What Is Massage Therapy?
Massage therapy is a technique where a professional applies pressures and movements to your muscles in order to relieve pain and improve wellness. Massage can help you with a range of issues from injury rehabilitation to stress relief.
When you arrive, your massage therapist will ask you a few short questions about what you’re feeling and your goals for the massage. They will use this insight to design a massage for your specific needs.
Benefits of Massage Therapy
Massage promotes optimal body function and enhances overall health and wellness. Therapeutic massage can have many benefits to enhance your sense of wellbeing:
- Assist with tissue repair
- Improve the function of lymphatic systems
- Reduce the symptoms of stress
- Boost joint mobility and flexibility
- Reduce stiffness and soreness
- Relax tense muscles
- Stimulates the nervous system
- Increases body awareness
- Softens and reduces scar tissue
Relieve Stress through Massage
Experiencing stress is normal. However, too much stress for too long may cause long-lasting negative effects on your physical and emotional wellbeing.
Massage helps to reduce the negative effects of stress, allowing your body and mind to regain balance. Even 10–15 minutes of massage on a regular basis can reduce symptoms like the following:
- Anxiety
- Digestive disorders
- Fibromyalgia
- Headache
- Insomnia
- Depression
- Pain
Massages We Offer
Our licensed massage therapists offer a range of table massages at the L. S. Skaggs Patient Wellness Center at University of Utah.
Table Massages
- Clinical or therapeutic massage: We design these massages to increase relaxation or ease discomfort and pain caused by overuse, inflammation, and other chronic (long-lasting) issues. Clinical or therapeutic massage use a variety of techniques to best meet your needs.
- Medical massage: Medical massage helps patients recover from injuries, surgical procedures, and ongoing medical treatment. You may also benefit from medical massage if you have chronic conditions such as multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, or migraine headache.
- Prenatal massage: We do prenatal massage to help individuals during pregnancy to reduce stress and pain while improving their relaxation and overall wellness.
- Lymphatic massage: Manual lymph drainage (MLD) is a specialized massage technique performed by an MLD therapist. This gentle form of massage encourages natural drainage of the lymph from your tissues. We recommend this type of massage if you’re post-surgery or post-injury, but it can also benefit anyone wishing to boost lymphatic flow.
- Sports massage: Sports massage focuses on muscles relevant to the sport as well as on recovery from strenuous or excessive activity. Sports massage can reduce pain, minimize recovery time, and increase range of motion and overall performance. For athletes who train continuously, our goal is to enhance endurance, lessen the chance of injury, and shorten the time needed to recover from an event.
- Craniosacral therapy: Craniosacral-trained massage therapists will use a gentle, light touch to examine the membranes and movement of the fluids in and around your central nervous system (brain and spine). Relieving tension in the central nervous system helps eliminate pain and boosts your health and immunity. This reduces your stress levels, eases neck and back pain, and provides migraine headache relief.
Chair Massages
Our chair massage programs support and promote healthier, happier, and more productive people. Our team of massage therapists will set up at your location with specialized chairs and supplies. If you are interested in having either of these services at your location, please contact us.
- Spoil Your Staff: This is an onsite chair massage program for University of Utah department managers and directors. Our team makes it easy to show your staff how much you appreciate their work.
- Special Event: Let our service enhance your meeting, event, or celebration whether large or small.
Massage Therapy Pricing
| Sessions | Cost |
|---|---|
| 30 minute table massage sessions | $35 (no discount applicable) |
| 60 minute table massage sessions | $65 ($5 discount for employees with active UID) |
*We do not bill insurance for these services. We will require full payment at the time of your appointment.
Add-On Services
You must call to add these services to your appointment at least 24 hours in advance. You cannot add them at check-in.
Cold Stone: Your massage therapist will place cold marble stones in specific areas along your neck, face, and scalp. For some patients, cold stone therapy is a good treatment for headaches and migraine pain. Call ahead to add cold stone massage for $15.
Hot stone: Using hot stones help to relax and soothe your muscles, letting your therapist access deeper muscle layers. Call ahead to add hot stone massage for $20.
Massage Policies
Arrival at Your Massage
Please arrive for your onsite massage appointment five minutes prior to the scheduled starting time. If you arrive late, we will shorten your service(s) to maintain our schedule. We do not give full or partial refunds for late arrivals.
Cancellation Policy
You must notify us at least 24 hours in advance if you need to reschedule, cancel an appointment, or reduce your appointment length. Weekends do not count toward the 24-hour notice policy. For example, if your appointment is on a Monday, you must give us 24 hours before your appointment on the previous Friday.
How to Schedule a Massage Appointment
We offer massage appointments Monday–Friday. To schedule a massage, please call us at 801-213-8720.
Osher Center for Integrative ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½
What is Integrative ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½?
At University of Utah ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ we focus on providing a customized and integrated approach to empower patients, employees, trainees, and health care professionals to live a healthy life. We are an integral part of the health care solution that maximizes preventive care--the health in health care.
About Us
Established in 2014 to align wellness services across University of Utah campuses, the Osher Center for Integrative ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ provides services for patients and the community.