Massage Services
Medical
There are two main classifications we make with Medical versus Therapeutic:
1: Medical massage aims to directly impact areas of dysfunction and can be (though is not always) more intense in treatment than our Therapeutic massage. These techniques encompass deep tissue (aiming at working deeper structures of musculature which don’t often feel direct pressure or external stimulation), cross fiber friction to help break up adhesions keeping muscles from sliding across each other in the way they optimally work, sciatic issues, and so on. What this means is that relaxation is not at the forefront of the practitioner’s goals for the session, and while there will be ups and downs of soothing versus hard moments of work, the relaxation component of massage may not even be a part of these sessions depending on what is wrong and why a client is in for medical massage.
2: Frequency of visitation. We do not price gouge, and therefore do not want cost to be prohibitive to those seeking massage as a treatment option for pain and/or physical dysfunction of musculoskeletal issues. If someone has to visit 2+ times a month for this type treatment, we move them into this category of payment to help adjust overall cost and keep it lower.
For Medical, we have adjusted variance of times to match our clinical experience with needs of clients.
The following options exist for medical massage: 30/45/60/90 minute sessions.
On average we have found that clients handle 45-60 minutes best, feeling like this is a sweet spot that gets them the most relief between sessions when they are coming in once a week or twice a month for recurrent issues.
The 30 minute treatments are almost always when pain is so severe that treatment must be weakly but also cannot be tolerated for extended periods of time.
And lastly 90 minutes is not something we recommend unless and until there has been at least 1-3 sessions with Kevin to determine how a client’s body responds between sessions/how treatment holds up during the week through regular, daily activities. For these sessions the aim is specifically when a client has to come in twice a month to keep them moving better, for longer, but have found that the monthly maintenance of Therapeutic is not enough.
Holistic/Therapeutic
Therapeutic is a holistic session/full body treatment that aims at mixing corrective techniques with relaxation techniques. It is meant to work as a maintenance session to help prevent recurrence of chronic, though manageable, issues and/or aid in a client’s systemic preventative healthcare routine.
While Kevin can and has done full sessions purely focused on relaxation, ideally there will be some techniques applied, even if they’re adjusted to be less intense than in the medical sessions, to areas of dysfunction to improve daily tolerance of pain issues, improve mobility, and help correct imbalances.
These sessions are not meant to address immediate pain that requires multiple visits and prolonged concurrent treatments (i.e. more than one visit a month). These sessions can be used exclusively for feel good sessions and those can be more than once a month if a client has a desire for that.
Our options here are 60/90/120 minutes, and we offer a monthly membership that comes with a 15% cost reduction for clients who know they want at least one visit with this type of focus a month.
Unlike medical, we do not have a strong recommendation on averages for length of sessions with this therapy. Each client has different needs and desires when it comes to maintenance massages, with some people preferring the classic once a month 60 minute massage, and others enjoying a longer session to really feel like they’re getting the most of the attention being spent on them.
Some people enjoy getting this type of maintenance every month, while others will seek it out every 2 or 3 months.
First visit for this type of massage is always set at the member’s discount so a client has the ability to determine if they would like this monthly and therefore want a monthly membership, need it less than monthly, or have issues so pressing they need to be in for direct treatment on specific issues multiple times in a month (see Medical Massage).
Stretch Therapy
Stretch Therapy aims to relax stiffness in muscles and treat restricted / imbalanced joints through manipulation of soft tissues (muscles, blood vessels, nerves, tendons, ligaments). This modality can be paired with soft tissue work from our therapeutic sessions or medical techniques, but it can also be done by itself as a therapy. For those who are seeking to simply have flexibility issues worked out, this is a modality that does not require disrobing and will be similar to being stretched by a partner in athletics (especially for those who have done martial arts in the past), but with a more focused and knowledge based approach.
Stretching is done through both a combination of passive and active movement, and the combination of these two by percentage will often change by session (usually with active becoming utilized more the more limber a client becomes).
The options we offer for this are 30/45/60 minute sessions, and can be full stretch sessions or 50/50 stretch and massage.
Cupping and Scraping
Suction from cupping draws fluid into the treated area. This suction force expands and breaks open tiny blood vessels (capillaries) under your skin. Your body replenishes the cupped areas with healthier blood flow and stimulates proper and normal healing at a cellular level.Scraping is a tool assisted mobilization of soft tissue, wherein the scraping tool is moved across tissue and helps to lift and stimulate layers of connective tissue and muscle.
Cupping and Scraping services are part of the massage services at Epic Level Fitness. If you and the Therapist decide that cupping and / or scraping is for you, there are no hidden costs!