Pierre DeBar

I’ve had a lot of bodywork in life; I’m an aerial dancer as well as an inventor-​of-​computery-​things, so my body takes a lot of abuse — whether it’s because I’m hanging off of one arm two stories from the ground, or because I’m hunched over a laptop for too many consecutive hours.
I was visiting Chicago for a conference, and just happened to be lucky enough to catch Pierre on a day where he unexpectedly opened up some extra slots for clients. I had no idea how lucky that really was.
In summary: I would fly to Chicago from San Francisco *just* to get another treatment from Pierre. He is that good. He’s a nerd in the finest sense of the word, explaining with science what he is doing, what the names of your muscles and ligaments are, how they work together, etc. At the same time, he has the personal warmth, wisdom and understanding to be able to work with the emotions that can come up when releasing physical tension.
I’d been through one of the hardest years of my life, and had just taken a step back, quit my job, and decided to take a break to try and heal from a backlog of emotional and physical injury. I had enough tension built up that I was basically unable to sit or stand straight for more than a few seconds before my body just pulled itself back into a hunched-​over little slouch.
When I came out of my session with Pierre we could see the difference in how I was standing. I felt like a whole new person, both physically and energetically.
The cool thing is, Pierre has offered to do some follow-​up to ensure that the changes are sustainable. He doesn’t just want to do a physical fix and let you keep coming back. He wants to get to the root of the problem, so that you might not need to come back. Now that’s real healing.
My only hesitation in writing this review is that it’s going to get even more difficult to find a time slot with Pierre!

Reviews on Unilocal and the rub hub really solidified my decision to see Pierre.
He’s incredibly professional and truly wants you to understand the nature of what he is doing. I went for a 2 year old muscle injury, and he explained everything he was doing, why this muscle felt this way, how everything was connected, etc.
I left feeling really great, and he gave me some stretches to do at home as well.
Definitely try him out!

I’ve been a competitive triathlete for 12 years, eight of which I’ve been bothered by a hamstring/​glute injury that I sustained during heavy training in 2004. I’ve been able to work through it on my own for the past seven years but this past season, the deficiencies and asymmetries became glaringly apparent and have made increasing my training very difficult. Running any distance over 3 miles had become increasingly painful and my hamstring/​glute issues have began spilling over into my lower hamstring, my calf, and the anterior part of my hip.
On the recommendation of my business partner I decided to see Pierre. I’ve been to dozens of massage therapists over the past decade and although I’ve had a small handful of «good» therapists, none of them have ever had the immediate effect on my body as one hour with Pierre did. It was just as I had been told it would be, «life changing»! The very next day I was able to go out and run for six miles with 80% less pain and two days following that, run nine miles, seven of which were markedly less painful than a three mile run would have been before seeing Pierre.
Being a chiropractor myself and having taught at massage therapy schools, Pierre has a knowledge base far beyond anything I have ever seen before, and that’s not a knock on other massage therapists and their knowledge base! His intuition to find areas of restriction and injury instead of simply asking you as the patient to point them out is refreshing. I could continue on for paragraphs as to why he is the first person I will recommend to anyone looking for/​in need of a massage therapist but I’ll keep it as basic as possible.
If I were looking to hire someone for my office, I’d hire Pierre immediately.

A few months ago, it finally hit me how stress had taken a toll on my health. Scared for my life, I decided to finally put myself FIRST and put an action plan into motion. Step one was therapeutic massage.
After scouring several resources including Unilocal,I decided to go with Pierre. I made the right choice!
Upon meeting him, we quickly developed a rapport. I felt his positive energy and sincere concern about my health. Never having a male massage therapist before, I did not hesitate to put my trust in Pierre.
Understanding my need to relax and find balance, we decided to focus on my high tension areas: my neck, shoulders, and back. Goodbye, knots and tension! Helloooooo, relaxation! For the first session, he spent OVER an hour with me and even gave me some breathwork tips. My hero!
Since then, Pierre has become part of my regular wellness regimen. I highly recommend making him part of yours!!!

