Deep tissue massage: Best for chronic muscle pain, stiff necks, lower back pain, and old injuries. It uses firm pressure and slow strokes to target deeper muscle layers and break down scar tissue or knots.
Trigger point therapy: Best for localized, persistent pain or tight muscle “knots” that refer pain to other areas. It applies direct pressure to specific hyperirritable points in the muscle.
Myofascial release: Best for tightness, restricted movement, and long-term fascial stiffness. It gently stretches and releases the connective tissue (fascia) surrounding muscles to bring relief.
Hypertonic stretch release: Best used to relax, lengthen, and restore normal function to hypertonic muscles—muscles that are in a state of chronic spasm, high resting tone, or constant contraction.
When a muscle is hypertonic, it feels stiff, unyielding, and resistant to passive stretching. Standard aggressive stretching can sometimes backfire by triggering a protective stretch reflex (where the muscle contracts even more to prevent tearing). Therefore, a “stretch release” approach combines gentle lengthening with neurological or manual techniques to reset the muscle’s resting tone.
In a therapeutic massage session I may combine these techniques depending on what my client presents with.
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