PF Dumanis, CMT

Btw, I haven’t had a chance to update this. He contacted me almost immediately after I first reviewed him. Once I got in, I was able to make appointments regularly, and I see him every month or 2 months now. I also book online: that makes it easier too. He’s still as good as ever, and he keeps on learning techniques for his trade. He helps for after the session by giving me «homework» and teaching me stretches, yoga poses, and tricks to help loosen up trouble areas.
I’ve seen him over a dozen times by now (always 120min… I book longer so he has the time to work on the muscles thoroughly). I’ve seen many other CMT’s/acupuncturists in between for when I seriously can’t move, and they never really do as satisfactory work as PF. Here are some notable things he has helped with:
RSI in wrists, which lead to tennis elbow/​golf elbow, which lead to pecs and scalenes. He does great work on all of that (some CMT’s just make it painful by not doing it right, but not him) and helps me be able to use my arms/​wrists without pain.
He did some ankle work, and my duck feet went away for a few weeks.
He does hip work which helps ease the lower back pain. I start out ticklish when he does it, and after awhile I am less ticklish – he says you’re less ticklish when you’re not tense. He has also taught me how to teach my fiancé to help with sudden lower back issues.
I didn’t know my calves were so tense. I didn’t think it was. Until PF worked on them. After it was done, I still didn’t think it was. Until 2 days later. I felt the difference. I didn’t even know!
If you enjoyed this review, please book on days other than Sunday afternoons, haha (I’m being selfish). He’s pretty free during weekdays (M, W, Th). Go see him during lunch or something! But also, he is also very accommodating and always looks out for cancelled times to see if I’m interested! It’s made seeing him much easier!

There are very few truly exceptional people in this world or people that have actually realized their true calling. PF is one of those people. He is not only outstanding in his technique but has the ability to take his body work to a level that extends beyond the physical. He accomplishes this in a way that is not too ‘hippy dippy or eccentric,’ for those of you that might be rolling your eyes at my grand commendations. He is simply a very sentient, compassionate, caring person and you feel that from him each and every time he works on you.
For me, he has redefined what it means to have a good massage and has provided me with a level of relief and enhanced wellness that I literally didn’t know was possible. The consistency of his caring, intuitive and highly skilled body work has given me a dramatic reduction in chronic pain. I used to go to a chiropractor twice a week to combat extreme neck/​jaw pain and headaches. It was a cycle that never improved until I started seeing PF. I can honestly say that by going to him every other week I no longer have chronic pain. Your appointments will become something that you look forward to and cherish.

PF is the best. He knows right away what is wrong with your body and how to address the issue.
I had knee pain after going for a run for more than 10 years. After a few sessions, PF was able to address the issue and educate me about how to treat it. With his help and guidance on the right stretching techniques for it, the knee pain is now gone for good.

Working with PF completely frees up the movement of my joints and muscles, beyond what I have previously accepted as «normal.» It’s like finding $ 20 in the pocket of jeans you just bought. I have been coming to PF for an hour a week for the past year and it has been completely worth it. I am finding freedom, of movement and from pain, in my body I never thought was possible.
Additionally, PF is good about recommending complimentary activities, stretches, and exercises to build on the work he does in his sessions. Plus he is an all-​round great guy. I cannot recommend PF highly enough for problem-​solving bodywork.

After neglecting a long time back injury and pursuing physical therapy, I started seeing PF for bodywork. I have a fairly complicated situation but I’ve seen huge improvements in my pain level and mobility since seeing PF regularly.
His method is very technical but also intuitive and holistic which is exactly what I wanted in a massage therapist. He’s not only helped me with his massage, but he’s also pointed me in the right direction for other kinds of helpful exercises and stretches off of the table. I’ve also learned a lot about how my body moves which aids my healing.
PF is a very kind and patient person and seeing him makes me instantly more relaxed. Plus, he plays great music in our sessions.
Whenever someone I know complains about serious pain, I always recommend PF. I’m very happy I found him!

PF is absolutely amazing! I’ve had quite a few massages in my life and he is by far the most skillful therapist I’ve ever been to. He knows exactly how to get problem areas. Cannot recommend him enough!