On Caroline’s recommendation I started seeing Pierre while training for my first marathon. During the 24 weeks training my body had some pretty intense issues. Massage sessions with Pierre were key to my recovery.
Pierre is absolutely enamored with his profession. This is evident in the way he practices his craft, his compassion for his clients and the time he takes to explain the body. I see him for deep tissue sports massage work, and while sometimes a bit of pain may be involved, it is absolutely an amazing experience.
I can honestly say that I would not be running a marathon in to weeks without his help.
Items of note:
FREE valet parking across the street for 90 min
Pierre like to communicate via text which is actually a great medium to scheduled appointments and convey issues.

My experience with Pierre has been nothing short of transformative. I reached out to him after his feature on VitalJuice Chicago about stress reduction.
While I was initially very skeptical, I booked an appointment for a breathwork session because I had run into a wall in the treatment of my chronic anxiety.
During our first session Pierre answered all of my questions and assuaged my fears with patience and compassion. Once we got down to the work of conscious connected breathing, I immediately felt some shifts in my stress, anxiety and depression. Five sessions later, Pierre has been instrumental in helping me have some major emotional breakthroughs that have pushed my life forward in a way that I did not think possible. Together, we have healed past trauma’s that I have been struggling with for years.
Pierre is professionalism and customer service at its best, he is fully knowledgeable about his craft, and is expert at guiding you through sometimes emotional and rocky healing processes. He always makes time to answer all of my questions, and in addition to our in person breathwork sessions, he has given me practices to use at home, that have significantly furthered my emotional and spiritual development.
Meeting Pierre truly has changed my life, I just can’t express enough gratitude for the healing I have experienced in my continued work with him.
Whether it be for massage, breathwork, or other healing work, give Pierre a call, your life will be better for it.

I really wish Pierre could adopt me.
I went in for a tune up three days after the Chicago Marathon, and am feeling like a new person. It almost feels like a clinical massage therapy session, and afterward, I am feeling great for weeks.
He is also using a new technology called Neuropulse (or something like this) to stimulate muscles electronically, and fire up those muscles that might be weak. It definitely feels strange at first, but then it is awesome. I don’t know how else to explain it!
If you are looking for a sports massage therapist or general body work, Pierre is a hidden gem. He is also the nicest guy ever. He will change your life.

Pierre DeBar is simply the best massage therapist out there. If you’ve been searching to be blown away by a massage, look no further! I agree with the other reviewer — he will change your life.
My neck/​shoulders have always been a «problem area» and Pierre managed to release all that tension and now I easily feel the relief in my neck/​shoulders and have a better range of motion. What’s more, the effect of his massages AND breathwork exercises truly helped reduce stress in other (problem?) areas of my life. I felt and saw a noticeable, positive difference in my physical form (toned up, dropped some weight), energy level (goodbye sleep aids and hello morning!) and mental well-​being (what problems?! life is great!). :-)
Pierre should be considered the gold standard in the field of Massage Therapy and Breathwork. His therapeutic touch instantly relaxes you. His strong knowledge of how the body works help you understand why your body feels the way it does. He perfectly blends professionalism with compassionate care — making you feel like you’ve known him forever and can trust him. His unparalleled ability to work deep breathing exercises into massage therapy makes his session worth EVERY single penny. It’s the best thing you could do for your health — and your life.
I feel lucky to have found Pierre as my Massage Therapist, now you can, too! Enjoy! :-)

I’ve been going to Pierre for quite a few years now, I got my husband to go and he’s hooked too! The only reason I’m writing my review is because he is that good — for all other reasons, I’m selfish and would prefer that he be a secret :) .
I have seen Pierre for massage (regular AND prenatal) as well as relaxation therapy and he does amazing work. He is great and always manages to ‘fix’ my some time mangled body.
A wonderful experience, highly recommended!