in the first day after the race.

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Sports Massage: What is it and what are its benefits?

The first thing to say about sports massage is that you do not need to do any sports to benefit from it. It simply describes a set of massage techniques that focus more on how your body works, rather than to only give you a general massage.

It aims to restore your body to better functionality, remove tension that you may have built up simply by sitting at the desk rather than running, or lifting weights.

Sports and remedial massage is a deep tissue massage technique. However, rather than only giving you a general deep tissue massage, our masseurs who are trained in sports and remedial massage will look at where your tension is and what kind of problems it may contribute to. It is a much more focused treatment than general deep tissue massage and has many potential benefits that go far beyond a general massage:

Its primary aim is to restore full functionality to muscles and other soft tissues. This can simply mean easing the tension that has built up in your shoulders over long hours in the office or restoring maximum performance to an overtrained muscle-group of an athlete.

The treatment will sometimes be complemented by exercise instructions, like recommendations for certain stretches that benefit your personal habits, be they sports-based or not.

Sports massage is a very varied and sophisticated treatment that can help treat soft tissue injuries, maintain a healthy body and prevent injury.