Massage therapy in Clarksville from a licensed massage therapist

Massage therapy is hands-on work on the muscles and the soft tissue around them, using gliding strokes, kneading, pressure and stretching. At Source Chiropractic in Clarksville, it's done by a licensed massage therapist who works out of our office, not by our chiropractors. It's for people whose neck, shoulders or back feel tight and sore, who carry tension from a desk, a job or training, or who want focused time on the muscles. To set up a massage, call our office and we'll put you in touch with the therapist.

How do I book a massage at our Clarksville office?

Call our office or contact us, and we'll put you in touch with the massage therapist. Massage appointments are made with the therapist, so that's who to ask about open times, how long a session runs and what it costs. Online booking on this site is for visits with our chiropractors.

Do chiropractors do massage?

Our chiropractors do adjustments, dry needling, laser therapy and rehab exercises. Massage is done by the licensed massage therapist who works out of our office, and in Tennessee it is a separately licensed profession, so it is set up with the therapist.

Who is the massage therapist at our Clarksville office?

A licensed massage therapist who works out of our office. In Tennessee, massage is its own licensed profession, regulated by the Tennessee Massage Licensure Board under T.C.A. Title 63, Chapter 18. The standard route to a license is a massage curriculum of at least 650 classroom hours, including 200 hours of sciences such as anatomy, physiology and kinesiology and 300 hours of massage theory and practice, followed by a board-approved competency exam such as the MBLEx. Anyone can check a therapist's license on the state's public license lookup.

What happens at a massage session?

A massage usually starts with a conversation about your health, where it hurts or feels tight, and what you want from the visit. Client assessment and contraindications, the situations where massage or a particular technique isn't right, are part of the training Tennessee requires.

Tennessee's rules also set out how draping works. Before a massage begins, the therapist has to explain the draping that will be used (Rule 0870-01-.02) and give you a clean drape large enough to cover the buttocks and genitals and, for women, the breasts. Those areas stay covered except while that specific area is being worked on, and the genitals stay covered throughout. The same rule says draping and treatment must protect your safety, comfort and privacy at all times.

Massage is usually done with you lying face down or face up while the therapist works through the muscles with techniques such as gliding, kneading, friction, compression and stretching, all of which are part of Tennessee's required massage training.

Tennessee's rules require massage therapists to respect your right to refuse, modify or end treatment, even after you've agreed to it (Rule 0870-01-.19). So you can say if the pressure is too much or too little, and it can be changed or stopped at any point.

Deep tissue massage in Clarksville: what is it?

Deep tissue massage is firmer, more focused work aimed at the deeper layers of muscle and the fascia, the connective tissue wrapped around them. In the Stockholm Neck trial, a deep tissue session followed a set order: lighter stroking first, then kneading, then pressure on trigger points, then deep work on the muscle and fascia. A trigger point, as that trial defined it, is a small, palpable knot in a tight band of muscle that brings on your familiar pain when it's pressed. The trial set a ceiling on the pressure: the massage was meant to feel substantial and beneficial, but no more than moderately painful.

If deep tissue work is what you're after, ask the therapist about it when we put you in touch, and see the safety section below for what the therapist needs to know first.

What do people use massage for?

Massage is used to help manage a health condition or for general wellbeing, and 10.9% of U.S. adults used massage therapy in 2022, more than double the share in 2002. NCCIH lists low back pain, neck and shoulder pain, knee osteoarthritis pain and headaches among the kinds of pain massage has been studied for.

In everyday terms, people book a massage for a stiff neck and shoulders, a sore low back, tightness after work or training, or a knot that won't let go. Our guides to neck pain, back pain and shoulder pain explain what can be behind each one. Tension in the neck and shoulders can come along with some headaches, and our headache guide covers which headaches have a muscle part and which need a medical evaluation first.

