A massage does not have to be a painful experience! You certainly should not feel like you are getting steam rolled during the whole treatment. That being said certain techniques or movements will be tender in the moment, but a good therapist will be able to work at the level that your tissues require / is necessary to meet your goals for that treatment. No more, and no less.

This is all to say that if you have an issue that is rooted in dysfunction of a deeper layer of tissue, you should expect a bit if discomfort.. But you should not want to pass out from the work being done. Often times this is actually a negative thing, as too much pressure when your body does not need it will cause an inflammation response to occur. Plainly put, you do not want this – it usually runs counter to why you were getting the massage in the first place.

The answer to this depends on which type of service you booked. If you booked through the Evolve Strength portion of our online schedule / booking system then your treatment will be at 12328 102 Ave NW, T5N 0L9. This is where the old MEC used to be, if that helps as a landmark. We only offer appointments here on Tuesdays & Wednesdays if that also helps for clarification.

You do not need to bring anything else with you other than yourself, however you are able to utilize the steam room within the change rooms following your treatment. So you could bring swim trunks, a towel, and a water bottle to stay hydrated if you’d like too.

The second or alternative answer would then be: in the comfort of your own home! For you, likely the best part of our business is that you do not have to go anywhere or prepare anything. We bring the massage table, a couple of cloud-like pillows, freshly laundered linens, hypoallergenic & paraben-free oil(s) / lotion(s), and music sure to help you escape the outside world.

*** If you are unclear on whether your treatment will be within your home or at Evolve Strength Downtown, the full proof way to find out would be to double check your Appointment Confirmation Email that you received after booking your appointment. If you did not get one, feel free to contact us with the Contact Us page, or via phone / text at +1.780.233.4397.

We currently offer 60 minute, 90 minute, and 2 hour options for your treatment.

It is highly unlikely that your therapist would be able to perform a therapeutic full-body massage within a 60 minute time frame.  A relaxation focused massage is the only way that this would be possible. A good baseline for picking your treatment is that the more issues you have, the longer time you will need.

90 minutes is our preferred treatment time. This provides your therapist with time to work on 3 or 4 different issues while taking the time to let your respective tissues release as much as possible; and, at the same time, still be able to properly flush them out (which is trickier in a short, 60 minute session). This timeframe is a good number to work within so that your body does not leave feeling overwhelmed or beat-up after the treatment (like a tenderized steak).

At this time we do not offer this service. What we can offer you instead is to get your treatments back-to-back or one after the other.

If this interests you, just book any length of treatment online and then contact us after you have done so. This is necessary as we will need to know the proper amount of linens to bring!

You may contact us by either email (info@precisiontherapeutics.ca or via our Contact Us page) or phone (call or text +1.780.233.4397) anytime of day. We will do our best to get back to you in a timely manner.

Yes, you can have someone else there during your treatment. We only ask that they do their best not to distract you or your therapist. This would affect the quality of your treatment.

Yes, we will bring music with us when we arrive for your treatment!

Generally we use a more soft indie and folk playlist. It varies from day to day. We certainly have the ability to change it if you request so though.

We bring everything that is necessary for the treatment – other than yourself, that is.

Your therapist will bring a massage table, one or two cloud-like pillows, fresh linens, paraben-free oil(s) / lotion(s) and some awesome tunes.

So long as there is a space for your therapists massage table (and a little bit of room for them to move around it) then you will be fine. No extra preparations need to be done with regards to your home.

As far as for yourself, you will be emailed an intake form / health history to fill-out prior to your first massage treatment with us. This must be done before the treatment takes place as it will ensure that you receive a safe and effective treatment.

We would also recommend a quick rinse / shower prior to your treatment. This could make the massage more effective because your tissues may be warmed-up and more receptive to the work being done. Your therapist will also be pleased – for obvious reasons.

** Please note that we couldn’t care less if your home is messy or not; we are there to provide an awesome massage treatment, not judge someones living situation.

There is no simple answer to this question as it varies from person to person based off of many personal factors, as well as how diligent they are with their homecare; but it will also depend on the specific types of massage techniques being done.

However, we can offer a general guide:

— mobility increases should be noticed immediately following the treatment and only keep improving beyond that (most noticeably two to three days afterwards).

