How long should a massage be? Typically massage therapy should be at least 50 minutes to one hour for a general full body treatment to be effective. Some establishments offer forty-five and fifty minute sessions. A good therapist can get what needs to be addressed treated, but in my opinion, even the best of therapists need a minimum of eighty minutes to perform a proper full body massage.
Keep in mind that on your first visit will need to fill out paperwork and go threw an assessment, which will take time out of your actual hands on part of the session. Even when you don’t have to do an assessment and there is just a few follow up questions, this still takes up time out of the session. This is why it is also a good idea to try and see the same therapist for most of your treatments, this way your therapist knows you and your condition and can keep the follow up and assessment to a minimum so you can get more actual treatment.
There has been some ongoing misunderstanding about timing with massage therapy sessions. Some people think that you should be getting one full hour of hands on massage only and there is no need for evaluation or assessment. This is actually very dangerous and if you get a therapist who doesn’t spend any time at all with an assessment you should consider this a red flag. How would your therapist know what to treat or focus on if there was no assessment? Even for a relaxation massage, you still need to be informed about what will happen throughout the treatment.
Pre and post assessment are a part of massage therapy and are a necessary part of your treatment to be effective.
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Written by:
Domenic Jason Falvo, RMT
Hand & Stone Barrie
Domenic has been practicing massage therapy for over 18 years in all types of clinic and spa environments. Having done so he has acquired and abundance of therapeutic skill sets incorporating deep tissue massage, shiatsu, acupressure, advanced joint mobilizations, remedial exercise and hydrotherapy into the ideally seasoned massage therapy experience. Domenic also has training in clinical acupuncture, progressive facial manipulation and reflexology that is also fused into his treatment.
Domenic prefers to focus on the cause of underlying issues rather than treating the symptoms alone, which is proven more effective in the long run for client health. Although treating all types of acute and chronic injuries is Domenic’s main focus, he is seamlessly able to perform general relaxation massage with ease.