FAQ: How often should I be getting massages?

One of the most asked questions I get as a massage therapist, somatic teacher, friend, acquaintance and in professional business conversations, is “How often should I be getting massages?”

It’s a tough question to answer because there are a variety of factors at play to help YOU come to a decision.  I cannot answer it for you, but I can give you some personal factors to consider.

1. Are you in pain?

The first factor to consider is, are you in pain?  If so, I usually recommend coming more often than once a month.  The best approach would be to tackle it head on from the get-go, and then start to distance the weeks between massages.  

For example, if you describe your pain at a level of “7-10” in a scale of 1-10 where 1 is no pain and 10 is torture, then coming once a week, probably makes sense.  As the level of pain goes down, the less frequent you should come.  

If you are NOT in any pain, and want to come for what I like to call a “maintenance” session, then once every 4-6 weeks should be perfect.  These are like “oil-changes” for your body. Typically, this is the goal I am aiming to get all my clients to.

2. What can you afford?

A big reason it is hard for me to answer the “how often” question is, I do not know your finances, your budgeting and your spending habits.   I do try to say that if money is an issue, try putting $20 to the side every paycheck and book a session when you have enough to buy a 60 or 90 min session.   

I am fully aware my prices are not low, nor are they otherworldly compared to others in the field. But, taking care of your mental and physical health on a 4-6 week basis, and managing these “issues/pains”, is a lot cheaper than surgery.

3. How long does your post massage “recovery” typically last?

If things go well in a session, you feel better than how you walked in.  You may even feel what people coin “massage-drunk”, or a feeling of happiness aka “massage-high”.  That is because a massage is basically an hour long hug from a loved one.  Cortisol decreases, dopamine and serotonin increases.  Basically stress goes down, happiness and feel good hormones go up.  

That is how we are supposed to feel all the time.  But of course, life gets in the way of that.  

The more often you get massaged, the more likely these effects will last longer.

4. How sore are your muscles post massage?  How long does that soreness last?

Soreness after a massage is totally normal.  Hydration and consistent massages do help decrease muscle soreness.  It happens because manipulation of muscle tissue, particularly with deep tissue techniques, can cause microscopic tears in muscle fibers, triggering an inflammatory response in the body.  This is essentially the body’s natural healing process responding to the micro-trauma caused by the massage, similar to the soreness experienced after intense exercising.    

It aims to improve circulation and relaxation, increasing the blood flow to an area, which can initially cause a feeling of tenderness as the body works to repair the microtears - again which is totally normal and expected.   

If you are too sore for a week, then first, we should probably not be doing that deep work, and should adjust immediately, but second, that means maybe you can book a session for every 2-3 weeks instead to allow you body time to heal and recover well.

I hope this helps anyone understand the need for frequent visits of a massage, based on their own body. 

Thank you!

Frank Gioeli, LMT

Massage Is Therapy For Me