— pain reduction should be immediately noticeable – both during and [especially] after your treatment. Please also note that post massage soreness will likely occur though. This can last up to three days, but the quality of it will be very different from specific pain problems.

— stress reduction and improved mental focus / alertness should be noticeable within a few hours following the treatment.

— scar reduction / breakdown will takes a couple treatments / weeks to cause noticeable results (the scar will likely never be completely gone)

— general adhesions and trigger points (think “knots”) will be either decreased or completely removed during your treatment. A quick note on the “decreased” part of the last sentence: sometimes a couple of treatments are required for very stubborn areas of tissue dysfunction (with each treatment compounding the effects of the last one if done in a successive manner).

Similar to the “How Long Until I See Results?” question, this depends on a lot of factors.. but probably the most likely factor is time. A good rule is that the longer you’ve had an issue, the more treatments you will need to get you back on track. This is not to say that if you fell off a roof 15 years ago and your back has been a mess ever since then that it will then take 15 years of treatments. But you should not expect one massage to solve all of your issues.

Part of this is because your therapist will become more familiar with your body (and subsequent soft tissues) after just one treatment. This makes them capable of honing in on the root causes much quicker with each successive treatment. If you have a new muscle strain, then it is likely that you will only require one or two massage treatments. But again, it will take longer if you have a long standing (chronic) issue.

There is a lot that will go on with any massage therapy treatment, but especially so with your first one. Please reference this post for thorough breakdown of what to expect as we do not have the space right here.

Just know that if you have any questions prior to or during your treatment, we are always going to try out best to answer them. There are no dumb, silly, or pointless questions!

We accept cash or credit (Visa, MasterCard, and American Express) at the end of your treatment. We will also take payment via interac e-transfer if you wish, but we ask that you send the payment in a timely fashion following your treatment.

No, we do not offer direct billing at this time.

However, your therapist will be able to give you an insurance receipt that will be claimable with your private insurance or on your health benefits plan.

Please note that we used to offer written forms of receipts and invoicing, but this is now exclusively done via email.

There are a few different price adjustments that can take place; the big one that everyone gets is $10 off their very first treatment.

Please consult the Services Page to find out what other factors can adjust the price lower (or higher)!

Travel fees are calculated for in-home treatments based on how far your therapist will have to travel to get there. Anything above 30 km’s of travel adds an additional $10 onto your base treatment fee. Anything between 15-30 km’s has an additional $5 price tag. Anything closer to our administration office (sub 15 km’s) has no travel fee added to that base treatment price.

Want to figure out how far you are away from our administration office? click here

Please consult the Services Page to find out what other factors can adjust the price to be higher or lower.

The answer to this depends on which type of service you booked. If you booked through the Evolve Strength portion of our online schedule / booking system then your treatment will be at 12328 102 Ave NW, T5N 0L9. This is where the old MEC used to be, if that helps as a landmark. We only offer appointments here on Tuesdays & Wednesdays if that also helps for clarification.

You do not need to bring anything else with you other than yourself, however you are able to utilize the steam room within the change rooms following your treatment. So you could bring swim trunks, a towel, and a water bottle to stay hydrated if you’d like too.

The second or alternative answer would then be: in the comfort of your own home! For you, likely the best part of our business is that you do not have to go anywhere or prepare anything. We bring the massage table, a couple of cloud-like pillows, freshly laundered linens, hypoallergenic & paraben-free oil(s) / lotion(s), and music sure to help you escape the outside world.

*** If you are unclear on whether your treatment will be within your home or at Evolve Strength Downtown, the full proof way to find out would be to double check your Appointment Confirmation Email that you received after booking your appointment. If you did not get one, feel free to contact us with the Contact Us page, or via phone / text at +1.780.233.4397.

Yes, you can have someone else there during your treatment. We only ask that they do their best not to distract you or your therapist. This would affect the quality of your treatment.

The short answer is no, but there are two reasons…

1. you should only ever be getting undressed to what your comfort level entails. This is actually detrimental to the effectiveness of the treatment.

2. there are types of massage where you can do plenty of high quality work over a fully clothed body. Counter to this though there is many other types of massage that you cannot do on someone full- or partially clothed either. It is highly situational, really.. just refer back to #1.

Refer to our Services page for more information.

Yes, we will bring music with us when we arrive for your treatment!

