The exact speed of a caress: 3 cm per second

27 September 2026

Three centimetres per second (3 cm/s) is considered the optimal massage speed, although depending on the person it varies from 1 cm/s to 10 cm/s.

It is something masseuses learn unconsciously over time: through giving massages and feeling clients, they arrive at an optimal caress speed that is usually around 3 centimetres per second.

Throughout the 20th century, until 1999, it was believed that the sense of touch was a single channel in the human body: a system of fast fibres that report what you are touching or what is touching you. In 1999, a study by Vallbo, Olausson and Wessberg* documented a slow, parallel fibre system that was believed to convey nothing useful.

If this has made you want to try it: the erotic massage in Murcia.

In fact, their research showed that the signal picked up by these fibres does not go to the insula (internal states), but to a more primitive area, the same place where we feel hunger and thirst. As if being caressed were as important for our body as eating and drinking.

In 2006, Löken, Wessberg, Morrison, McGlone and Olausson** found two curves in C-tactile fibres: one indicates intensity and the other speed. It was demonstrated that a gentle, barely perceptible, slow massage is far more pleasurable.

This is something humanity has known for a long time: intuitively, mothers gently caress their babies, couples show their love with gentle caresses, and recently there has been a boom in erotic massages based on caresses.

In our Western society we have a need to put a number on everything and prove it scientifically; even if we have felt it, our mind needs a scientific study to corroborate it.

Additionally, it was discovered that temperature was a third influencing factor: neither too cold nor too hot, but close to the 36 degrees of body temperature. Masseuses had known this for a long time; that is why they always place the oil in a glass with a little hot water to give it the perfect temperature.

For me, the most interesting thing about this study is the area of the brain that registers the signal from these C-tactile receptors, putting them on the same level as hunger and thirst.

At Evaluna we do not measure the speed of each masseuse. We keep ourselves informed with what science says, but we firmly believe in the intuition of the masseuses and the feedback from clients. Some prefer it a little stronger, a little softer, faster or slower, but everyone agrees that one of the best physical experiences is an erotic massage at our centre.

The next time you receive a caress, don't measure the speed: relax your mind, close your eyes and feel. This information you are reading today will help your mind to switch off, because it will already have an answer to what you feel.

You will understand why on one occasion, with a more attractive, younger masseuse, you didn't enjoy the massage as much. Why there are people who seem to have 'a gift', and places where it doesn't matter if your favourite masseuse is not there that day: all her colleagues make you feel very much the same.

There is a combination of speed, pressure and temperature that makes a massage unforgettable. Based on your movements, your moans and your words, the masseuse will be able to adjust to what you like most.

You will read and hear many stories about massages; you have probably come across what we jokingly call 'cream spreaders': women who may be very attractive, but when it comes to giving the massage do not take into account the appropriate speed, pressure and temperature.

At Evaluna we trust that your experience will be unforgettable for your body, and now that your mind understands the reason why, we know it will be much easier for you to relax and enjoy.