Massage Therapists

Massage therapists can specialize in over 80 different types of massage, called modalities.

Swedish massage, deep tissue massage, reflexology, acupressure, sports massage, and neuromuscular massage are just a few of the many approaches to massage therapy.

Most massage therapists specialize in several modalities, which require different techniques.

Some use exaggerated strokes ranging the length of a body part, while others use quick, percussion-like strokes with a cupped or closed hand. A massage can be as long as two hours or as short as five or ten minutes.

Usually, the type of massage therapists give depends on the client’s needs and the client’s physical condition.

For example, they use special techniques for elderly clients that they would not use for athletes, and they would use approaches for clients with injuries that would not be appropriate for clients seeking relaxation.

There are also some forms of massage that are given solely to one type of client, for example prenatal massage and infant massage.

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