How often should you get a massage? What the trials actually used

Short answer: It depends on why you go. For neck pain, low back pain and knee arthritis, the trials that worked used sessions of about an hour, once or twice a week, for 4 to 10 weeks, and in the neck and knee trials 30-minute sessions did worse. For relaxation, we found no trial that tested a schedule, so it is a budget choice. Once a month is how Massage Envy, Hand & Stone and Elements Massage build their memberships, not a dose any study we found has tested.

Ask a spa how often to come back and the answer is usually once a month. That is also the unit three national massage chains sell: Massage Envy, Hand & Stone and Elements Massage all build their memberships around one session a month.

The research asks a different question: what dose helps a specific problem? Below is what the trials used, what happened when they stopped, and what that means for how often you book.

We don’t take fees from any chain or venue, so nothing here is paid for.

How often the massage trials booked, problem by problem

Problem	What the trial gave	What worked	Study
Chronic neck pain	4 weeks of 30-minute sessions 2 or 3 times a week, or 60-minute sessions 1, 2 or 3 times a week	60 minutes, 2 or 3 times a week. 30-minute sessions did no better than a wait list at any frequency	Sherman and colleagues, 2014
Knee osteoarthritis	8 weeks of 30 or 60 minutes, once a week, or twice a week for the first 4 weeks	60 minutes once a week. Starting at twice a week added nothing	Perlman and colleagues, 2012
Chronic low back pain	10 weekly sessions of 50 to 60 minutes, after a first visit of 75 to 90	Benefits lasted at least six months	Cherkin and colleagues, 2011
Generalized anxiety disorder	Swedish massage twice a week for 6 weeks	Better than a light-touch control from the end of week 3	Rapaport and colleagues, 2016
Fibromyalgia	9 trials pooled in a meta-analysis	Courses of 5 weeks or more helped pain, anxiety and depression, but not sleep	Li and colleagues, 2014

Two patterns run through these trials.

Session length mattered as much as frequency. In the neck pain trial, 30-minute massages did no better than waiting, however often people came, while 60-minute massages two or three times a week worked. The knee trial found the same: 60 minutes beat 30, and the benefit levelled off at 60 minutes a week.

The courses were short and concentrated. The single trials ran for 4 to 10 weeks, not open-ended. A 2024 Cochrane review of massage for neck pain found a clinically important difference favouring at least 8 sessions over four weeks, of 30 minutes or more, in a subgroup analysis.

That review is also a caution. Against a placebo, it rates the evidence as low certainty and finds massage probably makes little or no difference, partly because most of those placebo trials used a single session.

What happens when you stop, or keep going?

The gains from a course faded in some trials and held in others, and extra maintenance sessions added little.

Neck pain. A follow-up of the neck pain trial found the original dose groups no longer differed at 12 or 26 weeks. Six extra weekly 60-minute “booster” massages helped neck function at 12 weeks, the effect was no longer significant at 26, and it only worked in people who had started on 60-minute sessions.

Knee osteoarthritis. In the dosing trial, no effect was left at 24 weeks. A later trial by the same team gave 8 weekly sessions, then assigned people to a one-hour maintenance massage every two weeks or to usual care for the rest of the year. The maintenance kept the improvement but added no benefit beyond usual care, and the authors call the effect of the 8 weeks “quite durable without additional treatment”.

Low back pain. In the back pain trial, the benefits lasted at least six months. At a year, relaxation massage still helped function a little, but not symptoms. A 2015 Cochrane review of massage for low back pain has very little confidence that massage is an effective treatment, and found pain improvements only in the short term.

What this means in practice: a course has a start and an end. A standing appointment with no end date is not what these trials tested.

How often should you get a massage for stress or relaxation?

We found no trial that compares monthly with weekly massage for relaxation in healthy people. So the honest answer is: as often as you enjoy it and can afford it.

What the research does show is where the effects come from. In a 2004 meta-analysis of 37 studies, a single massage lowered state anxiety (how anxious you feel at that moment), blood pressure and heart rate. The largest effects, on longer-lasting anxiety and on depression, came from a course of treatment, and were similar in size to those of psychotherapy.

In healthy adults, a preliminary study of 45-minute massages once or twice a week for five weeks found biological effects that lasted several days to a week and differed by how often people came. The authors say larger studies are needed to confirm it.

If what you want is the anxiety relief researchers measured, it came from courses: twice a week for six weeks in the anxiety trial above. For sleep, nobody has established a dose either; our guide on whether massage helps you sleep covers what the evidence does say.

Is a monthly massage membership worth it?

Monthly is the rhythm the chains sell, and their terms are worth reading before you sign:

Chain	What a member gets each month	Unused sessions
Massage Envy	One 60-minute session, 50 minutes of it hands-on; it can be a massage, facial or stretch	Roll over while you stay a member; forfeited if not used within 60 days of cancelling
Hand & Stone	One Classic Massage or Classic Facial, with no commitment	Roll over; expire 90 days after you cancel. You can freeze for up to three months at participating locations
Elements Massage	One massage or skincare service, month-to-month	Carry over for a whole year

Massage Envy and Elements locations are independently owned franchises, and both say services or benefits vary by location; Hand & Stone’s freeze option is at participating locations.

None of this is evidence about frequency. Massage Envy’s case is that “the real benefits of wellness services come through consistency”, and Elements says “If one massage or facial service a month is good, more are better”. Those are marketing lines, not study results.

A membership pays off only if you would book at least that often anyway. Our guide to whether wellness memberships are worth it works through the break-even, our massage cost guide has what an hour costs at 45 US venues, and our guide to cancelling a membership covers the exit.