Generally we use a more soft indie and folk playlist. It varies from day to day. We certainly have the ability to change it if you request so though.

This is a bit of a complicated question to answer because a lot of it has to do with your habits, what type of workout you are doing, and how your body handles muscle stress / fatigue.

Generally speaking, vigorous workouts and weight lifting exercises will cause micro-tearing to occur in the muscle fibers. Your body repairs this and the overall [simplified] process is what makes you stronger. This is why it is important for your body to go through a recovery period prior to moving forward with your workouts. Therapeutic massage work can cause a similar micro-tearing process to happen within your tissues.

At the opposite end of the treatment spectrum, a basic relaxation massage could make your muscles slightly less responsive and too ‘loose’ to workout with. This might make certain movements unstable and potentially risky.  For this reason as well as the micro-tearing from above, it may be wise to wait 12-24 hours for your body to recover before continuing on with your workout routine.

That being said, if you are dead set on going to do a vigorous workout without waiting a day, then we would suggest that you simply not workout at your normal level to help prevent excessive loads on your body. An example could be: if you normally squat 250 lbs (and this is close to your 85-100% effort) then only squat 170-220 lbs (meaning much less strain to your body, while still allowing you to workout) and move towards your workout goals.

In a perfect world, we would suggest having a massage on rest day.

However if you insist on working out that day then it may indeed be wise to workout before your massage treatment as opposed to after. The reason being that your massage treatment may enhance your bodies recovery time and effectiveness.

Something to note is that if you do a vigorous workout, you may have some discomfort with certain massage techniques being performed. This can range from the feelings associated with stretching to a pushing-on-a-bruise type of sensation.

We accept cash or credit (Visa, MasterCard, and American Express) at the end of your treatment. We will also take payment via interac e-transfer if you wish, but we ask that you send the payment in a timely fashion following your treatment.

No, we do not offer direct billing at this time.

However, your therapist will be able to give you an insurance receipt that will be claimable with your private insurance or on your health benefits plan.

Please note that we used to offer written forms of receipts and invoicing, but this is now exclusively done via email.

If you are familiar with the old MEC building, you’ll remember that there is an impark parking lot on the East side of the building. But you used to have to pay for it no matter what.

The majority of this lot is still pay-for-use, but there is also a free option for Evolve patrons! The two northern-most rows of the parking lot are free for a few hours, as long as you validate your plate number on the tablet at the front desk when walking into the building.

An additional paid, but also sometimes free option is the regular downtown city managed ‘e-park’ parking along 124 Street (usually free after 6 PM).

The last alternative to paid parking is the residential area in Oliver / surrounding Evolve — if you don’t mind a bit of a walk. Keep in mind that there can be anywhere from a two hour all the way down to a 15 minute time limit for these areas; but then there are also some that have no time limit whatsoever. Our suggestions is to simply double check the signs of the street that you are on.

Parking is a bit of an ever changing situation at this location. We will do our best to keep this ‘Answer’ as up-to-date as possible.

There are a few different price adjustments that can take place; the big one that everyone gets is $10 off their very first treatment.

Please consult the Services Page to find out what other factors can adjust the price lower (or higher)!

Skin is the largest sensory organ of your body. Yes, your skin is indeed an organ! This makes it the perfect conduit to affect changes throughout the whole body. While massage may take place externally, it in fact promotes change to take place from within. The huge factor here is that trained practitioners can use specific techniques or modalities (forms of massage) to affect the autonomic nervous system. These effects are a large factor in to what promotes changes deeper within and throughout our bodies.

Isn’t it amazing to think that this mechanical stimulation of an organ can cause so many (seemingly) uncorrelated effects? But our skin is just where massage starts; in looking at how this mechanical process affects both the soft tissues of our body and our mental health you can start to understand that massage is not just a comprehensive rehabilitation tool but it is also a proactive form of health care (as opposed to being a purely reactive one).

Negative! Massage can be used for so much more than basic relaxation (although those benefits are huge too). Continue through this FAQ for the conditions that massage in general can help with, or a more comprehensive list of the benefits.

