Types of Massages Offered

Swedish Massage
Swedish Massage is the most common type of massage therapy in the United States.  It is also known as Swedish massage or simply massage therapy.   Massage therapists use long smooth strokes, kneading and circular movements on superficial layers of muscle using massage lotion or oil. Swedish Massage is particularly designed to allow the body to absorb more oxygen, thereby rejuvenating the body. Swedish Massage is also geared towards detoxification by increasing the speed by which the cells of the body eliminate their waste materials.  

But more than these, Swedish Massage brings to the receiver an immense feeling of satisfaction and relaxation and enhances the general health and well-being of the recipient.  Swedish Massage therapy can be very gentle and relaxing.  If you’ve never had a massage before, this is a good one to try first.              

Sports Massage
Sports Massage is designed to enhance athletic performance and recovery.  But you don't have to be a professional athlete to have one-it's also used by people who are active and work out often. The focus isn't on relaxation but on preventing and treating injury and enhancing athletic performance. The particulars of the massage are specific to the athlete’s sport of choice and are often focused on a particular troublesome area like a knee or shoulder.  The strokes are usually faster than Swedish massage.

Sports Massage is gaining popularity as a useful component in a balanced training regimen.  Sports massage can be used as a means to enhance pre-event preparation and reduce recovery time for maximum performance during training or after an event.  Athletes have discovered that specially designed massage promotes flexibility, removes fatigue, improves endurance, helps prevent injuries, and prepares them to compete at their absolute best.

Pre-Natal Massage
Just as in any massage, Pre-Natal Massage loosens and relaxes the pregnant woman’s muscles. It also helps improve the circulation of blood in her body. Prenatally, specific techniques can reduce pregnancy discomforts and concerns and enhance the physiological and emotional well-being of both mother and baby.  Most importantly, prenatal massage helps to increase the flexibility of the pregnant woman’s body leading to shorter labor times and decreased pain and anxiety.
In the postpartum period, specialized techniques rebalance structure, physiology, and emotions of the new mother and may help her to bond with and care for her infant.  It also helps improve the elasticity of her skin, which has been stretched by pregnancy, as well as to bring back her muscle tone. Moreover, massage aids the mother through possible post-partum depression.

Common symptoms of pregnancy helped by Pre-Natal massage include:  reducing stress, relieving aches and pains, sinus congestion, round ligament pain, some types of breathing restrictions, lower back pain, reducing anxiety and depression and decreasing edema for soon-to-be moms.          

Neuromuscular Therapy
This comprehensive program of soft-tissue manipulation balances the body’s central nervous system with the musculoskeletal system.  Based on neurological laws that explain how the central nervous system initiates and maintains pain, the goal is to help relieve the pain and dysfunction by understanding and alleviating the underlying cause.  Neuromuscular Therapy can help individuals who experience distortion and biomechanical dysfunction, which is often a symptom of a deeper problem.  It is also used to locate and release spasms and hyper-contraction in the tissue, eliminate trigger points that cause referred pain, rebuild the strength of injured tissues, assist venous and lymphatic flow, and restore postural alignment, proper biomechanics, and flexibility to the tissues.  

Hot Stone Massage
Each Hot Stone Massage features the placement of water -treated stones on specific sites on the body to promote deeper relaxation of the muscles.   The heat emanated by these warm stones penetrates deeper into muscle tissue for a more profoundly relaxing effect, which in turn releases more toxins and improves circulation and metabolism.  The heat also loosens up muscles tightened and tensed by stress, thus taking away the pain and the cramping. The massage therapist then incorporates a customized massage, with the use of hot stones, to create a healing and relaxing experience.

Some benefits of hot stone massage include alleviating stress, releasing toxins, relieving pain, improved circulation, calming the psych and promoting seep muscle and tissue relaxation.  Health conditions helped with hot stone massage include: muscular aches and pains, back pain, MS, Arthritis, Fibromyalgia, Stress, Anxiety, Circulatory problems,  Insomnia and Depression.

Deep Tissue Massage
Deep Tissue Massage is similar to Swedish massage but is used to target knots and release chronically tight muscles, for painful muscles, repetitive strain, postural problems, or recovery from injury.  Other benefits include reducing inflammation-related pain caused by arthritis and tendonitis and helping to eliminate scar tissue.