Slow, heavy, specific work for the knots that have been there for years, forty-five minutes £50
Deep tissue massage
Slower and heavier than sports massage, for the chronic stuff: the shoulder that has been in a knot since 2019, the lower back that locks up every winter, the hips that sit all day. Forearms and elbows as well as hands, at a depth we agree on and keep checking. Forty-five minutes £50, an hour £65.
Deep tissue is the treatment for things that have been there a long time: the muscle that has shortened and thickened over years of the same posture, the band of tissue that has stopped sliding over the one next to it. It is slower than sports massage, heavier, and more specific, and it is where the forearms and elbows come out. Done well it is one of the few things that reaches the problem; done badly it is just painful, and we do not do it badly.
The depth is agreed before we start and checked throughout: deep tissue should feel like a good ache you can breathe through, never a pain you tense against, because a tensed muscle does not release. We work slowly into the layer that is stuck, hold, and wait for it to let go rather than forcing it. Forearms and elbows give a broad, heavy pressure that hands cannot sustain; thumbs find the specific points.
Forty-five minutes covers one region thoroughly: the whole back, or the hips and glutes, or the shoulders and neck. An hour covers two. We do not offer thirty minutes of deep tissue because the tissue takes ten minutes to warm and accept the depth, and twenty minutes of work is not worth your money. Ninety minutes is for a full body of long-standing tension, perhaps twice a year.
Expect to feel it the next day: a heavy, bruised, slightly stiff feeling that fades by the second day and leaves the muscle longer and the movement freer. Drink water, keep moving, do not train hard that evening. Most chronic problems need two or three sessions a fortnight apart and then a maintenance visit every couple of months, and we say which after the first.
What is included
- The depth agreed before and checked during
- Forearms and elbows as well as hands
- One region done thoroughly in forty-five minutes
- Slow work that waits for the release
- What to expect the next day, explained
- A plan after the first session
What it costs
Forty-five minutes £50, an hour £65, ninety minutes £90. Thirty minutes is too short for deep tissue work and we do not offer it. The prices page has every length and block side by side; the treatment picker says which one fits what is bothering you.
Questions about deep tissue
What is the difference between deep tissue and sports massage?
Speed and intent. Sports massage is brisker, aimed at keeping a training body working. Deep tissue is slow and heavy, aimed at tissue that has been stuck for a long time. Many sessions are a bit of both, and the price is the same.
Can I have deep tissue if I do not exercise?
Yes, and about half of the people who have it do not. Desks, driving, carrying children and stress produce the same shortened muscles as sport, in different places.
The next free slot is on this website. Take it.
Forty-five minutes is £50 and the usual first booking: ten minutes of talking, thirty-five hands on, a stretch and a drill written down. Pick an hour on the book page up to two hours ahead, or ring the clinic and we find you one.