How often should you get a massage?

It depends what you are using it for

Massage gets booked for four fairly different reasons, and each has a different sensible rhythm. Lumping them together is why the generic advice you find online is so unhelpful.

General stress and wellbeing. Working on a specific problem. Supporting training. And occasional treat. The right frequency for one is wrong for the others.

For general stress: about once a month

If you are not injured and not training hard, monthly is the frequency most people settle into on their own, and it works.

The reasoning is practical rather than physiological. Life reloads tension at a fairly steady rate — desk work, driving, sleep, whatever you carry. A month is roughly how long the loosening from a good session lasts before things creep back.

Some people do every six weeks and are perfectly happy. Some go fortnightly because they find it genuinely improves their sleep and mood and they would rather spend money on that than something else. Both are reasonable. There is no clinical threshold you are failing to meet.

For a specific problem: weekly to fortnightly, then stop

This is where frequency matters most, and where it is easiest to spend money badly.

If you are working on something particular — a shoulder that has been bad for months, low back pain that flares every afternoon — a closer sequence works far better than the same number of sessions spread over a year. Every one to two weeks for four to six sessions is a sensible block.

Then reassess honestly. If it is better, spread the sessions out and move to maintenance. If it is somewhat better, keep going a while longer.

And if three or four focused sessions have made no difference at all, stop. That is genuinely useful information: it suggests the problem is not primarily muscular, and the next appointment should be with a doctor or physical therapist, not a massage therapist. Any spa that tells you to keep booking regardless is not looking after you.

If you train: build it around the calendar, not the diary

For anyone training with intent, frequency matters less than timing.

During a heavy block, every one to two weeks helps keep on top of accumulated fatigue. In an easier phase, monthly is plenty.

The timing rules are simple and worth following. Deep work belongs at least forty-eight hours before an event, never the day before — freshly worked muscle can feel slightly unreliable for a day. Lighter, faster work is fine two or three days out. And after a hard event, give it a couple of days before booking anything deep.

During pregnancy

Every two to four weeks through the second and third trimesters is a common and comfortable rhythm, and many people increase to fortnightly in the third trimester as the aches get more insistent.

Clear it with your midwife or OB first, particularly in the first trimester, and tell your therapist what they said. Pregnancy changes week to week — say what has changed each visit rather than assuming the session should be identical.

When more is not better

A few honest caveats, since almost nobody in this industry offers them.

There is no benefit to deep tissue work more than about once a week on the same area. Tissue needs time between sessions, and stacking heavy work does not accelerate anything.

If you are booking massage to manage anxiety or low mood, it can genuinely help and there is decent evidence it does — but it works best alongside proper support, not instead of it.

And if you find yourself booking more and more often chasing relief that never quite arrives or lasts, that is a signal worth paying attention to. Something is being managed rather than resolved, and it is worth finding out what.

Related services

More guides

Frequently asked questions