Massage Therapy for Cedar Grove, NJ

What a week in a seat does

Hours behind the wheel on Route 23, at a desk, or riding the 195 bus to the Port Authority Bus Terminal all leave their mark in the same place: across the lower back and down into the hips and buttocks. By Friday the hips feel locked when you stand up from a chair, and bending to tie a shoe draws a complaint from the base of the spine. A massage built around that lower half is a different session from one aimed at the neck and shoulders, and at Montville MedSpa & Pain Center it can be planned exactly that way.

Shaping the session

• Deep tissue, 60 or 90 minutes. Slow, deliberate work into the deeper layers of muscle and the connective tissue around them, often staying on one stubborn area for several minutes. The practice’s own sciatica guidance notes that deep tissue massage may ease tight back, hip and buttock muscles that add to discomfort.
• The 90-minute option. Worth choosing when the lower back, both hips and the backs of the legs all want attention, so none of it is hurried.
• Trigger point therapy, a 30-minute add-on. Focused pressure on a knot deep in the buttock or beside the spine, and it can sit inside an otherwise gentle Swedish massage.
• Hot stones, an add-on. Heated stones warm tight muscle first, so it lets go more readily.

Add-ons are an additional cost. Sessions are with Maryann Constantino, LMT, who asks where it hurts before she begins and adjusts pressure as she goes.

Why sitting gets the blame

Sitting raises the pressure on the discs of the lower back and can put tension on a nerve that is already irritated. That is why a back that stiffens at a desk is sometimes a muscle problem and sometimes more than one.

When to book the doctor first

• Pain that travels down the back of one leg, especially with numbness, tingling or pins and needles in the leg or foot, points toward sciatica rather than a tight muscle.
• Pain that is severe, lasts longer than a few weeks, keeps returning or stops you working or sleeping deserves an examination.
• Loss of bladder or bowel control, numbness in the groin or inner thighs, weakness that is getting worse, or symptoms in both legs need emergency care: call 911 or go to the emergency room.

Because the practice is also a pain center, that examination can happen in the same building. Dr. Donna D’Alessio, MD, board certified in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, leads non-surgical back pain treatment, and her patients can add massage to their care without going elsewhere.

Getting here from Cedar Grove

Route 23 north to Mountainview Boulevard, then Route 202 through Lincoln Park to 624 Main Road in Towaco: about 16 minutes without traffic.

Cedar Grove clients ask

Will I feel sore afterwards? After deep tissue, a little soreness for a day or so is normal, rather like the day after a hard workout.

What should I mention before we start? Recent injuries or surgery, a blood thinner, an earlier blood clot, a pregnancy or osteoporosis, because each changes how firm the pressure should be.

Can I come after work? On Tuesdays, when appointments run until 7 pm.

Help choosing is in Swedish or deep tissue: which should you book?, and every option is on the massage therapy page.

Book NowCall (973) 794-3958Text (973) 834-7074