deep tissue massage, myofascial massage, massage modality

First, let's define what Deep Tissue Massage is NOT. It does not just mean 'pressing harder'. It is not a painful experience when applied by a therapist with knowledge and experience. In some cases there may well be fascial soreness or pain the following day or even two days. There should not be bruises caused by intense downward pressure mashing muscle against bone. If you feel like you want to jump off the table due to the painful application, you probably should do just that and end the session. Especially if the therapist tells you something like "no pain no gain'.

Requires a Therapist who understands the layers of the body and has the ability to work with tissue in these layers to relax, lengthen and release holding patterns effectively and efficiently. It is properly applied at oblique angles with little or no use of oil or lotion. The client will feel the results deep into the core of the tissue which is being worked. The pleasure/pain level should be "hovering between pleasure & pain" or as clients have described "hurts good". The release this provides can be a relaxing experience. Clients usually leave the session feeling better, not in pain and often continue to feel further improvement for several days to a week. Some clients will be sore or feel fascial pain for 1 to 2 days following treatment, after which there should feel an improvement.

This section will be devoted to explaining various massage modalities that are used to describe an approach, method or system of massage technique. The purpose is to help clients and the public in general to better understand what these terms really mean in terms of what they should expect when asking for a specific modality of treatment.

At Massage Therapy St Louis MO, our philosophy and approach is treatment based rather than modality based. We believe there is no single approach or modality that has all the answers. Each client has different and often multiple issues that require the use of approaches and techniques from more than one modality and we focus on the treatment each client needs, not on fitting a modality to a client.

Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork addresses specific Myofascial problems such as painful or functional joint restrictions. Myofascial pain can be a result of imbalance in posture. These issues are often caused by a repetitive strain injury or a symptom left over from a past injury. The primary objective is to relieve the pain or restrictions and allow the body to achieve structural balance and normalize joint mobility. Integrating relaxation massage with a therapeutic session encourages parasympathetic mode which enhances structural balance work and the natural healing process.

Therapeutic Massage can bring relief to repetitive strain injuries common to office work and amateur athletics and can restore mobility and balance in the neck, back, hips, shoulders, arms and feet as well as providing relief for headaches.