There are many many conditions that massage can help with, but you would be here reading forever if we were to provide them all. Here are the things that we help individuals with on a regular basis:

— stress or depression

— tension headaches or migraines

— poor sleep (quality or quantity)

— indigestion

— jaw (TMJ) dysfunction

— scarring (dense and restrictive scars)

— musculoskeletal injuries (strain or sprain)

— poor circulation

— range of motion restrictions

— flexibility issues

— muscular imbalances

— overuse disorders (i.e. tennis elbow)

— postural malalignment

— secondary conditions stemming from a disease (i.e. tremors from parkinson’s)

However our favourite thing about massage therapy is that it is an excellent form of preventative healthcare, as opposed to the reactive model that is prominent in western society (although as you can see from above, massage is extremely potent for this as well). Preventative simply means that you are handling issues before it even turns into one.

An example of this could be: muscle tightness in your back to the point where if you were to twist awkwardly in your sleep it could cause you to strain a muscle within that area. This could be helped by getting rid of that underlying tension before it was able to cause the issue in the first place!

There are many concrete research proven results for massage therapy treatments. The most notable involve the following systems:

1) Muskuloskeletal;

2) Circulatory;

3) Respiratory;

4) Nervous; and

5) Gastrointestinal

There are also many benefits that are gained through multiple systems being affected at once. These work synergistically to provide a specific outcome.

For the full list breakdown, please check out this post to see it in all of its glory!

Yes, certainly. Situations or conditions where massage on a specific area of the body or massage in general would not be wise to do so are known as ‘contraindications’. Read more about said contraindications here – where we have room to elaborate.

There are also certain times where massage in an area won’t make the issue / condition worse, but it hasn’t been shown to be effective form of treatment either. This is a bit trickier to classify as it is very situational and differs from person to person.

A massage does not have to be a painful experience! You certainly should not feel like you are getting steam rolled during the whole treatment. That being said certain techniques or movements will be tender in the moment, but a good therapist will be able to work at the level that your tissues require / is necessary to meet your goals for that treatment. No more, and no less.

This is all to say that if you have an issue that is rooted in dysfunction of a deeper layer of tissue, you should expect a bit if discomfort.. But you should not want to pass out from the work being done. Often times this is actually a negative thing, as too much pressure when your body does not need it will cause an inflammation response to occur. Plainly put, you do not want this – it usually runs counter to why you were getting the massage in the first place.

We currently offer 60 minute, 90 minute, and 2 hour options for your treatment.

It is highly unlikely that your therapist would be able to perform a therapeutic full-body massage within a 60 minute time frame.  A relaxation focused massage is the only way that this would be possible. A good baseline for picking your treatment is that the more issues you have, the longer time you will need.

90 minutes is our preferred treatment time. This provides your therapist with time to work on 3 or 4 different issues while taking the time to let your respective tissues release as much as possible; and, at the same time, still be able to properly flush them out (which is trickier in a short, 60 minute session). This timeframe is a good number to work within so that your body does not leave feeling overwhelmed or beat-up after the treatment (like a tenderized steak).

The short answer is no, but there are two reasons…

1. you should only ever be getting undressed to what your comfort level entails. This is actually detrimental to the effectiveness of the treatment.

2. there are types of massage where you can do plenty of high quality work over a fully clothed body. Counter to this though there is many other types of massage that you cannot do on someone full- or partially clothed either. It is highly situational, really.. just refer back to #1.

Refer to our Services page for more information.

While we would love to be able to tell you that you can simply lay there, this is usually not the case. For the most possible amount of benefit from the treatment, you should be doing two things: breathing properly (deep diaphragmatic breathing – click for more information) and focusing in on the areas of your body being worked on.

The more focused you are on the work being done, the more feedback you can verbally give the therapist (if necessary), and the more you will actually be able to help with the treatment! Ask your therapist about this for elaboration and clarification.

This is a bit of a tricky question to answer as it will vary from person to person, and change based on the techniques that were done; but perhaps most importantly it may change with how you handle yourself the following few hours to days following the treatment. Check out more in-depth information about the services that we off and how they specifically may make you feel here.

We will be writing a post with more detail.. However a very general guide could be:

— soreness for up to three days following the treatment. Ideally it would be 1-2, but as with anything it really all depends

— mobility increases

— loss of range of motion after initial increase (likely due to sedation and not actually using the newfound ranges)

— thirsty / hungry (think of it as though your body just had a workout; replenish yo’self)

— headache (this can be due to physiological things that were released during the treatment, or simply just your therapist overworking it).

