Mention the term massage and most people envision a particular type. In truth, there are many different styles of massages. Each strives for different results and goes about achieving them in different ways.



The number on massage in America is the Swedish. Ask for a general massage, and this is what you get. It is a relaxing massage made up of smooth strokes and circular motions. Soft music is often played. Good for temporary relief for a day or two.

Not all massages are meant to be relaxing. Sometimes, the focus is not on how you feel during the massage, so much as it is on how you feel afterwards. In this case, we are talking about the famous deep tissue massage. Perhaps I should say infamous.

If you don't know what you are getting into, you might not like the deep tissue massage at first. It can be painful, but not excessively so. Once it is completed, however, you will feel like a piece of cooked pasta and much better.

Moving beyond the traditional massage on the flat of your stomach pose, we come to the Thai massage. The goal is to align your energy points. This is accomplished by force yoga, to wit, the therapist will bend and twist you this way and that.

In my humble opinion, a quality Thai massage is the best in the world. Unfortunately, finding a quality practitioner is difficult. Outside of Thailand, I have yet to find one that really does the job. Mediocre Thai massages are worthless, so make sure to be wary.

The Japanese bring us the Shiatsu massage, which is similar to the Thai version and popular. The goal again is to align the energy centers, known as meridians, on the body. This is not done with twisting, but with the use of finger pressure on those spots.

I would be remiss if I failed to mention the trendy new hot stone massage. As the name suggest, hot flat stones are placed on stressed muscles and the heat relaxes them. A very light massage that I find to be weak, but to each their own.

A pregnant woman suffers from aches and pains like no other. If you are pregnant, there is a relatively new massage specialty designed to help you. The pregnancy massage is designed to relieve pain as well as swelling and nausea.

Unless you are a man getting a pregnancy massage, any massage is going to make you feel better. To get the most out of your experience, determine what you need and select the appropriate style of massage available in your area.