Massage in Encinitas

Doctor of Chiropractic Michelle Binkowski is passionate about healing people, believing body work is essential to attaining ultimate health. Her staff includes massage therapists that use a variety of techniques to relieve muscle tension, melt away stress, and improve circulation. The staff also performs customized treatments to heal rotator cuffs, golfer's elbows, and knees, or to improve a client's overall mind, body, and spirit. For other ailments, Dr. Binkowski utilizes cutting-edge techniques and modalities, such as laser technology, alongside nutrition, exercise, and chiropractic care to ease pain.

Trained in sports medicine, Dr. Binkowski has worked with professional athletes, including World's Strongest Man competitors, former San Diego Chargers, members of the Buffalo Sabres and Toronto Blue Jays, triathletes, gymnasts, and LPGA golfers. Her list of clients also includes actors, actresses, and stuntman, such as Jackie Chan.

In 2001, the first iTan Sun Spray Spa opened its doors. It had a simple goal—to make clients feel and look lovely with professional tanning services. Today, the spa has more than 20 branches around San Diego, each offering a slightly different assortment of tanning beds, spray-tanning booths, and mechanical spa services.

The Smart Tan–certified staff prioritizes keeping up with tanning technology by stocking state-of-the-art tanning beds such as the Sun Angel, which uses sensors to customize a blend of UVA and UVB rays, practically eliminating overexposure and the need to wear a beekeeper suit to detract from a burn. Many beds come equipped with stereo sound systems, misters, and fans. Just down the hall from these beauty gadgets, Mystic and airbrush machines bronze limbs without UV rays or tan crayons, and mechanical spa machines dispense relaxing red-light treatments, infrared-energy body wraps, and aqua massages.

S&D SPA Body Wellness’s fleet of experienced stylists, massage therapists, and aestheticians pamper guests with an array of relaxing and noninvasive services. Nicolette Nightingale, the spa’s licensed cosmetologist, styles hair using tricks she’s picked up in her 10-year career as both a model and hair stylist in the entertainment industry. Her colleague Brandi McMillan also has impressive experience with permanent makeup, having prettified faces for Elle magazine, the Emmys, and the Academy Awards. When not doing hair or makeup, the staff suppresses tense shoulder uprisings with customized massages and allows faces to glow with a variety of freshening facials.

Beneath the shine of 20 Lounge Nail Bar and Boutique, a singular purpose pushes it forward: to bring high-end luxury to the masses. Like a beauty-conscious cousin of Johnny Appleseed, the ever-expanding franchise has planted locations throughout California and Arizona, always pampering its clients with the same menu of services. Therapists, for instance, perform facials using Dermalogica's MicroZone products, which wash away acne, reduce the appearance of wrinkles, or exfoliate the skin. Mani-pedis, on the other hand, polish and dress nails in a rainbow of available colors, rendering their surfaces complementary to freshly waxed legs or accessories such as a freshly opened box of crayons.

Gene Metcalf of Golden Touch Therapy treats giant, muscular men very delicately—he’s massaged pro athletes from more than eight teams, including the Denver Broncos and the St. Louis Cardinals. It's not surprising he's had such success with athletes, since he's developed a sports injury relief program that uses neuromuscular therapy to reduce scar tissue and improve circulation to crucial nerves. For other clients, he administers 60-minute therapeutic, deep tissue, Swedish, and reflexology massages. Many of his treatments target specific zones of the body, such as TMJ relief for the jaw and upper body and sciatica relief for the lower back and vestigial tail.

Each one of massage therapist Shasta Lavigne’s integrative massages combines techniques she’s learned traveling the world. Her expertise in tui na massage comes from her studies at Beijing Massage Hospital in China, while her expertise in lomi lomi was gained during her tenure at Maui School of Therapeutic Massage in Makawao. Her bodywork treatments comprise firm pressure and focused kneading, allowing her to really hone in on a body's tense areas and squeaky hinges. But that's not all they can do—her massages are also intended to help clients improve their range of motion and detoxification efforts, as well as elevate energy.