What kind of massage is best for someone who carries a lot of tension in their shoulders?

Something that has really helped me is The Stress Press. It's a massage tool that helps relieve stress and tension knots by focusing on trigger points. It's inexpensive and works wonders! Try it! http://www.thestresspress.com

My recommendation is to begin a gentle but deep massage. After one or two sessions of this type of massage (eg, lomi lomi nui) ... move on to one of the best: Chinese Tui Na. Later, continue with Traditional Thai Massage.
Yours is a "process." Soft Start to access the middle level. After therapeutic.
For questions, consult us more specifically.
However, my recommendation is that you get in the hands of a very good professional.
Warm regards and best fast and well.
Xiao Ying

Hey Melanie,
Deep tissue is one of the best massages for knots in your upper back. Deep tissue consists of getting deep into the myofascia and releasing any tension help into the muscles. Most areas people have tension within their upper back are the trapezius, supraspinatus, infraspinatus, and muscles around or near the scapula bone. After a deep tissue massage i would recommend drinking lots of water because your muscle is like a sponge and also releases lactic acid and other toxins to rehabilitate your muscles and relax them. Also a great thing to do to relax your muscles is sitting in a really nice hot bath or hottub to create vasodilation and circulate your blood throughout your whole body. I hope this helps, Reg Mangone CMT

Sports massage therapy is ideal for the 'knots' in your shoulders. Once the massage therapist has warmed up the muscles surrounding the area of trouble they will find these 'knots' and use different techniques depending on the cause of the problem. They can not only fix the problem but find the underlying cause and treat that as well. You will feel fantastic afterwards and completly relaxed. I hope this has helped

For your shoulder complaint I would definitely consider sports and remedial massage. Even if you have never had a massage before your therapist should be able to work fairly deep, but still within your pain threshold.
A good Sports Massage therapist would use different bodywork techniques such as Neuromuscular technique (NMT) or Trigger Point therapy, Soft Tissue Release, Muscle Energy Technique(MET). These are great tension release techniques extremely efficient for stiff shoulders.

Hello Melanie Jayne, try a sports massage these are really good for tense and tight muscles. The sports therapists deal a lot with this sort of condition and know by the condition of the muscles just how much your body can take. Give it a try and you will feel much better. Kind regards Andrew

If you have never had a massage before, I would talk to the massage therapist about the knots in your shoulder and have her (or him) determine what kind of pressure is needed. Usually the knots in your shoulders are due to stress and build up over time...unfortunately, it will take a few sessions to work them out. Moist heat would be a good option to loosen the muscles before you go see the massage therapist and is good maintenance after the massage. Make sure the heat isn't too much where it will burn your skin, but enough to loosen up the muscle. Hope this helps! In relaxation...Synergy Healing

aromatherapy massage.your therapist can adapt it slightly to incorporate a bit of Swedish or deep tissue massage.but essential oils will relax you and help your muscles respond better to the treatment

As you never had a massage before, i will start with a nice soft relaxing massage, then then get in to deep tissue.

All massage is good to iron out massage, however if you are extremely tense you should think about deep tissue massage or thai. Alternatively, you can go for a nice relaxing (less pressurised) swedish hollistic massage that should soothe and relax your whole body.