Swedish massage is the most common and best-known type of massage in the West. If it’s your first time at the spa or you don’t get massage often, Swedish massage is the best place to start. Swedish massage and other types of therapeutic massage are performed by trained, licensed massage therapists.
Swedish massage is the foundation for other types of Western massage, including sports massage, deep tissue massage and aromatherapy massage. It is based on the Western concepts of anatomy and physiology, as opposed to energy work on “meridiens” or sen lines in Asian massage systems. Most people get a 50 or 60-minute Swedish or deep tissue massage, but 75 or 90-minutes gives the therapist more time to work the muscle tissue and achieve results.
A Swedish massage can be slow and gentle, or vigorous and bracing, depending on the therapist’s personal style and what he or she is trying to achieve. To get an idea of what it’s like, you can watch this video of a Swedish massage.
If you want deeper work and can tolerate more pressure to get relief from chronic muscle pain, it’s better to book a deep tissue massage, which is another form of Swedish massage. If you have pain, it will likely take a series of massages to get results.
