Understanding the Differences Between Medical Massage and Relaxation Massage

While relaxation or Swedish massage aims to promote general feelings of wellness, medical massage takes a targeted approach focused on specific health conditions. The goals and techniques of these two types of massage differ in important ways.

Relaxation Massage Goals

The primary goals of relaxation massage are to:

• Reduce stress and induce relaxation
• Improve mood and promote feelings of calm and care
• Release muscle tension

Techniques

Common relaxation massage techniques include:

• Long, gliding strokes
• Moderate to light pressure
• Effleurage or kneading with palms or elbows
• Vibration and light percussive movements
• Gentle joint mobilization or stretching

Medical Massage Goals

In contrast, medical massage aims to:

• Reduce symptoms of a specific health condition
• Improve mobility and range of motion
• Lessen muscle spasms and trigger points causing pain
• Relieve inflammation

Techniques

To achieve these goals, medical massage therapists utilize:

• Focused, targeted techniques on problem areas
• Sustained compression over trigger points
• Deep tissue or myofascial release strokes
• Stretches that avoid inflamed or tender areas initially
• Specialized tools and aids (e.g. hot/cold packs)

Differences in Pressure and Intensity

Relaxation massage uses lighter pressure overall while medical massage employs deeper pressure tailored to each client’s tolerance levels and health condition. Medical massage is often more intense due to the need to address specific pain generators and mobility issues.

Conclusion

While relaxation massage focuses broadly on wellness promotion, medical massage attends to alleviating specific symptoms, reducing inflammation and regaining mobility related to health conditions. Consulting a trained medical massage therapist can help determine if therapeutic medical massage near me may benefit you.