Rita Elsner, LMT

When I was at UMD, I was recommended by friends to go to the massage center at the health center. I never knew I could get a real good massage at school! Here is where I met Rita. Omg! She is good!!! I always treated myself to massages at high end places but she does a real good job. She did Swedish and after she was done I felt like a Swede. So then after I graduated UMD, I went to her place and the massages were top notch. I love mysofascials. Her massages was so good that I fell asleep. I didnt want to go home. She is amazing with her hands!

Love the bed, love the room, love the ambience… INCREDIBLE massage. That’s about it. Cannot recommend highly enough. Need to get back here pronto. She is NOT just pushing oil around… (aka shoddy swedish massage). She’s on the ball. Do it.

Rita is fantastic! I went to her for years while living in the DC area. I was so impressed and pleased with the massage therapy work Rita is capable of performing. Each session is unique. She relieved my muscle tension and I always left feeling relaxed. I highly recommend Rita to anyone. Whether you’re in need of an intense deep tissue, muscle-​targeting session or simply desiring a relaxing Swedish massage, Rita can do the job.

Incredible therapeutic and healing work is done my Ms. Elsner.

I was looking for some deep tissue body work to help alleviate neck, shoulder, and upper back pain from working at a desk. Rita responded quickly to my scheduling request and paid close attention to my goals for my body work and my limitations. I feel So. Much. Better. after an hour on her table. I am a person who likes a lot of pressure and deep muscle work and she did a great job, and she also checked in with me regularly to make sure the pressure was comfortable for me, so even if hard pressure isn’t your thing, don’t be afraid, because she is definitely respectful of individual limits and preferences. When it was time for me to leave, Rita sent me home with stretching guides for the workplace and to prevent pain from sitting/​working at a desk, to help prevent future pain. I was impressed with the quality of her work and with her treatment of me as a customer. I will definitely come back and you should too! I’m recommending that my office contract with her the next time they want to do employee appreciation with chair massages.

Rita Elsner is a superb massage therapist. She has a unique understanding of the body as she is both an athlete and an artist as well as a therapist. I truly believe that those other vocations assist her massage practice and result in anatomically sophisticated attention to muscles, joints and movement. It is a fact that my experiences with her massages have been uncommonly beneficial. I recommend Rita without qualification.

My back had been really hurting for a few months due to my job sitting at a desk all day, and lately it had gotten even worse. I had had Swedish/​relaxation massages before to try to alleviate the pain but it only helped for a few hours. I wanted to try myofascial release to see if this helped longer term, and found Rita through a Unilocal search of myofascial practitioners in DC. I contacted her on a Saturday and she was able to see me the next day.
I was a little nervous since I’m not very good with pressure, but the massage was wonderful. There were a few moments of slight discomfort from the pressure, but it was worth it — it’s definitely the «hurt so good» type of feeling where she needs to apply a little bit of pressure to get your muscles to loosen up. She was awesome at working on my back where I had the most pain, and I felt like melted butter by the end of the hour, with literally zero back pain.
I waited a week to write this review to see if the effects lasted for a few hours or were longer lasting. I’m starting to feel very minimal pain again, but nothing close to where I was before I saw Rita. I’ve also even noticed that it’s easier to keep good posture since I saw her, which also is a big help in reducing the pain. Before I saw her it hurt to sit or stand up straight, so I would spend a lot of time slumping, which just aggrevated my back problems.
I plan to see Rita again in a few weeks, and hope to do so on a regular basis to ward off the pain coming back. She really is wonderful with the and I would highly recommend her for myofascial release bodywork to anyone experiencing pain issues. Her studio is also cute and peaceful, and she has a very calming and relaxing demeanor as well.

Not sure I can add much to the others — all are spot on! I knew Rita from rowing, so it was good to catch up. More than anything, I especially appreciate how she listened to me and translated what I told her to addressing those issues (hips/​knees and shoulders/​base-​of-​my neck). Afterwards, she also gave me suggestions for stretches. It worked. It worked so well, I have resolved to return as often as my budget will allow. Just go and see for yourself! Fees are very, very fair.

I haven’t been there in a while, but I used to go regularly and Rita was great. Good intuition, comfortable home/​studio. I’d still be going if I hadn’t moved out of the neighborhood. If you’re in the area, definitely try her out — you won’t be disappointed.

I was incredibly happy with Rita’s massage. She’s a real professional and obviously knows what she’s doing. She has a calm and relaxing demeanor, which creates the perfect environment for a massage. And you can tell she has significant experience — Her sessions are my ideal mix of deep tissue and Swedish — deep enough to make you feel like a wet noodle and work out the knots, but careful enough that you don’t end up in pain and sore. I would definitely visit Rita again.

I have both worked with Rita as well as received massages from Rita. She does fantastic work!
Being a quite particular massage therapist myself, I tend to be somewhat critical of other massage therapists. Rita is fantastic!

I am a huge fan of Rita. As a graphic designer, I am always have arm. neck and shoulder problems from computer over-​use. Rita has always been able to loosen and relax all of my problem areas. She is very professional, and I would recommend her to anyone. I have had many other massages, and this is by far the best!