What the research shows about massage for back and neck pain

Here is what the guideline, trials and reviews on massage for low back pain and neck pain found:

• Recent low back pain, the guideline. The American College of Physicians says that for acute or subacute low back pain, clinicians and patients should choose a non-drug treatment: superficial heat, massage, acupuncture or spinal manipulation. It notes that most of this pain improves over time whatever the treatment, rates the evidence for massage low in quality, and doesn't include massage in its list for chronic low back pain.
• Chronic low back pain, a trial. In the 2011 trial of 401 adults with chronic low back pain, both a structural style and a relaxation style of massage improved function and symptoms at 10 weeks more than usual care, with no clinically meaningful difference between the two styles. The function benefit of relaxation massage was still there at a year, but small.
• Low back pain, the review. A 2015 Cochrane review of 25 trials with 3,096 people, nearly all with sub-acute or chronic low back pain, found massage improved pain and function more than sham treatment, a waiting list or no treatment in the short term, but not in the long term. Against a pooled group of active treatments (manipulation, mobilization, TENS, acupuncture, traction, relaxation, physical therapy, exercise or self-care education), massage reduced pain more in both the short and long term, with no difference in function. The authors rated the evidence low to very low in quality.
• Chronic neck pain, a 2026 trial. In a trial of 290 veterans with chronic neck pain, hour-long sessions with a massage therapist twice a week for 12 weeks reduced pain and neck disability more than a waitlist. At three months, 43% of the massage group had a meaningful drop in pain against 15% on the waitlist, and 35% against 16% had a meaningful improvement in neck disability. At six months the pain figures were 36% against 16%, and the authors suggest longer treatment or booster sessions may be needed to keep the benefit.
• Neck pain, deep tissue massage. In the Stockholm Neck trial of 619 adults with subacute or long-lasting neck pain, more people had a meaningful improvement in neck pain in the short term with deep tissue massage than with advice to stay active. Massage made no consistent difference to pain-related disability, and at one year it wasn't more effective than advice for pain. People in the treatment groups more often said they felt recovered, at every follow-up.
• Neck pain, the review. A 2024 Cochrane review of 33 trials found low-certainty evidence that massage makes little or no difference to neck pain, function or quality of life compared with a placebo at up to 12 weeks, though it may slightly improve how much better people say they feel. Most of those placebo comparisons tested a single session, and when the reviewers grouped trials by dose, a higher dose (at least eight sessions of 30 minutes or more over four weeks) showed a clinically important difference.

This describes groups of people, not a prediction for your own result.

Is massage safe?

The 2015 Cochrane review of massage for low back pain found no serious side effects reported in any of its 25 trials, though the 2024 Cochrane review of massage for neck pain found adverse events too poorly reported to analyze. In the 2015 review, increased pain was the most common side effect, reported in 1.5% to 25% of participants. NCCIH, the U.S. government's center for research on complementary health care, says the risk of harm from massage appears to be low, but serious problems such as a blood clot, nerve injury or a broken bone have been reported rarely, some after vigorous types such as deep tissue massage, or in people at higher risk of injury, such as older adults.

Tennessee's rules require massage therapists to acknowledge the limitations of and contraindications for massage and, when appropriate, refer clients to other health professionals (Rule 0870-01-.19). A client's health history is how the therapist knows when that applies, so a massage therapist needs to know about:

• blood thinners or a bleeding disorder
• a recent injury, surgery, broken bone or blood clot
• osteoporosis, cancer, or another condition under treatment
• pregnancy
• any area that's numb, swollen, hot or newly painful

Each of those can change whether massage, or a particular technique, is appropriate.

Other options for tight, sore muscles

Massage is one option among several. Exercise is another: a Cochrane review found that exercise probably improves pain in chronic low back pain compared with no treatment, usual care or placebo. Medicines can ease pain enough to keep moving, and a physical therapist can build an exercise plan. Chiropractic care is another option, and the next section explains what it involves here.

When should a sore muscle get a chiropractic exam?

When neck, shoulder or back pain keeps coming back, runs into an arm or leg, or started with an injury, it helps to know what's behind it, and that's what our exam is for. We examine and treat the neck and back, and every plan starts with that exam.

