Common questions

Every session starts with an assessment. We talk about what hurts, what you have already tried and what you want from the treatment, before any work begins. Only then does the hands on work start, and the pressure is adjusted throughout to what your body can work with.

Wear whatever you are comfortable in. Most people bring shorts and a t-shirt, but nothing is required. You stay covered with a towel throughout, and only the area being worked on is uncovered at any time. If you would rather stay fully dressed, that is fine too.

Not at all. You do not need to be flexible, you do not need to be fit, and you do not need to know anything about anatomy. Treatment is adapted to the body in front of us, not to a standard.

A full body deep tissue treatment runs for 80 to 90 minutes. A half body sports massage is 45 to 50 minutes for a first visit, and 35 to 40 minutes on follow ups. Relaxing massage is available in 30 or 60 minute appointments.

Just yourself. Towels and everything else you need are provided. If you have any relevant medical notes, letters or scan results, bringing them can be helpful, but it is not essential.

It varies with how busy the diary is. Booking a week or so ahead is usually comfortable, and around competition season or in the run up to an event it is worth booking earlier. Calling is the quickest way to find a slot.

They overlap far more than the names suggest. Deep tissue works into the deeper layers of muscle and connective tissue across the whole body. Sports massage uses the same techniques but on one targeted area, with the work shaped around training, competition or recovery. In practice, which one you book comes down to whether you want a full body session or one area done thoroughly.

You should feel firm pressure, and some discomfort on the tightest areas is normal. It should never be genuinely painful. A muscle that is guarding cannot release properly, so telling the therapist if something is too much is what makes the treatment work, not a complaint.

Visible bruising is uncommon, but feeling tender for a day or two afterwards is normal, much like after a hard training session. That tenderness usually settles quickly, and many clients notice the benefit most clearly on the second or third day.

Gentle movement is usually fine and often helps. Hard training on the same day is best avoided, particularly after deep work on a specific area, because the tissue needs time to settle. If you are mid training block, tell the therapist and they will factor it in.

Most people feel looser and lighter, sometimes with some local tenderness in the areas worked hardest. A few people feel a little flat for a day. Drinking water and keeping moving gently both help.

Therapists are not able to diagnose. We can tell you what we can feel, how the tissue is behaving and what is likely to help, and we will say plainly when something sits beyond what massage can address and would be better looked at by a GP or physiotherapist.

There is no single answer, and anyone who gives you one without asking about your body is guessing. As a rough guide, a recent strain that is settling often needs two or three appointments close together, while long standing tightness tends to respond to work spread over a longer period. Regular maintenance every few weeks suits people who train hard, and a single session now and then is fine for everybody else.

The therapist will give you an honest view after the first appointment, once they have seen how your body responds. Nobody will suggest a fixed number of sessions before they have treated you.

Both work. Coming only when something hurts is perfectly reasonable, and many clients do exactly that. Booking regularly means niggles get dealt with while they are still small, which tends to mean fewer flare ups and less time lost.

No. You can book directly, and you do not need a referral from a GP or a physiotherapist first. If you are already seeing someone else about the same problem, it still helps to mention it when you book so we know what else is going on.

We can treat you and provide an invoice for insurance purposes, so if your policy covers sports massage or physiotherapy you can claim it back yourself.

We do not treat anyone in the first trimester. From the second trimester onwards treatment is possible, but we ask for your midwife's consent before we book you in. If you are unsure, speak to your midwife first and then get in touch with us.

There are situations where it is sensible to speak to your GP first, including recent surgery, an injury that is still healing, circulation conditions, and if you are taking blood thinning medication. That is not a list of reasons you cannot be treated, it is a list of reasons to have a conversation before booking.

Book through the form on the booking page or call 07971 742797. The treatment room is based at Richard Clarke Health and Fitness in Birchgrove, around two minutes from Junction 44 of the M4.

Please give us at least 24 hours notice to cancel or rearrange. New clients pay in advance before a first appointment, and that applies to prebooked and prepaid appointments too, so the 24 hour notice period is the same whether you have paid yet or not.