MEET YOUR THERAPIST
About Your Massage Therapist in San Francisco, CA
Miss Still Massages is the practice of Melanie Still, a massage therapist in San Francisco, CA offering custom sessions from the Mission District. Trained at The San Francisco School of Massage and Bodywork, she came to this work through her own experience of chronic pain. Explore the services or book a session.
A Family Line of Osteopathic Practitioners
I come from an incredibly long line of Osteopathic practitioners, and I share a name with A.T. Still, who founded osteopathy. He wrote that the fascia is where to look for the cause and where to begin the remedy.
That shapes how I work — it is why myofascial release is central here, and why I am training in Ortho-Bionomy.
A Path From Chronic Pain Into Bodywork
I have been a Bay Area native since 1999.
I originally went to school to work in the legal field, and spent a decade as an Executive Paralegal and Investigator. That ended when I developed sciatica painful enough that I could not keep my mind on the work. I left the legal field because of it.
For the last decade I worked in transportation in various roles. In 2025 the sciatica I developed in 2011 was declared permanent, and I received free tuition to attend The San Francisco School of Massage and Bodywork.
I genuinely enjoyed massage therapy school. My favorite part was student clinic — working with real bodies and real problems rather than theory.x
Why That Background Matters
Living with persistent pain teaches you things a textbook cannot.
It teaches you that the place that hurts is often not the place causing it. That being told to simply relax is useless when your body will not. That pressure applied without listening does not help, no matter how skilled the hands.
I come from an incredibly long line of osteopathic practitioners, so an interest in how bodies work was always around me. It took my own experience to turn that into a profession.
How I Work
Each of my massages is custom to the client and their needs, as well as the needs of their body. No two people are the same.
I build sessions on two sources of information: what you tell me needs to be done, and what your body tells me it needs. Those two do not always match, and the interesting work usually happens where they differ.
My first session with a new client, I may be a little chatty. That is deliberate — I want to understand your body, what it has been through, and what it needs before I start working on it.
What I Offer
Sessions draw on Swedish, deep tissue, sports, trigger point, myofascial release, prenatal, hot stone and Ortho-Bionomy techniques. Most sessions combine several.
Sessions run 60 or 90 minutes, with packages of three for anyone working through something ongoing.
Training & Background
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Graduate of The San Francisco School of Massage and Bodywork
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Family lineage of Osteopathic practitioners
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Ortho-Bionomy student
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Personal experience with chronic pain — authentic understanding of client needs
What to Expect
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Customized sessions tailored to your body
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Therapeutic conversation during your first visit
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Skilled palpation to identify problem areas
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Treatment designed for your individual needs
Where to Find Me
The studio is at 2869 24th Street in the Mission District, San Francisco — easy to reach from across the city and from Daly City.
If you are dealing with something that has not responded to anything else, come in and tell me about it. Call or text 415-684-5881, book a session, or get in touch here.