How often you should get a massage will depend on your reasons for massage. Are you getting relaxation massages to help decrease stress, anxiety, depression or just to relax? These types of massages will depend on when you feel you need one.
If you are getting a therapeutic massage, whether it be for pain and tension due to normal activities (bad posture, work, sports, etc) or if you have a specific injury or health condition. Your therapist should give you a recommendation on how often.
Depending on what your dealing with and how you feel after the treatment, the therapist could recommend: 2 massages per week, 1 massage per week, 1 massage bi-weekly. Usually I’ll recommend once a week or bi weekly for a few sessions and then re-assess. Then I recommend monthly maintenance.
Another factor to include is your budget, how much does your insurance cover, how many sessions are you able to afford during the year. If you need to stretch it out.. I wouldn’t recommend going more then a few months as it could undo the progress you’ve made and cause you to have to start all over again.
Keep in mind, one massage treatment won’t fix a lifetime of pain and tension. Also if your posture is bad or you don’t stretch much – and you continue to live this way, massage can only do so much. Maybe relieve some pain and tension for a short time but you have to include self care to get the most out of your treatments. Your therapist should recommend some self care tips / exercises to help you feel better.
