This is a question I get very often. The answer (as it is for most questions) is: it depends. It depends on the problem, it depends on your schedule, it depends on how deep you like massages, and it definitely depends on your finances. The only hard and fast rule that is true for most everyone is that if you aren’t sore from your last massage, then you’re ok to get another one. Massage stimulates changes in the muscles and other soft tissue and if you don’t give it enough time to heal and complete those changes then you might end up doing more damage than you intended. It’s totally normal to be sore from a deep tissue massage (much like after a massage with me!) for 2 or 3, or sometimes even 4 days! So, if you’re getting deep tissue massages, once a week is probably good, or maybe twice if your schedule allows.
The Injury
Which brings me to the next it depends: the current pain or injury. Are you an athlete who is training every day for an event? Is the pain so bad it’s keeping you from something you love doing? Then you should probably get massages more often. In general, more frequent massages will get you faster results as well as give your muscles less time to get tight and dysfunctional again.
Don’t Forget About Your Pocket
The final it depends is your finances. Most people have massage therapy coverage through third party insurance. But that only goes so far. So if you’re trying to space out your coverage so it lasts for your regular massage all year, then your regular massage is probably not going to be weekly (unless you have the best health plan ever, and if you do, who are they and how do I get a plan??).
The Final Word
The unsatisfying answer is that you should get massages as often as you feel comfortable with as long as you aren’t sore from your last massage. The average, in my experience, is for pressing issues that need to be improved, weekly or biweekly is usually a nice balance between often enough to see improvements, and not so often that it starts to become stressful or inconvenient. Maintenance tends to be once a month or once every other month, once pressing issues are resolved.
As always, I’m sure my clients are so tired of me saying this, stretching, mobility, and exercising is critical. Strong, flexible, balanced muscles with a brain that knows how to coordinate movement just have less issues and don’t get as sore, so you can increase the ache free time between massages by taking care of your muscles at home. I don’t think that massages, chiro, acupuncture, or physio should be the only things taking care of your body. They should be a part of the conversation but not the whole thing!
If you’re looking for ideas for stretching, exercises, and mobility see my You Tube Channel!