Your first visit starts with a detailed history. You'll sit down with Dr. Jeff, Dr. Cindy or Dr. Ali and go over your health history, your symptoms, your concerns and your goals. Then comes a full evaluation, with full-spine X-rays when they're clinically appropriate, looking for joint restriction, muscle tension, inflammation, swelling in or around a joint, and signs of an irritated nerve. You'll hear what we found before we recommend anything.

Depending on what the exam finds, care may include:

• The chiropractic adjustment, a controlled force applied to a specific joint, usually by hand, aimed at a joint that isn't moving well.
• Dry needling, done by our chiropractors, for the muscle and soft-tissue part of a problem.
• Class IV laser therapy, used within its indications for pain, stiffness and muscle spasm.
• Rehab exercises for weakness, movement problems, stability, mobility and muscle imbalance.

When soft-tissue work fits, we'll put you in touch with the massage therapist as well.

The new-patient chiropractic offer has its own terms.

When is it a medical problem, not a tight muscle?

Most sore muscles are just that. A few things that feel muscular aren't, and they need a doctor before anyone works on them.

A clot in a deep vein of the leg usually causes throbbing pain in one leg, often in the calf or thigh, with swelling. Get urgent medical care, not a massage, for:

• A calf or leg that is swollen, warm, red or tender, especially in one leg only
• Sudden shortness of breath or chest pain, which can mean a clot has moved to the lungs. Call 911

Back pain with any of these needs emergency care now (call 911 or go to an emergency room), not a massage or an appointment with us:

• Loss of bladder or bowel control, or new difficulty passing urine
• A change in the sensation of passing urine, such as not feeling the flow, or losing the sense of when the bowel is full
• Numbness in the saddle area: the inner thighs, buttocks, or around the genitals
• New sexual dysfunction, including new numbness in the genitals
• New or worsening weakness in both legs
• Severe back pain with fever, or an unexplained fever with new back pain. Either alone is enough

Seek emergency care now (call 911 or go to an emergency room), not a massage or an appointment with us, if neck pain or a headache comes with any of the following:

• A headache of sudden, severe onset, reaching maximum intensity within about five minutes
• Headache with fever, or with a stiff neck, or with a rash. Any one of these is enough, and they often do not appear together
• Headache with new neurological symptoms: weakness, numbness, difficulty speaking, confusion, loss of coordination, or visual loss
• Headache after a head injury, particularly with drowsiness or repeated vomiting
• A painful red eye with blurred vision or halos seen around lights
• In anyone over fifty, a new headache with scalp tenderness, pain in the jaw when chewing, or any change in vision. Visual loss from this cause can be permanent, and it is treatable if caught early.
• Severe neck pain, or a new and unexplained headache, or both, especially alongside visual disturbance, unsteadiness or slurred speech. Either symptom alone can be the first sign. That combination can indicate a tear in an artery in the neck, and it needs immediate medical investigation rather than manual treatment. It does not always announce itself at once: in reported cases the neurological signs followed the first headache or neck pain by a median of several hours to several days, so a day or two of "just" severe neck pain and headache does not rule it out.

Our headache guide covers the other headache warning signs.

Sudden left shoulder pain can sometimes be a sign of a heart attack. Call 911 for sudden pressure or crushing pain in the shoulder, especially if it runs from the chest to the left jaw, arm or neck, or comes with shortness of breath, dizziness or sweating. MedlinePlus also lists heart attack symptoms that can come with neck pain, such as shortness of breath, sweating, nausea or vomiting, or arm or jaw pain, as needing help right away. It says to call 911 if neck pain follows a fall, a blow or an injury and you can't move an arm or hand.

Book a massage or a chiropractic visit

For a massage, call our Clarksville office or contact us, and we'll put you in touch with the massage therapist. For neck, shoulder or back pain you'd like examined, book a visit online. If we are not able to help you with your problem or are unable to reduce your pain levels, we will make sure to give you a recommendation to another experienced provider.