Gentle, certified, deeply respectful care for people living with cancer or moving through life after it. Every session is adapted to you, on the day, at whatever your body can receive.
Oncology massage at Life Massage and Wellness in Portsmouth, NH is gentle, individually adapted bodywork for people who are in cancer treatment, recovering from it, or living well beyond it. It is delivered by therapists with specific oncology massage certification, and it is built entirely around comfort, safety, and being cared for rather than assessed.
The adaptations are real and specific. Pressure stays light. Positioning is adjusted with cushions and side-lying support so nothing has to be endured. Areas affected by surgery, radiation, ports, or lymph node removal are worked around with informed caution or left alone entirely. Session length is flexible, because some days thirty minutes of quiet contact is exactly right and ninety would be too much.
What we hear most often from clients is not about technique at all. It is that they wanted an hour where nobody was measuring anything, where touch was comforting rather than clinical, and where they could simply lie in a warm quiet room and be looked after. That is the service. Everything else is in support of it.
We ask every oncology massage client to have clearance from their oncologist or care team before the first session, and we mean it kindly. It lets your therapist plan properly, and it means you can relax completely rather than wondering whether something is advisable.
Please have clearance from your oncologist or care team before your first visit. Call us and we will walk you through it.
Oncology massage is a specialized field within massage therapy, requiring training beyond a standard license. It is not simply a lighter version of a regular massage. Therapists who practise it study how cancer and its treatments affect the body, what those effects mean for safe touch, and how to adapt a session for someone whose circumstances may change from week to week.
The core skill is judgment. A person mid-chemotherapy, a person six weeks after surgery, and a person five years past treatment have very different needs, and a single fixed protocol would serve none of them well. Your therapist’s job is to understand where you are, ask the right questions, and build the hour around your answers rather than around a routine.
Practically, that means several consistent adaptations. Pressure stays gentle throughout, because tissue and circulation may be more vulnerable than usual. Positioning uses cushions, side-lying, and sometimes a semi-reclined setup so comfort never depends on tolerating a position. Sites affected by surgery, radiation, or lymph node removal are treated with specific caution or avoided. Session length is set by what feels right on the day.
The intent throughout is comfort and quality of life. Oncology massage is supportive care that sits alongside your medical treatment, never in place of it, and a good therapist will be entirely clear about that distinction.
We want to be direct here, because this is an area where overpromising causes real harm. Oncology massage does not treat cancer. It does not slow, shrink, or affect disease in any way, and it is not a substitute for or an adjunct to medical treatment decisions. Any provider who suggests otherwise should be treated with serious caution.
What it offers is comfort, relaxation, and the experience of being cared for during a period when a great deal of touch becomes clinical. Many clients describe better rest, an easier mind, and a welcome hour that belongs to them rather than to their diagnosis. Those are meaningful and they are enough; we do not need to claim anything further.
We ask every client to have approval from their oncologist or care team before a first session. This is not a formality. Your medical team knows details that shape a safe session: recent procedures, blood counts, treatment schedule, whether lymph nodes were removed and where, and whether there are areas that must be avoided entirely.
With that information your therapist can plan a session confidently rather than cautiously guessing, and you can arrive knowing everything has been considered. If you are unsure how to raise it, most care teams are entirely used to the question, and we are happy to talk through what to ask. Call us at 603-373-8780 and we will help.
Your first visit begins with a longer, unhurried conversation. Your therapist will ask about your treatment history and current stage, any surgeries and where, whether lymph nodes were involved, any ports or devices, how your energy has been, and what you would most like from the hour. Nothing about this is intrusive for its own sake; each answer changes something practical about the session.
Then we build the hour around it. Positioning is settled before anything else, using cushions and side-lying support until you are genuinely comfortable rather than merely arranged. Pressure begins very light and stays there unless you ask otherwise. Specific areas are worked around or left entirely, and your therapist will tell you what they are avoiding and why so nothing feels arbitrary.
Throughout, you are in charge. Stop at any time, change position at any time, and shorten the session at any time without explanation or awkwardness. Falling asleep is common and welcome. So is talking, and so is silence.
Sessions also change over time, and we expect that. What suits you during an active treatment cycle is not what will suit you eight months later, and your therapist will keep asking rather than assuming that last month’s session is still the right one. If you would like to work with the same therapist each visit so you are not re-explaining your history, tell us and we will arrange it.
This service is supportive comfort care alongside medical treatment, never a substitute for it, and we make no claims about affecting disease. These are the circumstances clients come to us in.
If you are managing a health condition, recovering from injury, or pregnant, tell us at booking so we can match you with the right therapist and service. Prenatal sessions require a specific setup, which we are glad to arrange.
