ELAN SPA

As a physical therapist, I'm going to be pickier than most customers when it comes to massage services and am going to write a very thorough review. In short, my masseuse at Elan Spa thought my pelvic bones were "knots" and didn't know what she was doing! Though I've only had 3 professional massages in my life, I have yet to find a massage therapist that knows enough about human anatomy or basic biomechanics - knowledge I feel is absolutely necessary when performing certain deep tissue massage techniques. Frustrated in my inability to find a good masseuse, I chose Elan Spa because they were more expensive (I thought it perhaps meant they were better) and seemed to have a stronger emphasis on therapeutic massage. Their location isn't in the fanciest building, but the atmosphere inside was very tranquil, relaxing, and pleasant. The staff was exceptionally friendly and welcoming, and I was thrilled to finally have my "knots" taken care of. I was assured that the woman working with me was good at deep tissue massage. I unfortunately cannot remember the woman's name, but my masseuse was a shorter, Hispanic woman. The treatment rooms were very relaxing with dim lighting and calming music. She was very nice and asked me if I had any specific areas that were causing me pain. At this point, I didn't know if I should tell her exactly where to work and what I needed or if I should tell her in simple terms what spot was bothering me and let her figure it out. I see massage therapists somewhat as "peers" even though they don't have the same training (physical therapy is a doctoral degree), and I never know if being straightforward could come across as demeaning. So instead of telling her to focus primarily on my suboccipital triangle, levator scapulae, splenius capitis, semispinalis, longissimus, upper trapezius, anterior scalene, and sternocleidomastoid muscles because I had just spent several months in a sustained forward-head posture of excessive upper cervical extension and mid-lower cervical flexion due to prolonged studying and started experiencing cervical headaches from active trigger points, nocturnal bruxism, and even mild paresthesias and was about to start a therapeutic exercise routine to return my posture to normal but simply needed a release of those muscles/trigger points first because I couldn't do it myself (long one, sorry!), I simply put my hands on my traps and neck and said, "Can you focus on this area? I've been feeling tight here and have noticed a lot of knots." I was nervous I wasn't going to get exactly the treatment I was needing, but decided to let her do her work. She started working in my low back and gluteal area. She told me she usually starts low and works her way up, so I didn't say anything. Unfortunately, she spent 30 of my 45 minutes pushing on my sacrum, which neither hurt nor felt good/therapeutic (pushing directly on your bones doesn't feel much like anything - try it on your elbow). Thinking perhaps it was some new technique I was unfamiliar with related to my sacroiliac ligaments, I didn't say anything. Finally, she did some work on my thoracolumbar fascia, basic bowstringing up my erector spinae muscles (but didn't do it very well) , about five minutes of general petrissage to my upper trapezius without focusing on any knots, and then the rest of the time she did effleurage to my entire upper back. When she finished I was extremely disappointed because I spent a considerable amount of money and she didn't address anything I was needing. I also found it difficult to relax because I spent the entire time wondering what she was doing (I know, I should have spoken up). She told me, "I was going to do your neck but you have the worst knots I have ever felt in your low back area! I was pushing and pushing and they just wouldn't release. You're going to need several more treatments." I was completely flabbergasted! Perhaps she wasn't used to massaging thin clients with an easily palpable spine, but this woman clearly had no clue what she was doing because those were bones, not trigger points! I didn't have the heart to tell her she was actually pushing on my PSIS and medial and lateral sacral crests, not knots, and the only correcting she may have done was if I had a sacral torsion, but she never tested for one and with the way she was pushing, she wouldn't have corrected it anyways. How a massage therapist can mistake a bone for a knot in a muscle is beyond me, but it clearly shows she didn't know what she was doing. To the general public that isn't needing anything specific and just wants the therapeutic effect of human touch, I'm sure that masseuse if fine. But for me, it was the biggest waste of money. Unfortunately, I can't vouch for the other therapists because I haven't gone back. My fiancee also went to this spa for a deep tissue massage after studying for the bar and told me his masseuse was "okay, but nothing special." He then told me he thinks my massages are much better and we shouldn't waste our money, but I think he was probably just being nice. LOL. ....I still haven't had my knots taken care of and am still in search of a good deep-tissue massage therapist...

Went great. Lots of professional services offered and the prices are reasonable. I liked the atmosphere and music. Made for a great Valentines gift.

This was my first professional massage, and it was wonderful. The therapist was very knowledgeable and could do a special pregnancy massage (pregnant women need to bring a doctor's note saying massage is OK). She gave special attention to the area of my back that was bothering me, and asked if the speed and amount of pressure was all right. The setting was very relaxing with dim light, new age music and a fountain. From what I hear, the price was comparable to other places.