The breast and chest area does a lot of work without getting a lot of love.

Depending on your lifestyle, you might use your chest muscles to lift, carry, and push things all day long. Or use your breasts to feed your child. Or wear a bra that isn’t exactly comfortable. Or use a chest binder to help you express your gender identity.

And while, except for uncomfortable bras, these things are all awesome…they all put stress on our breasts, chests, and the surrounding muscles that support them. So it makes sense that our chests often hold a lot of tension and sometimes cause us pain. Thankfully, breast massage is a thing! And it can help a lot.

Sore from breastfeeding? Recovering from top surgery? Feeling achy after long days of chest binding? A breast massage can improve circulation, reduce inflammation, release tension, support lymphatic drainage, and improve mobility. And all those things will help you feel better!

(The best part is that it can be done over a sheet—so you can stay covered the whole time.)

Breast Massage in the Greater Vancouver Area

Capria Care Collective offers therapeutic care for every body. Our clinic is conveniently located in the heart of Coquitlam, British Columbia, and has tons of 5-star reviews. And our massage therapists are mindful, conscious, and understanding.

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How Breast Massage Works

Breast massage uses gentle, circular motions to increase blood flow, promote healing, and improve function in the breast tissue. You can request a breast massage appointment or ask us to incorporate it into your full-body massage. If you ask us to focus your massage on your chest, part of your appointment will specifically focus on the chest or breast tissue, but we’ll also treat other muscles that contribute to breast and chest pain when stiff, sore, or injured. That could mean treating your neck, shoulders, and back. Your massage therapist can treat you under or over a sheet, so you can remain covered for the entire appointment if you want to.

Depending on your concerns and medical history, your breast massage treatment could include remedial or therapeutic massage therapy (to help rehabilitate an injury), deep tissue massage, lymphatic drainage massage techniques, and myofascial release.

The Benefits of Breast Massage

Breast massage therapy can help to:

Promote breast health
Reduce pain, soreness, and discomfort in the breast tissue
Decrease swelling
Lessen pain associated with PMS
Improve lymphatic drainage
Reduce pain in the neck, shoulders, and upper back
Improve posture
Support lactation
Promote breast milk production and supply
Prevent or alleviate clogged milk ducts
Treat injuries to the chest and breast tissue
Prevent or relieve engorgement while breastfeeding and weaning
Reduce and mobilize scar tissue post-surgery (whether you had top surgery, a mastectomy, a biopsy, or a breast reduction, augmentation, or lift)
Alleviate pain and discomfort from chest banding
Promote healing and function after top surgery

Massage for Breast- and Chestfeeding

Breast and chestfeeding don’t always come easily. Lactation can be a problem, milk supply can be low, and things like clogged ducts and the classic, hunched-over feeding posture can cause tons of aches and pains. Thankfully, by facilitating lactation, soothing sore breast tissue, and releasing tight muscles in surrounding areas, breast massage can help.

Lactation Massage

Lactation massage focuses on improving circulation in the breast tissue to alleviate discomfort and promote effective breast or chestfeeding. It can enhance milk supply, help you manage engorgement, and remove milk duct clogs, reducing the risk of mastitis. So it’s beneficial throughout your feeding journey. And because it’s a lot like hand-expressing milk, you can do it at home.

Start by putting a warm compress on your breast and keep it there for a few minutes. Then, using your fingertips, massage your breast from the outer edge toward your nipple, using circular motions. This should feel good—like a relief! If it hurts, stop and contact either your doctor or a lactation consultant.

Massage for Chest Binding

Binding can be an important part of gender expression and bodily autonomy. But because it works to compress the chest, it can restrict breathing and limit movement in the ribcage—which can cause pain. The good news is that by relieving this tension, massage can alleviate much of that discomfort. So you can continue binding as long as you want (or need) to!

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Chest Massage After Top Surgery

Recovering from top surgery is no joke. Healing from chest masculinization or breast augmentation can be painful and uncomfortable, and limit your mobility for weeks if not months. Worth it? Yes. Enjoyable? Not so much!

Whether it’s soreness and stiffness from having to limit your movement during recovery, scar sensitivity, or any other type of surgery-related ache, it’s pretty common to have a little lingering pain even after the incision sites have healed.

Massage therapy and scar massage can help reduce that pain by increasing your range of motion, breaking up scar tissue, and decreasing scar sensitivity. It can also help improve sensation to and around your surgical scars (super helpful if you experience numbness!).

Massage During Breast Cancer

According to breastcancer.org, massage can be helpful for people with breast cancer because it can have a positive impact on anxiety, pain, fatigue, and immune function. But even though it can help, if you currently have or were recently treated for breast cancer, it’s important to be cautious.

Our practitioners are all registered massage therapists so we know how to keep you safe during treatment. Just make sure you disclose your diagnosis and current treatments to us so we know to adjust your treatment accordingly. Breastcancer.org also has an excellent list of precautions to take when considering massage during chemotherapy, radiation, or following breast cancer surgery. We recommend reviewing it before you book an appointment and discussing the key points with your therapist before your appointment begins.

What To Expect During a Breast Massage

Clinically speaking, during your treatment, your massage therapist will put their years of training in anatomy and tissue manipulation to work, helping you rehab injuries, relieve pain, and reduce stress. We’ll also develop a treatment plan for you with any stretches and exercises we recommend that you do at home to help you feel better.

Emotionally speaking, we know booking a breast massage appointment can be intimidating. With us, your comfort is always #1—regardless of the type of treatment you receive. You can expect your therapist to ask for your consent before touching any part of your body, especially your chest. And you never have to apologize or feel bad for having hairy body parts, showing up sweaty, crying during your session, wearing sweats to your appointment, or not wanting to disrobe fully. We can even complete your entire treatment over a sheet if you prefer that.

And while we can only speak to what breast massage is like at Capria, the above should be true regardless of where you book. If you ever feel less than 100% comfortable, you have every right to make requests or stop treatment altogether!

Interested in Breast Massage? Let’s Get You Booked In!

Booking a breast massage appointment is like booking any other massage. When you book or arrive at the clinic, just let us know you’d like to focus on the breast or chest area—or ask us to incorporate some breast massage into your full-body appointment.

Complete the form below to get started!

Breast Massage for Lactation, Gender Affirmation, and Post-Surgical Recovery