Although it may seem like a luxury, regular massages are an essential component of general health and well-being! When it comes to reducing stress, relieving chronic pain, or increasing athletic performance so you can work out harder and more often, using massage has established itself as a practical form of both preventive and restorative health care.
Factors That Affect Massage Frequency
1. Your Goals
Relaxation & Stress: If your main goal is relaxation, you may only need to come in every 3–4 weeks.
Pain Management (Chronic): If you are in pain, or recovering from an injury and rehabilitating, you may need weekly to monthly sessions.
Sports Performance: Depending on the intensity of training, an athlete may benefit from one massage treatment per week.
2. Your Health Condition
Arthritis, fibromyalgia, postural imbalances, and many other conditions that may require regular hands-on manipulation or muscle release would be accorded more frequent treatment to help maintain freedom of mobility and hopefully reduce discomfort.
3. Your Lifestyle
Any job that is physically demanding, high in stress or requires long hours sitting at a desk can mean you would benefit from regular massages.
Recommended Massage Frequency
- Weekly: To aid in faster recovery due to injuries, chronic pain or high-intensity training schedules.
- Every 2 weeks: Ideal during heavy training to ensure flexibility, lower the risk of injury, and manage low-level amounts of stress.
- Monthly: For wellbeing, occasional stress management and ongoing benefits of rejuvenation.
Why Consistency Matters
Massage therapy is most effective if done on a routine basis. It’s sort of like working out; the benefits add up over time — helping to prevent problems from becoming bigger, rather than just fixing them when they become bad.
Final Takeaway
Your individual needs, goals and lifestyle will determine how many massages are best for you. This may be done by our registered massage therapists at Access Physiotherapy to develop an appropriate strategy suitable for optimal results.
Schedule your appointment now and begin to feel better — one massage at a time!