This depends on a few factors. 45 minutes with a full initial consultation generally doesn't leave enough time for a thourough treatment and sometimes you will end up needing a follow up soon after. An hour or 75 minutes can be perfectly sufficient, but should you be coming in with a complex lower back pain, then the 90 minute option is more appropriate. The 90 minute option is also the best option should you be coming in with two different conditions that you wish to be seen to (eg. restriction of movement in the neck and a sore knee). There is no garuntee in any treatment that all issues can be addressed, but the therapist will talk to you about priorities should there be not enough time.

Our therapists will always try to do as requested, however in most cases a full body massage is not what is needed by the body. It takes time to affect change in the movement of the muscles and efficacy of joint actions. Taking this time it is unlikely that we will manage to get to every part of the body. Should you wish for a real once over, it is much more cost effective and better for the body to book two one hour sessions a week apart. The first week we would focus on the upper body, the second on the hips, upper legs and hopefully the lower legs and feet.

There's only one way to find out! No really, for most people, this type of massage can be hugely beneficial. If you have shooting pain that keeps you up at night, your pain coincides with a loss of bowel control, the painful area has become swollen and hot or you are having heart pains then please see your GP instead. They can always clear you for massage at a later date. Please get clearance post surgery as we cannot perform massage in the first 6 weeks, but sometimes, depending on the surgery and area, this time might be longer.

Blood clotting disorders, especially those newly diagnosed need a medical clearance also.

Common conditions that clients present with are frozen shoulder, loss of movement associated with pain in the neck, mild pins and needles, lower back pain, hip and knee pain, sore foot arches (not always plantafaciitis!), loss of mobility in any joints, elbow pain and headaches. Migraines can sometimes be helped depending on their cause, but generally the migraine sufferer will know whether or not they are able to be touched. Any questions please send us an email; we rarely turn down treatment and it is always in the best interests of the client if we do so.

Absolutely not! Whilst we do see many sports people (small injuries are par for the course with these clients), we also see people of all shapes and sizes. Every body should be able to live with as little pain and muscular restriction as possible and we want to help out as many people as possible. Desk workers present to us very often as evolution hasn't quite caught up with our current societal structures. Tradies can also benefit hugely to undo some of the damage done by working in conditions that are not ideal. Your Massage therapist will be able to talk to you about your specific muscular pains and mobility issues in the attempt to alleviate any issues you may have.

There are certain times where massage is either not the best idea, or it is not permitted (contraindicated).

Within the first few days of an intense sports event (something that you have been training for that is past your regular workout intensity) it can be counterproductive to get a Sports Massage. If you were to get one in the half hour after at a lighter pressure that is great, but once the muscles start tightening up, we recommend you wait 3 days before having a deep tissue massage. It is possible within this time frame that you may have sustained an injury and it is not obvious due to the fact that you have general soreness to the body. This means that necessary feedback is not possible for the Massage Therapist, and so we may go firmer on areas that are still actively inflamed. This can hinder healing rather than help. Play it safe and wait.

6 weeks post surgery is the general rule of thumb when it comes to returning to massage, although if the surgery is reasonably invasive, we insist that you get clearance before receiving massage. The surgeons may be aware of complications and issues that we may not be and so we rely on their experience and knowledge to make the best possible decisions for your health.

Some medical conditions also need clearance from your GP before we can see you. These include but are not limited to blood-clotting disorders, advanced RA, blood related disorders, compartment syndrome, acute disc-herniations, kidney or liver disease and uncontrolled hypertension. If you have medical conditions that are not listed above and you are unsure if massage is indicate, it is always best to get clearance anyway, or you can send us an email and we can advise as to whether this is necessary.

During the massage you will dress down to your underwear (bras removed) so please bring underwear as otherwise we need to work over shorts which can hinder our abilities to feel the muscles.

You will be fully covered by towels at all times with only the treatment area exposed which will never be private areas, but if you are uncomfortable with dressing down to just underwear then please wear either very loose light clothes or else skin tight like leggings. This may hinder the massage as the better techniques require skin contact but we of course understand (it is your massage!)

In winter a lot of clients like to keep their socks on so keep this in mind if you get cold feet. If the massage therapist needs to remove them this will be discussed at the time.

The massage is mostly done with oil, so please if it is a $1000 shirt, consider wearing something else after the massage; you can get most of the oil off with the towels from the massage, but there may still be remnants (I say this having never had an oil stain personally post massage; just a precaution).

Yes it is! I have many clients for which this is the case. Some of the adjustments we make are as follows:

1. I have clients that are non-verbal. We communicated before hand via email and were able to come up with some ways to communicate pain levels during the massage. Please just send me an email before and we can figure it out.

2. Issues with fragrances. I have many clients that can't take strong smells so everything in the clinic is as fragrance free as possible. I never wear any fragrances, the oil is fragrance free and I also have sorbeline.

3. Issues with touch. I can work with it as long as there is some level of touch allowed. For some people they preferred massage over clothes which is fine, just let me know before: I will probably shorten the session as there is less that I can do here, but we can work together with it.

4. Talking. I am happy to chat to people, I am also happy to be silent. I tend to try to adjust to the person who is in and how talkative they are, so if you have a strong preference please let me know. There will be better therapeutic results if there is some talk as we tend to get to the bottom of issues the more we talk about them, but I am happy to adjust.

5. Issues with textures. I try to make the towels as soft as possible, I am happy for people to bring in sarongs or other if towels are an issue. In terms of the oil and sorbeline, due to my own skin sensitivities, I can't change the oil I use, although I use a relatively small amount so it isn't an issue for most people.

6. ADHD. I have had many clients with ADHD and I am used to working with it. If you want to scroll through the treatment that is fine, just sometimes I will need to move your arms or neck. If you need to move around a lot that is also fine, I will let you know when I need you in a certain position. I do have clients at certain times so I am limited with how much I can work with time-blindness but I will do my absolute best to accommodate you as I completely understand it. If you feel like you have to talk the whole time, also I am completely used to this so go for it!

7. Issues with decision making. If I feel like you aren't ready to make appointments when you leave I will never push it: I tend to tell people that they can book online when they are ready anyway; the online booking system I have tried to make as easy as possible to navigate so most people are ok with this. If this system doesn't work for you or stresses you out, I am happy to communicate via email, or once I have met you by sms. The only issue with these is if I am busy with a massage at the time, the spot that was open may no longer be. But we can work around that.

In short, I am here to help. Please reach out if you have struggled to get massage before. I really do try to put everyone at ease and adjust my style/communications to suit the client.