** if you have inflammation or feel a large amount of pain following your treatment, then it is likely that your therapist was too vigorous or intense with their work. You should probably ice the area; and in our opinion this would point to them not being a very good therapist. Like we noted before though, it all depends.

We can give you guidelines, but it would likely be best to go off of your bodies own markers or signals. If you are hungry then eat, and if you are thirsty then drink; just be smart about it. You could also treat your massage as a workout: if you know how your body responds with regards to food before and after those, then just do that same type of routine.

Those aforementioned guidelines would be things such as: do not eat big meals right before your treatment as you may feel uncomfortably full during. Especially if work to your abdominal area or low back is what you are requesting with your treatment. But you also do not want to starve yourself and eat nothing prior to your massage. This may result in you being light headed, dizzy, or excessively tired following your treatment. What may be a better idea is to eat a big meal a few hours prior, and then eat lightly an hour or so before the massage.

There is no simple answer to this question as it varies from person to person based off of many personal factors, as well as how diligent they are with their homecare; but it will also depend on the specific types of massage techniques being done.

However, we can offer a general guide:

— mobility increases should be noticed immediately following the treatment and only keep improving beyond that (most noticeably two to three days afterwards).

— pain reduction should be immediately noticeable – both during and [especially] after your treatment. Please also note that post massage soreness will likely occur though. This can last up to three days, but the quality of it will be very different from specific pain problems.

— stress reduction and improved mental focus / alertness should be noticeable within a few hours following the treatment.

— scar reduction / breakdown will takes a couple treatments / weeks to cause noticeable results (the scar will likely never be completely gone)

— general adhesions and trigger points (think “knots”) will be either decreased or completely removed during your treatment. A quick note on the “decreased” part of the last sentence: sometimes a couple of treatments are required for very stubborn areas of tissue dysfunction (with each treatment compounding the effects of the last one if done in a successive manner).

Similar to the “How Long Until I See Results?” question, this depends on a lot of factors.. but probably the most likely factor is time. A good rule is that the longer you’ve had an issue, the more treatments you will need to get you back on track. This is not to say that if you fell off a roof 15 years ago and your back has been a mess ever since then that it will then take 15 years of treatments. But you should not expect one massage to solve all of your issues.

Part of this is because your therapist will become more familiar with your body (and subsequent soft tissues) after just one treatment. This makes them capable of honing in on the root causes much quicker with each successive treatment. If you have a new muscle strain, then it is likely that you will only require one or two massage treatments. But again, it will take longer if you have a long standing (chronic) issue.

This is a question that should be discussed in person with your therapist. The answer varies drastically depending on your body and the issues that you have.

However, for maintenance types of massages it is best to get a treatment each month. The range can be quite wide though; it can be as short as a two week gaps, to as long as three months between appointments Just like above, maintenance massages depend on many factors too. Your homecare is a huge one, but also how active you are in general will impact it as well.

Your massage treatment should not affect whether your body will develop acne or not. If it was going to break out before then it was going to already, and if it was not going to break out then it should not. These matters with acne are usually decided many days before blemishes are visually noticeable.

There is an argument to made about the secondary effects that massage has on your hormones and stress levels. These can be quite drastic for your body and are usually listed as a positive effect with reducing excessively high levels of certain ones. Though no conclusive research has been done with regards to if this change is great enough to causally effect acne (production or reduction).

If you are concerned about the agents (oil / lotion) that we use during our treatments, consult with an expert (i.e. dermatologist).

There is a lot that will go on with any massage therapy treatment, but especially so with your first one. Please reference this post for thorough breakdown of what to expect as we do not have the space right here.

Just know that if you have any questions prior to or during your treatment, we are always going to try out best to answer them. There are no dumb, silly, or pointless questions!

There is a pretty common misconception about what the ‘registered’ part of the title ‘registered massage therapist’ actually means. Many people seem to believe that this just means anyone that performs massages but has a license with their city / municipality legally allowing them to do so. However, what being a registered massage therapist (RMT) actually means, is that that individual is a member of a massage therapy association.

This is important because when you get an insurance receipt or someone offers you direct billing, what your private insurance or health benefits provider actually looks at is that RMT’s association identification number. If they are a current member of a massage association, then your insurance knows that this RMT has the proper education to offer the treatment that you received.

