New Research in Massage Therapy

What subscription fatigue, auto-billing, and price creep are doing to your wellness budget -- and your health Estimated read time: ~4 minutes ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────── At The Massage Clinic, we're in the business of being honest with people. Sometimes that means telling a client their pain isn't going to resolve in one session. Sometimes it means saying out loud that a lot of what the wellness industry sells is designed to extract money from you,

Reiki, Crystals and Energy Grids: What We Know, What We Don’t, and Why Informed Consent Matters (A summary of research on Reiki and other “energy” modalities) Estimated read time: ~2-3 minutes Clients often ask us at The Massage Clinic what we think about Reiki, crystal healing or energy grids. Some have had powerful personal experiences. Others are skeptical but curious. Our own practice is grounded in more conventional massage therapy, but we believe you deserve a clear pi

Why consent and safety are paramount to effective massage.

Loneliness, Touch Hunger and the Power of Safe Contact for Older Adults

Massage and Aging Bodies: Balance, Pain and Touch in Later Life (A summary of research on massage in older adults) Estimated read time: ~3–4 minutes Many of our older clients at The Massage Clinic say the same thing: “I don’t bounce back like I used to.” They’re dealing with arthritis, chronic pain, balance changes, fear of falling and, often, less day‑to‑day touch. The research on massage and older adults is smaller than we’d like, but it does suggest real, practical benefit

we see fourth‑trimester massage as part of a broader support network, not a self-care extra, or worse…a ‘treat

Pregnancy Massage, Prenatal Massage, Perinatal Massage and Post Postpartum Massage are each unique and important.

We use massage to help you feel more comfortable, move more freely and tolerate a wider variety of positions.

Why Massage Helps Some People More than Others

How to Be an Active Massage Client: What You Do Between Sessions Matters More Than You Think!

science suggests massage helps for reasons other than flushing anything out, and that matters for how we set expectations.

we don’t chase “hurt so good” as a goal in itself. We aim for pressure that feels meaningful but tolerable, that your nervous system can actually relax into rather than fight against.

that massage was significantly associated with reduced depressive symptoms compared with various control conditions. Other reviews and narrative summaries have reported decreases in trait anxiety and stress in populations ranging from medical patients

What Massage Can (Actually) Do for Pain (Not What the Ads Promise)

A recent review of trigger point theory and muscle pain emphasizes that myofascial trigger points likely involve an interplay of biomechanical and neurophysiological mechanisms, including sustained sarcomere contraction, local ischemia and sensitized nociceptors, but it also acknowledges limitations in the research.

we treat screen‑related pain as a real, predictable pattern—not a character flaw or a sign you’re “weak.” We build neck and jaw sessions around what your actual days look like: laptop height, phone use, stress levels and how your body tends to guard under load.

Massage research that reports reductions in pain, improved function and better quality of life is not just about dim lights and nice smells; it’s about targeted, repeated manual therapy in a therapeutic relationship. If a practice hides behind aesthetics without delivering thoughtful assessment and hands‑on work, clients may feel good for an hour and still be stuck with the same problems.

(A summary of common myths and misleading claims in massage advertising) Estimated read time: ~2-3 minutes By the time many people find The Massage Clinic, they’ve seen a lot of wild promises. “Cures fibromyalgia in one session.” “Boosts immunity 400%.” “Eliminates trauma stored in your psoas.” For those of us dealing with real pain, these claims can be tempting—and harmful when they don’t deliver. We’ve looked at how evidence-minded massage educators and organizations discus

Does Massage actually dehydrate you and where did the water go?

Misinformation & Prenatal Massage