Knowing exactly how the hour will go removes one more thing to think about. Here it is, start to finish.
Your first visit includes a longer intake covering treatment history, surgeries, ports, node involvement, energy levels, and what you want from the session. Arrive fifteen minutes early so none of it is rushed.
We settle positioning before anything begins, using cushions and side-lying support. You undress only as much as you wish, and many clients stay partly or fully clothed. You are draped throughout.
Gentle, light contact for as long as suits you, from thirty to ninety minutes. Your therapist will explain what they are avoiding and why. Stop, adjust, or shorten at any point without explanation.
No rush to get up. Water, quiet, and time. If you would like to book again we will handle it gently, and if today was not the right day, that is completely fine too.
On scheduling: many clients find certain points in a treatment cycle suit them better than others, and your therapist can help you find that window over the first few visits. If you wake up on the day and it is not right, call us. We would far rather move an appointment than have you push through one.
Certification matters here more than in any other service we offer, and our oncology massage is delivered by therapists trained specifically in it. That training is what allows a session to be genuinely safe and genuinely gentle at the same time, rather than cautious to the point of being unsatisfying.
The environment matters just as much. A great deal of touch during cancer treatment happens under bright lights in clinical rooms, and it is rarely for comfort. Our studio at 95 Brewery Ln, Unit #17 is candlelit, warm, and quiet, with soft linens and treatment rooms set back from the street. There is free parking right at the door, which is not a small thing on a low-energy day.
We also try to make the practical side easy. Call us rather than booking online for a first oncology session so we can take proper details and match you with the right therapist. Tell us how much energy you have and we will suggest a length. If you would like a shorter session at a gentler rate on a difficult week, ask; we would rather see you for thirty minutes than not at all.
Clients come to us from across Portsmouth and from Rye, Greenland, Newington, Dover, Newmarket, and Kittery, some during treatment and many long afterward. Caregivers are equally welcome, and we mean that sincerely.
One last thing worth saying. If you have been putting off booking because you are not sure you qualify, or whether it is allowed, or whether you would be a difficult client, please just call. Those questions come up constantly and none of them are awkward for us. We will tell you plainly what is possible and what we would need from your care team, with no pressure to book anything at the end of the conversation.
Treatment and recovery are rarely short, and a membership makes regular comfort simpler to sustain. One session each month from $105, member rates on additional visits, hours that roll over for six months, and sessions you can share with a caregiver.
For someone going through treatment, or for the person quietly caring for them. A gift card carries no obligation and no expiry pressure, and can be used for any service at either studio whenever the time feels right.
Still have a question? We’re happy to talk it through before you book.
With clearance from your oncologist or care team and a therapist certified in oncology massage, gentle massage is widely considered a safe comfort measure for many people during treatment. The adaptations are what make it safe: light pressure, careful positioning, and specific caution around surgical sites, radiation fields, ports, and areas where lymph nodes were removed. Your care team knows your situation, which is why we ask for their approval first.
Yes, we ask every client for clearance from their oncologist or care team before a first session. Your medical team knows details that shape a safe hour, including recent procedures, treatment schedule, and whether lymph nodes were removed. Most care teams are entirely used to this question. If you are unsure how to raise it, call us at 603-373-8780 and we will help you think it through.
In many cases yes, with the right adaptations and your care team’s approval. Ports are worked around entirely. Where lymph nodes have been removed, your therapist will take specific care with that region and the limb it drains, following oncology massage guidelines. Please tell us about both when you book so the session is planned rather than improvised.
We are careful here. Oncology massage does not treat cancer or its side effects, and we make no medical claims. What many clients report is comfort, better rest, easier sleep, and an hour of feeling like themselves rather than a patient. Those are the honest benefits, and for most people they are reason enough. Anything a provider claims beyond that deserves scepticism.
Please call so we can take proper details and match you with the right certified therapist. Clearance from your care team is needed before a first session.
Therapeutic massage and specialty wellness in Portsmouth, NH and Amesbury, MA.
Portsmouth: 603 373 8780
Amesbury: 978 792 5201
Sunday 8:00 am – 5:00 pm
Monday – Thursday 8:00 am – 7:00 pm
Friday 8:00 am – 6:00 pm
Saturday 8:00 am – 5:00 pm
Sunday Closed
Monday – Thursday 9:00 am – 8:00 pm
Friday 9:00 am – 6:00 pm
Saturday 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Sunday 8:00 am – 5:00 pm
Monday – Thursday 8:00 am – 7:00 pm
Friday 8:00 am – 6:00 pm
Saturday 8:00 am – 5:00 pm
Sunday Closed
Monday – Thursday 9:00 am – 8:00 pm
Friday 9:00 am – 6:00 pm
Saturday 9:00 am – 5:00 pm