Not just anyone can join a massage association; here in Alberta the requirement is that you must have completed a 2-year (roughly 2,200 hours of instruction) massage therapy diploma program in order to do so.

In Alberta there are three main massage associations (click for more information on each):

1. Remedial Massage Therapists Association
2. Natural Health Practitioners of Canada
3. Massage Therapist Association of Alberta

This is a bit of a complicated question to answer because a lot of it has to do with your habits, what type of workout you are doing, and how your body handles muscle stress / fatigue.

Generally speaking, vigorous workouts and weight lifting exercises will cause micro-tearing to occur in the muscle fibers. Your body repairs this and the overall [simplified] process is what makes you stronger. This is why it is important for your body to go through a recovery period prior to moving forward with your workouts. Therapeutic massage work can cause a similar micro-tearing process to happen within your tissues.

At the opposite end of the treatment spectrum, a basic relaxation massage could make your muscles slightly less responsive and too ‘loose’ to workout with. This might make certain movements unstable and potentially risky.  For this reason as well as the micro-tearing from above, it may be wise to wait 12-24 hours for your body to recover before continuing on with your workout routine.

That being said, if you are dead set on going to do a vigorous workout without waiting a day, then we would suggest that you simply not workout at your normal level to help prevent excessive loads on your body. An example could be: if you normally squat 250 lbs (and this is close to your 85-100% effort) then only squat 170-220 lbs (meaning much less strain to your body, while still allowing you to workout) and move towards your workout goals.

In a perfect world, we would suggest having a massage on rest day.

However if you insist on working out that day then it may indeed be wise to workout before your massage treatment as opposed to after. The reason being that your massage treatment may enhance your bodies recovery time and effectiveness.

Something to note is that if you do a vigorous workout, you may have some discomfort with certain massage techniques being performed. This can range from the feelings associated with stretching to a pushing-on-a-bruise type of sensation.

We can give you guidelines, but it would likely be best to go off of your bodies own markers or signals. If you are hungry then eat, and if you are thirsty then drink; just be smart about it. You could also treat your massage as a workout: if you know how your body responds with regards to food before and after those, then just do that same type of routine.

Those aforementioned guidelines would be things such as: do not eat big meals right before your treatment as you may feel uncomfortably full during. Especially if work to your abdominal area or low back is what you are requesting with your treatment. But you also do not want to starve yourself and eat nothing prior to your massage. This may result in you being light headed, dizzy, or excessively tired following your treatment. What may be a better idea is to eat a big meal a few hours prior, and then eat lightly an hour or so before the massage.

Your massage treatment should not affect whether your body will develop acne or not. If it was going to break out before then it was going to already, and if it was not going to break out then it should not. These matters with acne are usually decided many days before blemishes are visually noticeable.

There is an argument to made about the secondary effects that massage has on your hormones and stress levels. These can be quite drastic for your body and are usually listed as a positive effect with reducing excessively high levels of certain ones. Though no conclusive research has been done with regards to if this change is great enough to causally effect acne (production or reduction).

If you are concerned about the agents (oil / lotion) that we use during our treatments, consult with an expert (i.e. dermatologist).

Inflammation is a normal process of your body to help enhance the healing of injured tissues, and protect them from both extrinsic and intrinsic factors that would try to hinder this. The inflammatory process can be overdone, which is what massage therapy is predominately helpful with (among other things, with regards to inflammation). It is just important to know when and how much this can be removed, as again: inflammation is a normal process of your body that is there to help it heal.

We go much more in-depth on this topic here, if you would like to learn more.

This is a fair question, one that ultimately has one main answer but then also many other factors. The main answer is really just how severe the injury in question is. The more severe, the longer it will take our body to deal with it. The other factors that impact our bodies ability to heal would be things such as: poor nutrition, a previous or pre-existing condition / pathology, age, infection, inadequate blood flow, smoking, and any drugs that we may be taking (can cause effects both positive and negative).

To see a more comprehensive look at these factors, checkout this page of our website.

Strains and sprains are pretty unique, but both deal with soft tissue damage. It is easy to understand why they would be confused, but these terms cannot be used interchangeably.

We explore this confusion and provide some straightforward answers in this post. Read through it to learn about: what a strain is, what a sprain is, how they are graded, and what areas of the body are most commonly affected.