I cannot say enough about PF! He is by far the most talented and effective massage therapist I’ve ever worked with. He is extremely intuitive and has an amazing breadth of knowledge when it comes to understanding how everything is put together. Recently I was having serious pain and tingling in my wrist and hand. My doctor literally told me to «take some Advil and see if it goes away». But after one visit with PF, he had identified a series of knots in my arm, wrist and hand and was able to work them out. The pain virtually disappeared and has continued to improve since!
He is also completely unpretentious and non-​judgmental. He has a knack for putting people at ease and I love his music selection! None of that plinky-​plunky new age stuff.
If you’re just looking for someone to slather you in lotion, please, feel free to go elsewhere. But if you’re looking for someone who can actually address your health concerns and improve the way you feel, PF is your man!

I woke up this morning with an incredible pain in my neck, thinking that I WAY over-​did-​it at the gym this week. I had never gotten a massage in SF, so Unilocal was my only hope.
I saw these rave reviews for PF and gave him a call. He squeezed me in immediately, and BOY was I impressed. Best massage I’ve ever had! PF is extremely knowledgeable and so kind. His Haight office is really inviting. I will definitely be back! Now that I’ve hit that age (30+), I know it’s time to start truly caring for myself.
I can’t give him enough stars!

I didn’t see PF myself, but my husband did, so I am writing this review on his behalf.
First off, my husband isn’t one to carry on and on about things, so when he does, you know it was somethin’ special!!!
As someone who is extremely active, my husband is used to various pains, ailments, and discomforts and usually handles them with a lot of grace. But for the last few months he has been experiencing some problems with his hip and neck and it seemed that none of his usual methods for dealing with it were working. He decided to see another body worker, and although the experience itself was enjoyable enough, his pain continued to inhibit his activities. Per the suggestion of a good friend, he decided to try out PF but went into it not expecting anything miraculous.
Well, it was nothing short of amazing! He kept raving about how knowledgeable PF is and how he helped him to understand what was going on in his body. But the best part was the work itself, and that after just 90 incredible minutes, the pain he had been living with for months seemed to be subsiding.
And it kept subsiding… even after the appointment. Eric kept expecting the discomfort to come back, but it never did and week later he still feels great. So great, that he now plans on seeing PF exclusively and to keeping his visits on a regular basis to maintain and to see what other kind of magic PF can work in his body.
Now it’s my turn and I can’t wait to see what PF does for me!

I’ve gotten very few massages in my life but recently started to get really tense neck muscles that were causing me daily, almost chronic, throbbing headaches that were interfering with my sleep. As someone who typically never gets headaches, I pretty much wanted to either die or take drugs all the time. Those were my two options. Until it occurred to me that I could also get a massage.
Finally, on a Sunday, I couldn’t take it anymore and pulled the trigger and did a Unilocal search for massage therapists. I sheepishly called PF on Sunday afternoon asking him for availability and he was kind enough to fit me in at 10pm that night after I spewed my life story to him. I was so thrilled at the idea of someone maybe fixing my neck that literally nothing else mattered to me. As 10pm approached and I was driving through a random neighborhood on some random dark street about to approach some random office building, I started to realize how shady this whole thing could potentially be. But as a testament to how badly I wanted my neck taken care of, I still happily went without any further questions.
PF was a-​maz-​ing. He was pleasant and efficient and worked on my neck for an hour which was amazing. As I could sense the hour was nearing, I also realized that we had never talked about price and was so relaxed and comfortable that I hazily remember not caring at all how much it will end up costing me because the man deserved very penny.
I slept like a baby that night and my neck pain pretty much went away over the next two or three days. I cannot wait to see him again!

As a very athletic person, I’ve had trouble over the years finding a massage therapist that knows how to deal with my specific needs. This is not the case with PF. He not only has the ability to work my muscles deeply, he also has a keen understanding of the body. This allows him to often work complimentary areas of my body, releasing tension in the place where I’m feeling it. PF is not just good at what he does in a practical sense but he also has a keen intuition for the person as a whole. Leaving his table, both my body and mind feel in a better state.
While I have no doubts that PF can work wonders on any body, I specifically recommend him to highly athletic folks, especially acrobats.

PF is great. I started seeing him after a «groupon» deal and have been going back for the last 2-​ish years.
Super easy and accomadating to schedule with and super-​awesome to work on body-​issues with. I’ve been to a few other folks in the past here in SF and none of them worked for me. Some were TOO «sports rehab» focused, i.e. a guy in the full adidas suit asking, «what’s up, chief???» when I walked in while some were TOO hippy for me and went heavy on the talk of chakras. While those folks are great for some, I finally found PF who mixes everything I was looking for in one stop.
He’s incredibly nice and it’s easy to instantly feel comfortable around him. I can’t recommend him enough.