How many massages do Americans actually get?

Far fewer than twelve a year. In the federal National Health Interview Survey, 10.9 percent of US adults used massage in 2022, up from 4.8 percent in 2002, according to NCCIH.

The American Massage Therapy Association’s consumer page puts the average at 2.7 massages in the past 12 months, without saying whether that average covers everyone surveyed or only people who had a massage. Its 2021 report put the average massage consumer at 3.5 massages in the year to June 2020.

Most people go for their health or for stress: in AMTA’s 2025 survey, 49 percent said their last massage was mainly for health or wellness and 30 percent for stress. Budget shapes it too. In AMTA’s figures, 34 percent of people earning $100,000 or more had a massage in the last year, against 14 percent of those earning $50,000 or less.

How often should athletes get a massage?

The research on athletes covers timing and length, not how often to book. A 2017 meta-analysis found massage after intense exercise reduced muscle soreness at 24, 48 and 72 hours.

For performance, a 2016 review found short massages of 5 to 12 minutes tended to do better than longer ones, with small effects overall. A 2020 review of 29 studies found no evidence that massage improves strength, jumping, sprinting or endurance, only small gains in flexibility and soreness.

In practice, schedules vary widely. A massage therapist at Henry Ford Health has patients who come three times a week and others every six weeks, and does not recommend a sports massage sooner than two days before a big race or game. Our guide to whether massage helps recovery covers the soreness evidence in full.

How often can you get a massage when pregnant?

Check with your pregnancy provider first. A massage therapist quoted by Cleveland Clinic says most pregnancy providers recommend waiting until the second trimester, 12 weeks and beyond. After that, the therapist recommends a massage once every two weeks, and up to once a week near the end of the third trimester. Your provider may advise against it if you have gestational diabetes, high blood pressure or other pregnancy concerns.

That is one therapist’s advice, published by a hospital, not a guideline. We found no frequency guidance from ACOG or the AMTA.

NewYork-Presbyterian advises a therapist with special training in pregnancy massage, no lying on your belly after the third month and no lying on your back after the fourth. After the birth, Hand & Stone does not recommend a massage before six weeks postpartum. Our guide to sauna, cold plunge and massage in pregnancy covers the rest.

How often after surgery?

Ask your care team first. Mayo Clinic’s Healing After Surgery guide says massage should not be done near a blood clot, burns, open wounds or recent surgical incisions.

In hospital, one trial gave patients a back massage every evening for up to five days after surgery, and their pain eased faster than with routine care (Mitchinson and colleagues, 2007). A 2022 meta-analysis of 33 trials found massage reduced pain after surgery, and that neither session length nor dose changed the effect, though the trials varied a great deal.

Scar massage is a different thing. UW Health tells patients to start only once the wound has healed with no open areas and the provider says so, then to massage the scar at least 3 to 5 times a day themselves.

Who should ask a doctor before booking regularly?

The Henry Ford therapist does not recommend sports massage for people with bleeding disorders or low platelet counts, during pregnancy, or with diabetes, cancer or recent surgery. The therapist says lighter massage can help these groups, after checking with a doctor.

Mayo Clinic’s guide asks for medical clearance first with severe osteoporosis, bone metastases, a low platelet count, a pulmonary embolus or other chronic conditions. Our guide to massage during and after cancer treatment covers that case.

And if you have booked the same massage for the same problem for weeks and nothing is changing, that is the point to get it assessed. Our guide on massage vs physical therapy covers who to see.

FAQ: how often to get a massage

How often should you get a massage for neck pain? In a dosing trial of 228 adults, 60-minute massages two or three times a week for four weeks worked, and 30-minute massages did not, however often people came. A Cochrane review favours at least 8 sessions over four weeks.

How often should you get a massage for back pain? A trial in chronic low back pain gave 10 weekly sessions of 50 to 60 minutes, and the benefits lasted at least six months. A Cochrane review is less positive: it found pain improvements only in the short term.

How often should you get a massage for anxiety or stress? For generalized anxiety disorder, a trial used Swedish massage twice a week for six weeks, with a difference from the end of week three. For everyday stress, no trial we found has tested a schedule; a single session lowers how anxious you feel in the moment.

Is a massage once a month enough? For relaxation, monthly is fine if it suits you, but no study we found tested it; it is the unit the chains sell. For a specific problem, the courses that worked were weekly or more often, for a set number of weeks.

Is it bad to get a massage every day? We found no study that tested daily massage in healthy people. The only daily schedule in the trials above was in hospital, after surgery, for up to five days.

How often should athletes get a massage? No study we found has tested how often. The evidence covers timing: massage after hard exercise reduced soreness for 24 to 72 hours, and one hospital’s sports massage therapist advises against a sports massage within two days of a big race or game.

How often can you get a massage while pregnant? After 12 weeks and with your provider’s agreement, one therapist quoted by Cleveland Clinic recommends every two weeks, and up to once a week near the end of the third trimester.

What does “biweekly massage” mean? It is ambiguous, even in the research. One knee trial used it for twice a week and a later one for every two weeks. Ask which one a therapist or a plan means.

The bottom line on how often to get a massage

For a specific problem, book a course, not a habit: the trials that worked used sessions of about an hour, once or twice a week, for 4 to 10 weeks, and then stopped. In the neck and knee trials, 30-minute sessions did worse than hour-long ones.

For relaxation, go as often as you enjoy it and can afford it. Monthly is a membership unit, not a medical dose. And if the same problem keeps bringing you back without getting better, get it assessed. Our guide to the types of massage covers which one to book.