What is massage therapy?
Whilst encompassing many different techniques, massage therapy usually involves 'hands on' manipulation of soft tissues (such as muscles and nerves), using different pressures or movements depending on the goals of the treatment.
What are the benefits?
Massage can encourage relaxation and relieve muscular discomfort, as well as improving overall wellbeing. It can stimulate muscle recovery and repair, and can help manage mobility issues and a number of health conditions.
How many visits will I need?
For general maintenance or wellbeing, we suggest monthly visits (although you may come more often if you wish). For specific injuries or issues, your therapist can advise an appropriate treatment plan after your first session.
What should I wear?
For most treatments, we encourage our clients to undress down to their comfort level - we find underwear usually the best option. For sports massage, it can be helpful to bring some shorts, as you may be moving around more than usual.
What should I do beforehand?
Please make sure you've filled in an Online Health Form before your first session, to help your therapist prepare effectively for your visit. Please also take a look at our advice for new clients.
How do I make an appointment?
The easiest way is to use our online booking system, which allows you to see all of our availability and book in with a therapist of your choice. You can also call our virtual reception service on 07544 045612, or email us.
Before your massage
The best way to get in touch with us is usually by text or email, unless your enquiry is urgent, in which case please call us. We use Best Reception (a virtual reception service) to answer our calls, and whilst they are capable of answering basic questions and booking appointments, email is the best way of getting in touch with us directly.
Please note that we cannot see visitors at the clinic without a prior appointment - we don’t have a dedicated receptionist, and our therapists will most likely be in a treatment session if you arrive unexpectedly.
To get a good idea of our therapists specialities, experience and training, please check out their individual therapist pages under 'Meet the Team'. If you’re still not sure, drop us an email explaining what your treatment goals are, and we will help you find the perfect therapist to fit your needs.
If you're booking online, try and reduce the treatment duration to see if one of our therapists has a smaller gap in their schedule in which to accommodate you.
You can also join our waiting list, which will allow us to get in touch with you if there are any cancellations or schedule changes.
You can also text or email us to check if there are any last minute bookings.
During your massage
Please remove any jewellery, and put your phone on silent mode. If you have long hair, please make sure this is up and off your neck.
If you usually wear contact lenses, you may find it more comfortable to take these out before your treatment.
COVID-19 UPDATE:
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we are asking all clients to place their belongings into the plastic box provided. While you do not have to wear a face mask whilst face-down on the massage table, please keep this with you and wear it whilst side-lying and face up, and whilst talking with your therapist.
Please sanitise your hands when arriving at the clinic, and before getting onto the massage table. Visit our Covid-19 Guidelines page to find out more about how we can keep each other safe during your treatment.
This one is simple - please just let us know! If you’re cold, we have a heated blanket, space heater and cosy blankets that we can put on top of you to ensure that you’re nice and toasty. We also have air conditioning in both our treatment rooms if you’re feeling too warm. Our therapists are all also more than happy to adjust the pressure to suit you, so please don’t be reluctant to ask if anything could be improved during your treatment.
Here’s a massage therapist secret - whilst we’re happy to chat if that’s your preference, we often find that the flow of the treatment is better when both the client and the therapist are quiet, and focussing on the session, and we invite you to switch off and relax if that’s what you need. Of course, if you’re booked in for a specific issue and relaxation isn’t a priority, treatment-specific conversation can be helpful to both pinpoint the issue and help to effectively treat it.
After your massage
Some people can feel a little sore or achy in the 48 hours following a massage, particularly if the pressure was deep. We recommend a warm bath on the evening following a treatment, and some light stretching can be very beneficial as well. You may also want to refrain from vigorous exercise following your treatment, but paying attention to your body and how it feels is the most important thing.
Some people can experience dreams or emotions that are more intense than usual following a massage, this is common and you might find it helpful to record these in a journal if you keep one.
A massage is a wonderful pampering experience so try savour the feeling for as long as possible. If you do need to go back to a hectic lifestyle straight away, try to at least have a short walk after your treatment, preferably in a park or other natural setting in order to ease yourself back into your day. Ealing has numerous green spaces for you to enjoy, with Haven Green and the beautiful Walpole Park just minutes away.
Our therapists are always willing to offer advice on how to maintain the benefits of your treatment at home. If you are looking for specific stretches or exercises for injury rehabilitation, please book in with one of our sports massage therapists who will be able to assist with this.
We love receiving helpful feedback, as it helps us to grow and improve the services we offer, and we take all feedback we receive very seriously. Please feel free to get in touch with us at info@thesomaroom.com at any time with comments, suggestions or criticisms, and we will ensure they're dealt with straight away.
Other info
Please feel free to join our Last Minute Appointments mailing list, where we occasionally offer discounted next-day or same-day appointments.
You can also prepay for a package of three treatments, which is more cost effective than booking individual appointments.
Another great way to save is through our loyalty card scheme, which gets you 30% off your sixth appointment once you've collected five stamps on your card - simply ask your therapist for a loyalty card at your next appointment.
Yes! We can email or post our gift vouchers, and we also offer gift packages. Please see our Gift Vouchers page for further details.
Our utmost priority is the safety and health of everyone at The Soma Room, therapists and clients alike. To see the steps we have taken to ensure the clinic remains Covid-free, please take a look at our COVID-19 Guidelines.
Unfortunately the clinic is up one short flight of stairs, and we are therefore unable to accommodate wheelchair users.
Depending on availability, we can sometimes see two people at the same time, in different treatment rooms. Please drop us an email or give our virtual reception service a call to check availability for this service.
Ask us a Question
Feel free to ask any physical therapy related questions over the phone, or get send your question via this form below. Your message will be dispatched directly to our staff who will answer as soon as they can.