Michael:

You touched on the issue of stroke and mentioned the neck, but didn't dive in specifically to recommendations around neck area massage.

Often I want to the upper shoulders near where the neck joins the torso. I know there is a nerve that travels the top of your shoulder line, so I avoid directly hitting that though I am often massaging close to it.

But I have wondered about risk of stroke from the larger arteries travelling to the brain. if I massage near the neck torso junction on the back, or high on the neck just below the very base of the skull.

both are natural pain points... so what does the evidence say about massage in these areas?