Guide

Remedial or relaxation massage: which one do you actually need?

In Australia, most people type the word remedial when they mean a firm massage. Sometimes that is exactly right. Sometimes what they need is on my table. Here is the difference, said plainly, including the part where I tell you what I do not offer.

What remedial massage means here

Remedial massage is a recognised qualification in Australia, a Diploma of Remedial Massage. A remedial therapist assesses a specific complaint, works to a treatment plan, and can often issue a receipt your health fund will pay a rebate against, if your extras cover includes it and the therapist holds the right provider numbers. It is the word the whole market uses, which is why you see it on every second sign.

What I offer, and what I do not

I am not a remedial massage therapist, and I do not issue health fund receipts. I am trained in massage, dry cupping and assisted stretching, and I am completing the Diploma of Remedial Massage, which completes in March 2027. Until it is done, I do not use the word for my own work, and no rebate applies to a session with me. If a rebate is the reason you are booking, book a remedial therapist. I would rather say so here than at your door.

What I do: a slow relaxation massage, a firm deep tissue or sports massage with cupping when the body is dense from training, and assisted stretching for hips, hamstrings, neck and shoulders. All of it at the studio in St Leonards, at your home or at your hotel, with the same practitioner every time, at a price stated before you book.

When remedial is the right call

A pain that started with an injury or an accident. A problem a doctor or physiotherapist has already named and wants treated. A rebate that matters to your budget. A complaint that needs an assessment, a plan and notes from one visit to the next. In those cases, a remedial therapist is the right person, and there are good ones on the North Shore.

When what you want is on my table

You train regularly and are short on downtime. You have a long day at the desk and want the whole body worked, or one region worked firmly. You want the same person each time, at home, early in the morning or late in the day, without a clinic to drive to. You do not need a receipt, you need an appointment that is the one you asked for. That is the work I do.

The honest overlap

Firm pressure, trigger points, a shoulder worked slowly until it lets go: a good remedial session and a good deep tissue session can feel very similar on the day. The difference is the frame around it, the assessment, the plan, the receipt, and the qualification behind the word. I do not pretend to the frame. I do the hour.

Tell me first

Anything that hurts sharply rather than pulls, a recent injury or operation, a condition under treatment: tell me before we begin, and I will say whether I am the right person or whether you should see someone else first. This is bodywork, not treatment: I do not diagnose, and a session does not replace care from a doctor, a physiotherapist or a remedial therapist.

Ask for a time Deep tissue, sports massage and cupping

Written by Farid, the practitioner. Last checked 23 October 2026. All guides.