Nobody wants to hear “come back every week forever”, and any practitioner giving that answer before assessing you should be treated with suspicion. The honest version depends on why you are coming in.
Quick answer
For an active complaint, weekly or fortnightly is common until symptoms settle — often three to six sessions. For maintenance alongside regular training, every four to six weeks suits most people. Frequency should reduce as you improve. If you need weekly treatment indefinitely just to stay comfortable, that is a signal to investigate the underlying cause rather than a schedule to maintain.
Three different reasons, three different answers
| Why you are coming | Typical frequency | What should happen |
|---|---|---|
| Active complaint — something hurts now | Weekly or fortnightly | Noticeable change within 3–4 sessions, then spacing out |
| Managing a long-standing issue | Every 2–4 weeks initially | Gradual extension of the interval as capacity improves |
| Maintenance while training | Every 4–6 weeks | Stable; adjust around training blocks and events |
These are general patterns rather than a prescription. Individual needs vary considerably with the underlying cause, how long it has been present, and what else you are doing.
Why the interval should stretch
The point of treatment is not to hold a muscle in a released state indefinitely. It is to reduce symptoms enough that you can load the area properly, and then to build capacity so the tissue tolerates what you ask of it.
If that is happening, the gap between sessions naturally lengthens. Weekly becomes fortnightly, fortnightly becomes monthly. A schedule that never changes over a year is usually a sign that the treatment is managing symptoms while nothing is addressing the driver.
This is the most useful thing to ask your practitioner directly: what would need to be true for me to come in less often?
What tightens things back up
When a muscle returns to the same state within days, the release was never the problem. Common drivers:
- A strength deficit — the muscle is working near its limit all day and tightening is the consequence
- A joint restriction elsewhere — something is compensating, and the compensating tissue takes the load
- Sustained postural load without variation — the desk-work pattern
- A training load spike — volume increased faster than tissue adapted
- Sleep and stress — both genuinely affect muscle tension and pain sensitivity
Most of these are addressed by changing something outside the treatment room, which is why a good myotherapy plan includes exercise or load advice rather than treatment alone.
Around training
If you train consistently, schedule myotherapy rather than react to soreness. A fixed slot on a rest day or a light day works better than booking whenever something flares.
Timing follows the same logic as massage — avoid deep work in the 24 to 48 hours before a hard session or an event, since mild post-treatment soreness can leave you flat. When to book around training covers the windows in more detail.
When more sessions is not the answer
- Nothing has changed at all after three or four sessions
- Relief lasts a day or two and never longer
- Symptoms are spreading, or there is pins and needles, numbness or weakness
- Range of movement is reducing rather than holding
- Pain wakes you at night, or comes with fever or unexplained weight loss
The last one needs a doctor. The others mean the plan should change — often to physiotherapy for a fuller diagnostic assessment, sometimes to a strength-based approach, sometimes both. The scopes are compared in physiotherapy vs myotherapy.
At Complx
Anthony Garnier heads myotherapy at Complx, 101 Moray Street, South Melbourne, HICAPS claimed on the spot.
Where the answer to “why does this keep coming back” turns out to be a strength or capacity problem, personal training is on the same floor and the plan carries across rather than being explained twice. That is generally how the interval between treatments starts stretching — see how integrated care works.
Frequently asked questions
How many sessions before I notice a difference?
Many people notice something after the first or second. If nothing has shifted by the third or fourth, the muscular component is probably not the main driver and the approach should be reconsidered.
Can I have myotherapy too often?
Very frequent deep treatment on the same area can leave tissue persistently sore without adding benefit. Spacing sessions so the area recovers between them is generally more effective than stacking them.
Should I keep going once I feel fine?
Maintenance every four to six weeks suits people training hard or managing a long-standing issue. It is optional rather than necessary, and worth deciding on value rather than obligation.
Does my health fund limit how often I can go?
Extras policies apply annual limits, and some funds pool them across therapy types so myotherapy, massage and physiotherapy draw from the same allowance. Check before planning a course of treatment.
Can I combine myotherapy with massage?
Yes, though for most people it is unnecessary duplication. Myotherapy for the assessment-led work and remedial massage for general recovery is a reasonable split if you want both.
Get a plan with an endpoint
Complx Health, Mezzanine Level, 101 Moray Street, South Melbourne.