My client came in this week looking to relieve the stiffness and pain in the foot she broke seven months ago. Her bones were completely healed and she was done with PT, but she was still experiencing limitations and pain with certain activities. After her massage, where I focused on her foot and the surrounding areas with multiple techniques, she said, “My foot feels amazing, I finally feel like I am back in my body.” She attempted a few jumps up and down and said, “No more pain!”
Every massage doesn’t deliver these kind of immediate results, but this is a prime example of our third silo of massage: Recover. (We covered Relax and Release in two prior posts.)
Recover isn’t about letting go of a stressful week, or easing a stiff shoulder from overworking in the garden. It can be bringing mobility and ease back after an injury. Reducing swelling after surgery to speed up the healing process. Postpartum body aches and running on almost no sleep. Supporting physical therapy to help speed up recovery after surgery. Reducing whiplash symptoms after a car accident. It’s the support that massage can give to help you on your journey back to your strongest self.
Although all of our therapists are skilled in techniques to help you on your recovery journey, we also have some focused techniques and therapists to help when your needs require specific skills.
Rehabilitative Massage
Rehabilitative massage is a specific offering from Rachael Grace, PT/LMT. She spent over 25 years as a physical therapist before she became a massage therapist, and that background changes how she works. She’s not guessing at what a healing joint or a compensating muscle pattern needs. She’s treated hundreds of them from the other side of the table. If your surgeon or PT has given you a list of restrictions, Rachael reads that list the way you’d want a clinician to, not just a bodyworker. She utilizes all her skills and techniques, as a massage therapist and a physical therapist, to help you back on your journey to wellness.
Manual Lymphatic Drainage (MLD)
Manual Lymphatic Drainage is the gentlest technique on our menu and sometimes misunderstood. It’s slow, rhythmic, and so light that it may seem like not much is happening. But it is. MLD works with your lymphatic system, the network that clears excess fluid, waste, and toxins from your tissue, and encourages it to move more efficiently.
Courtney Romero, LMT, C-MLD, is our certified lymphatic drainage specialist who offers this technique. It’s especially valuable before and after surgery. Reduced swelling can mean less pain and a smoother return to normal movement. We regularly see clients recovering from joint replacements, plastic surgery, mastectomies, and c-sections, and MLD is one of the tools we lean on most to support that healing window. It also helps outside of surgery: lymphedema, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, and autoimmune conditions can all respond well to this kind of gentle, consistent lymphatic support.
Postnatal Massage
Childbirth is a natural process, but it does take a toll on your body. And while everyone tends to focus on the amazing new infant in your life, postnatal massage is where the focus can come back to you and your care. It supports the physical work of recovering: easing the tension that builds from feeding positions and carrying a newborn, calming a nervous system running on fragmented sleep, reducing inflammation, and helping you reconnect with a body that may feel unfamiliar right now.
We Are Here to Help
If recovery is your goal but you’re not sure what you need, please call Donna at 508-788-7300 to discuss the options. When you’re coming in for a session focused on recovery, expect more questions than usual. Your surgery date. Your doctor’s clearance. How far out from delivery you are. What your PT has told you about your restrictions. Healing bodies are not one-size-fits-all, and knowing what you need helps us match you to the right therapist.
Whether you’re in Framingham, Natick, Sudbury, Ashland, Hopkinton, Wayland, or Marlborough, if your body is healing from something, tell us when you book. We’ll meet you exactly where you are.
Ready to talk through what Recover could look like for you? Reach out and we’ll figure out the right therapist and the right session together.