Orange County, especially in Costa Mesa and Newport Beach, has no shortage of great massage…read moretherapists. At least, that's what I've found in the 7 years that I've lived in OC. However, this specific spot on Birch Street in Newport has had no fewer than three great therapists, including the original one I found, Samantha from Serenity Holistic, and Delilah from Knot All Bliss, both of whom previously had to go on maternity leave.
But this review is about Sandra Ugarte of Synchrony Wellness, the newest therapist in this location as of June 2025. She offers a handful of noteworthy massage therapy options, from lymphatic to Reiki to post-op to neuromuscular. I chose the neuromuscular massage option, and it was one of the best massages I've ever had.
For reference, I am someone who has always had neck, shoulder, and back pain since my high school days (I am now in my mid-30s). This is probably due to my lack of exercise and stretching. The pain in those areas has only flared up over time, and while I've seen doctors, it's usually massage therapists who relax me enough after an 8-hour day of work or a 40-hour week of computer work with likely bad posture. I've also recently had issues like cervical radiculopathy and thoracic outlet syndrome, which aren't helped by tight upper traps, scalene neck muscles, and likely also tight hips and low back.
That small rant leads me to why Sandra is great.
Generally, my favorite massage therapists I've tried tend to have a mix of the following: they do good medium to hard pressure with great technique, usually with elbows or fingers, offer cupping and gua sha if possible, and include things like aromatherapy or hot towels if they're not an extra charge.
Sandra does an excellent combination of everything I've said I like in a therapist. While most massage therapists I've been to usually focus on maybe 10 overall spots on the body with as many issues as I have, I was surprised that Sandra worked on almost my entire body, from my neck to my pecs, upper back, shoulders, arms, lower back, hips, hamstrings, and even calves. As someone who loves cupping, I was pleasantly surprised to have all these spots covered. No surprise to me, a lot of areas were red, as I expect with someone with as much tension as me.
If you don't like cupping, you can always request not to have it, but for me, if you can handle the cupping pressure, I think Sandra does a good job of not applying it too tightly. I think it's really good for releasing deep tension that a regular massage can't cover.
In general, I can tell that Sandra has a medical massage therapy background because she always makes sure to let me know what part she's going to work on next, ensuring that the pressure is good and that she's covered all the spots I want addressed, all with a calm but sweet, nice personality.
She also does gua sha, which is a light scraping technique to reduce fascia tightness. She didn't do this as much as the cupping, but she definitely did enough on spots that were helpful for me, like the IT bands for my tight lower back and hips, and my arms.
After a couple of sessions, Sandra started to use vacuum cupping therapy because of my cervical radiculopathy, as she didn't want to hurt my nerves in the neck area while still using cupping, gua sha, and good pressure whenever needed.
Overall, Orange County has no shortage of good to great massage therapists, but Sandra Ugarte is now in the running for my favorite in the county. She's very nice, offers a good variety of massage options, applies good pressure, and, most importantly, is very comprehensive, using a great mix of all the techniques I like from a massage therapist, including good pressure, cupping, gua sha, and even offering advice on doing self-gua sha at home.
If you live in Orange County and have chronic pain or nerve-and muscle-related issues, I highly recommend seeing Sandra Ugarte at Synchrony Wellness.
