One of the secrets to a safe and effective deep tissue massage to start off very lightly and take time to increase the pressure on the muscles in order that your muscles accept the accumulating force.

I usually employ deep tissue massage as part of a traditional massage session using effleurage and petrissage techniques. These are the techniques you usually see on the telly, with effleurage being the long light strokes and petrisage being the shorter, deeper strokes and kneading of the muscles.

As effective as the other techniques I use are, there's nothing quite like a traditional relaxing massage. It really helps your mind and body drift off and leaves you loose-limbed and vibrant, which is probably why its always portrayed as something people do when they've won the lottery. There are no cigars or flutes of champagne allowed in my clinic mind you.