Full Body Massage

In a full-body massage, a therapist will massage the entire body during a therapeutic massage. Sessions typically last a minimum of 50 minutes which allows enough time to work over all the major areas of the body like the back, shoulders, legs, feet, arms, hands, and neck.

Generally, the session starts with the client disrobing completely with draping or wearing only undergarments and lying face down on a padded table under a sheet. The therapist will begin with the back and shoulders before moving down the body. Once the client has flipped over about mid-way through the session time, the therapist works back up the body, usually ending with neck and shoulders and sometimes the scalp. Men may also receive a pectoral massage.

Spas can offer a full-body massage in a wide variety of specialized formats. Among the most popular is the Swedish massage, which focuses on warming the muscle tissue to releasing tension and breaking up muscle "knots." A deep tissue massage mimics many of the same movements as a Swedish massage but with higher intensity pressure. A hot stone massage uses heated rocks placed along the body to relax tight muscles and allow the therapist to release pressure points. There are even treatments like shiatsu, in which a therapist uses his feet and stands atop the client to knead out the stress from the back.