I feel like I won the lottery by meeting PF. I am also a massage therapist and always looking for other skilled practitioners to work on me. Yes, it may seem weird that I am raving about someone who could be perceived as my competition, but PF deserves every praise. He is intuitive and incredibly skilled and knowledgeable. He transitions from gentle energy work to deep, specific therapeutic pressure seamlessly. Every session I walk out feeling like my body is sweet place to hang out in again.

Ohmagah. I walked out in a dreamlike haze, it was so good. I can’t wait to go back!

I always have a problem with massage therapists ‘going easy’ on me during sessions, thinking I do not want a lot of pressure during my session. PF has an uncanny ability to always apply an appropriate amount of pressure — just enough, really.
I’ve been seeing PF for over a year now and am so happy I found him! He is so pleasant to talk to and is extremely knowledgeable about his practice. He has been able to help me with neck tension, sore muscles from running and has even recommended small changes to my lifestyle that improve my posture! Each session is a little different than the last — depending on my current activities and stress level, which I find to be very effective. I had my fiancé start seeing PF and now he sees him whenever he is in SF.
I leave every session feeling refreshed and worked! I try to see PF every 2 weeks and recommend him to everyone! PF, you are AMAZING and I don’t know what I’d do without you!

I was very wary of a massage and went into the experience with hesitation about my sore spots/​injuries, but PF totally set me at ease. He’s definitely friendly but not in-​your-​face or overly chatty, which I liked.
He did a great job taking intake and figuring out where I was tight and stressed (like everywhere, especially the neck and shoulders) and what techniques to use. I’m having some shoulder/​neck tightness, so he focused there for the entire 60 minute session and got to work releasing tension and easing the strain.
I felt super relaxed and more connected with my body afterwards. Really really positive experience.

It’s been a while since I’ve gotten a massage from PF, but this is a review I started a while back and never got around to completing so here it goes:
Intuitive as a therapist, warm and friendly as a person, PF brings a nice energy to the massage table. He took notice of a bruise I came in with on my arm and made it a point to be gentle with it. During our session, he was able to locate knots and tightness and applied enough pressure to really get in there and loosen things up. For the dedicated gym rat I was at the time, serious muscle loosening and stretching is much more important than a superficial rubdown. PF has no problem using his elbow, knuckles, fist, or forearm (along with a LOT of pressure if you prefer) to accomplish that loosening.
Though a visit to his private studio didn’t include the bells and whistles of a typical day spa, my session with PF was not entirely about pampering; it was more about serious muscle work to get me up and moving with as much fluidity as possible through the intensity of my next workout. When I snap back into my old gym-​obsessed self, I’ll be calling up PF to recover me for sure.

I have never had a massage other than a pleasant Swedish one. I thought Deep Tissue had no real benefit and was for, frankly speaking, sadistic personalities…
WRONG. Though it takes a little bit of mental focus and steady breathing, PF is really good at easing into the pressure. His education on, um… ‘muscle stuff’? … was really reassuring that he knew what he was doing. Even how he moves his fingers around certain muscles and joints was pretty darn impressive. PF is conscious of the intensity and constantly checks in to make sure your not, dying (dramatic, I know). And– after a while the endorphins really started to kick in :)
I had YEARS of build up stress, and have never felt the lasting effects for so long, than I did after my session with PF. I noticed I walked straighter, sat with more composure, and overall felt like the world had been squeezed out of my shoulders, literally.
Parking was simple, had a VIP spot right up front since it was a Sunday in Hayes Valley. The room is quaint, with peaceful music and PF engages in light conversation to find your intensity level but allows you to enjoy your state of relaxation.
Stop debating– Try the deep tissue. And try PF.

Just went here yesterday, and I’m still feeling very relaxed! I had some bad pain from tennis this weekend, and it was my first time with PF, but he put my body at ease.
Plus, he was very attentive, asking about what massage I had in the past and what my preferences were.
The fact that he was able to get me in on a Sunday evening with only 2 days notice was fabulous. Plus, he offered Swedish and Deep Tissue (I chose deep tissue).
I also liked that he tailored the massage based on where I needed work done. He also scheduled time in between his next appointments so we weren’t rushed to leave. I’m excited cause I just booked my next massage already!

PF rocks. I had 9 days of back pain. It got so bad that I was on the floor for three days and the only thing that helped were the two massages I received from PF.
Plus, he is an incredibly kind person. Due to my hectic travel schedule the only time I could see him when I was in pain was at 8:30 PM on Christmas. Guess what he did? He opened his office to see me. He is is an incredibly kind person who really believes in and practices the healing benefits of massage. Bless him!