Maintenance Massage & Care Plans – It’s all about maximising your treatment through frequency.

How often should you get a massage? … that’s a golden question asked by so many people, so much of the time. We have talked about this a few times in the past, specifically in Blog #4 (5 Pearls of Wisdom – posted on 28 Oct 2019) and in Blog #6 (3 Keys to the Best Remedial Massage Program – posted on 11 Nov 2019), but the question keeps coming up – so let’s chat about it again here.

I have always approached this topic from the perspective of not wanting to badger clients. I have worked in clinics before where the over-riding rule was always to re-book your client’s next treatment before they leave today … and indeed, a lot of Business Marketing Strategies in the Health Care Industry promote the mantra of “Don’t let them out until they schedule their next treatment” … but I always felt that was a little bit like rail-roading people, and I never want my clients to feel obligated or pushed into making appointments.

I have always promoted the perspective of encouraging people to learn to understand their own bodies and come back for follow-up treatment when they feel they want to – and hopefully before they need to. I truly believe that if we as Therapists provide excellent quality treatment – in a professional and relaxed environment – with welcoming attitudes that encourage our clients to ‘get to know’ their own bodies – then people will want to come back when they need us. To me, this type of interaction builds trust and respect between therapists and clients.

I also believe that people will find greater long-term benefit and improvement if they accept ownership of how they feel and take control of how they manage their own body. It might seem easier at the time to surrender the broken body and give full authority to someone else to fix it, but any success in this scenario is tied securely to that 1 therapist you went to at the start, and how they choose to map your recovery. It might feel less complicated to take the easy road and let someone else dictate the schedule of your progress, but does this choice ever give you the confidence of knowing exactly where you are on your journey to best health? If someone else dictates your progress, do you ever get control of your life back?

I guess the point I want to make is that everybody should take assertive control of their bodies and learn to ‘own’ how they feel. What do I mean by that exactly? Nobody else knows how your body feels better than you, so nobody else is in as good a position as you to decide when you should come for a treatment. You can ask us for our opinion about the best time to come back, but at the end of the day everybody is different … we are all unique and individual, and the ‘cookie cutter’ approach to follow-up treatment regimens applied by other modalities and/or therapists just isn’t appropriate for everyone. General Treatment Plans emerge over time that can provide guidance and a good place to start from, but inevitably treatment frequency will need to be adjusted and tweaked depending on how your body responds each time.

It is fair to say that if your treatments are focussed on something specific – for example: correcting postural issues, injury rehab, training for specific sporting events – then shorter intervals between treatments would likely provide better results … but if you aren’t carrying any injuries or complaints, if your body is already in good shape and you are simply looking for regular treatment to support how you use your body and avoid potential injury – then you are probably considering longer intervals between treatments.

Always remember as well that you might start your program with more frequent treatments and then gradually increase the interval time between treatments as your body becomes more familiar with regular massage … all muscle has memory and that memory will change over time when you pay attention to your body, so over time you should find that your body feels better for longer between massages and you can gradually increase the time interval between treatments without losing any improvements achieved along the way. This can be recognised as the Cumulative Benefits of Regular Treatment.

And so … What are the ‘Big Ticket Items’ I want you to take away from this article?

• Frequency of Remedial Massage treatment is a good thing.

Everyone is different, and some will want (or need) more frequent treatments than others. There really is no such thing as ‘too much massage’ (within reason) … but there can be consequences to your general health, mobility and flexibility if you don’t get enough Remedial Massage.

• How frequently should you come in for treatment?

It is quite important to remember that the frequency will be dictated more by the end-result that we are working towards through Remedial Massage … as a general guide:

• If you are focussed on something specific – postural correction, injury rehab, breaking the pain cycle related to frequent headaches and/or migraines – more frequent treatments are recommended;
• If you are feeling reasonably good but want treatment to stay on top of life – Maintenance Remedial Massage – less frequent treatments would be OK;
• If you use your body for manual work – or if you are an avid Fitness Enthusiast or Athlete – somewhere in the middle for frequency, but creating a regular routine is highly recommended to avoid injury.

• Listen to your body and come in BEFORE you start feeling desperate for it!

When it comes to drinking water they say that by the time you recognise feeling thirsty, your body has already started to dehydrate … the same thought process should apply to Remedial Massage – by the time you start feeling you need to come, you are already overdue! Learn to listen to your body while it is still just talking – don’t wait until it starts screaming at you.

Here at HANDS from HEAVEN we can set your appointment to automatically recur at an agreed interval – daily, weekly or monthly – to help you  create a positive habit focused on your well-being … this can be a great way of making sure you don’t forget to schedule your next appointment, and we can adjust the frequency as agreed over time.

Remember we also have our ongoing Loyalty Discount that saves you $10 every time your come in – provided you return within 28 days of your most previous massage. It isn’t restricted by who you see each time, or how long a massage you have each time, and it applies to all standard AND concession clients equally … the important condition of our Loyalty Discount is that you come back to this clinic within 28 days for follow-up.

If you have any questions – or simply want to discuss starting a regular habit of Remedial Massage – chat with us in clinic and we’ll help guide you to a Remedial Massage Treatment Regimen that works best for you!