Therapeutic Bodywork
Medical massage
Professional therapeutic massage techniques that address muscular tension, pain, circulatory impairment, and stress as part of comprehensive medical treatment programs.
What is medical massage?
Medical massage is a therapeutic treatment performed by trained massage therapists under physician prescription. Unlike wellness massage, medical massage is goal-oriented and targets specific musculoskeletal complaints, pain patterns, and functional limitations identified during medical assessment.
At St. George Hospital, massage therapy is integrated into treatment programs for chronic pain, post-surgical rehabilitation, and stress management during intensive medical treatments.
How does it work?
Medical massage employs techniques including deep tissue work, myofascial release, trigger point therapy, and lymphatic drainage. These techniques increase blood flow to affected areas, reduce muscle spasm, break down adhesions in fascial tissue, and stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system to promote relaxation and pain relief.
The physiological effects include reduced cortisol levels, increased serotonin and dopamine production, improved lymphatic drainage, and decreased muscle tone in hypertonic muscles. These mechanisms contribute to both local tissue healing and systemic stress reduction.
Conditions treated
- Chronic back and neck pain
- Muscle tension and spasm
- Post-surgical rehabilitation
- Stress-related symptoms
- Headache and migraine
- Lymphedema management
- Fibromyalgia
Could this belong in your plan?
That depends on your findings, not on the therapy. Write to the International Office with a short history; it requests your records afterwards, and a physician reviews them before the video consultation and tells you whether this treatment belongs in your program.
What a session feels like
- Before A prescription from your physician sets the area and the aim; the therapist works from that.
- During 30–60 minutes, on one problem area or several. Techniques are chosen for your complaint rather than for relaxation alone.
- Afterwards Sessions repeat several times a week during a stay.
Evidence & safety
Medical massage is one of the most well-established manual therapies with extensive evidence supporting its efficacy for musculoskeletal pain, stress reduction, and rehabilitation. Systematic reviews in journals including the Annals of Internal Medicine and Pain Medicine demonstrate benefits for chronic low back pain and neck pain. The therapy is very safe with minimal contraindications including acute fractures, active skin infections, and deep vein thrombosis in the treatment area.
Send a free inquiry
The initial inquiry is free of charge. The International Office reviews your message and your case directly and gets back to you.
- Phone
- +49 8061 398-0
- Hours
- Mon–Thu 08:00–17:00, Fri 08:00–14:00 German time (CET/CEST); in the US Mon–Thu 2–11 a.m. ET, Fri 2–8 a.m. ET.
Munich Airport (MUC), about 60 minutes by car.