7 types of massage to ease your everyday aches and pains

There are the times you spring for a massage because you woke up with a crick in your neck that brings tears to your eyes. And then there are the more self-indulgently-motivated times, when you just need to escape to a quiet room and feel pampered. But massage is more than a posh spa treatment for a girl's day out. This is an ancient therapeutic practice (even Hippocrates thought all doctors should now how to give a proper rub-down!) that can lower stress and blood pressure, boost immunity, and ease depression and anxiety. School yourself in which type of massage might best suit your needs using the following rundown:

Swedish massage. This is the most commonly offered type of massage and is the basis for some of the other types of massage below. Even though you're usually nude under a towel, shy types needn't worry, because you're never really exposed. Using a technique called draping, the massage therapist will uncover only the body part they are working on. This is a relaxing form of massage using oils, long strokes, kneading, and gentle but firm pressure to get your muscles and mind to unfurl.

Hot stone. Using Swedish massage as a template, this type of massage throws hot rocks into the mix. The smooth stones are heated and then placed along the spine or on points on the body considered to be energy centers. The warmth of the stones helps relax the muscles, which allows the therapist to apply deeper pressure, calms the nervous system, and just feels comforting, like a heating pad on an achy back.

Deep tissue. If you are chronically stiff and tense in the neck and shoulders (office workers unite!), deep tissue massage may be able to help. Wherever you have a muscle in the body that is continually contracted, there are usually adhesions (bands of painful, rigid tissue) in muscles, tendons, and ligaments. In deep tissue massage, the massage therapist physically breaks down these adhesions using direct, deep pressure. And yes, that kind of deep pressure can cause some pain.But as with all forms of massage, you should always speak up when you are uncomfortable so the practitioner can adjust their pressure.

Thai massage. One way to think of Thai massage is a lazy girl's form of yoga. You wear comfortable, loose-fitting clothing and stretch out on a mat on the floor, while a practitioner gently guides your body through a series of stretches using their hands, knees, legs and feet. You'll likely feel more energized after this type of yoga than some of the more deeply relaxing kinds.

Acupressure. This healing practice comes from the school of traditional Chinese medicine and is a sister to acupuncture, only sans needles. The practitioner applies pressure with their hands or fingers to to various points on the body to restore the proper flow of energy, or qi, throughout the body and prevent and treat specific ailments and conditions, like nausea, muscle tension and headaches. Modern Western medicine shakes their head at this unfounded idea (as well as the two additional forms of massage below), but there's got to be something working with a healing technique that's been used since ancient times.

Shiatsu. Shiatsu is a Japanese form of massage based on ideas similar to acupressure, and while it's having a hot moment as the "new" form of massage to try, it's a form of bodywork that's been practiced in Japan for thousands of years. The practitioner uses finger and palm pressure along invisible energetic pathways in the body, called meridians, to improve the flow of qi. The pressure can often be intense, though devotees call it that "good pain."

Reflexology. What if a massage therapist could access every joint, gland, organ, and muscle in the body just by massaging your stiletto-weary feet? That's the idea behind reflexology which, like acupressure and shiatsu, attempts to restore energy flow in the body. Got ticklish tootsies? Not to worry, as the practitioners apply steady, firm pressure for deeply relaxing benefits.

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