Image Source: painscience.com.
When you think of a “deep tissue massage” you’re typically led to believe that this is going to be an inherently painful experience. This misconception is a widely believed notion. Not only should deep tissue massage NOT be painful, I’m going to tell you that if it’s painful it’s not actually as deep tissue as you want it to be.
As a simple reiteration of the term “deep tissue massage”, we understand that it refers to the act of accessing and manipulating structures that are deeper than the more superficial muscles/tissue. You might think it unnecessary to make such a remark here, but it is essential to be clear on this point.
Why Is It Not Deep Tissue If It Hurts?
Good question! I’m glad you asked.
When we experience pain, it is very difficult to relax. If we experience pain in a treatment our muscles contract. Contracting muscle essentially creates a barrier that pushes the prying hands of your therapist away. In generating pain signals, our deeper tissues become largely inaccessible to meaningful manipulation.
If your hope is to be “deeply moved” (see what I did there?) by your massage treatment, painful massages are only going to get you “superficially moved”.
So How SHOULD Deep Tissue Feel?
Not painful
Without pain we can relax more completely. Deeper layers of tissue will be much more accessible to your therapist when you are relaxed.
Tolerable intensity
Just because it shouldn’t hurt, doesn’t mean it cannot be intense. The ideal level of intensity for each person will be different, but one universal measure of appropriate sensation is breathing. If your breathing is deep, the pressure is good. When your breathing is short or held, it is too much.
Gradual
With slower movements our bodies release even more “space” for therapists to move into. Besides the fact that a gradual approach allows the manipulation of much deeper structures, it’s also much easier for your therapist to do.
Sustained/Static
Pausing with pressure on a particularly tough “knot” can be more advantageous than moving over it constantly. With less movement, sinking into the deeper tissues becomes possible without eliciting a pain-response. Additionally, evidence suggests that sinking pressure techniques could be more effective at reducing pain than gliding techniques (reference).
So…
Besides the fact that painful massage can actually cause serious damage, it doesn’t equate to a deep tissue massage. Getting to the deeper structures of the body takes time, finesse and trust. Not just trust of the person, but the trust of your tissues. The best trust builders for your tissues are the above 5 tips.
Read on: “Yes, Your IT-Band Is Tight…But It Should Be.“, and “The Key to Painfree: The Right Amount of Tension“.
I think this article has such an important message we all need to understand, as practitioners and clients. In my pervious experiences of talking to friends (as most of them are dancers and athletes), they have always told me that if they aren’t experiencing pain than they don’t believe that they are getting a good enough stretch or a deep enough massage etc. I definelty think it is part of our job to inform and show others how you can have a great relaxing massage WITHOUT suffering through it for the results you believe you are getting with pain.
Great article and insight, especially that I love receiving a deep tissue massage. I agree that breathing is super important in order to measure the degree of pressure one can receive and how much you can fully relax. There were times that I would let a practitioner go deeper into a massage to the point that I couldn’t breathe, which in turn provided negative effects afterwards. Constant communication between practitioner and client is essential for the optimal massage.
I could not agree more! The slow gradual gentle process of entering a tissue especially if that tissue is hypertoned is the way to perform proper technique. Client education is very important on this topic.
Great Topic! This is something I have noticed with many yoga students and TYM clients. I often hear the words ” I am tough as nails, so you can add more pressure because I have a high pain tolerance” or other similar “no pain, no gain” mentality. Lots of misinformation about what it is to go into a deep tissue stretch, or what to expect when manipulating deep tissue. The biggest misconception I have seen is definitely the belief that the effectiveness of their treatment depends on how much pain and discomfort they experienced. A practitioner should definitely listen to their client’s verbal input, but also gain intuition by watching the client’s body language, and observation of physical relaxation of the muscles/tissues through our own sense of touch. I guess it comes down to our most valued principles of slowing it down and being mindfully present.
I strongly agree with this article, I think is also important to educate the client on how to breathe during the massage. Combining the pressure with the excels can be very rewarding to my opinion. I have notice that clients that breathe deeply during the massage tent to benefit more from the deep tissue massage/
I have run into this so often in my massage therapy career and it has lead me to burn out and injury myself; trying to give people what they “think” that they want and need. People seem to have the misconception that if it doesn’t hurt then it doesn’t work and it is a waste of their time and money. Since completing my principal certification, I have started to push back, so to speak, and work harder to educate my clients on the benefits of slower progressive pressure rather then just “going deep”. Most are receptive, some have sought treatment elsewhere, and that is just fine with me.
Ahhhhh-mazing, Lesley. You know I think these conversations, though difficult sometimes, lead to stronger relationships with the people who really fit well with each of us individually. Well done in having that talk. I hope it continues to serve you. 🙂
Absolutely agree. I received a massage (not from a Navina practitioner, of course) this year, that was WAY too fast-moving, and it felt downright rough, distracted, and not well thought out. I walked out of the practitioner’s office, feeling really unsettled and agitated – definitely not grounded.
When the Navina training was recommend to me, it was because the philosophy of “slow it down” felt different than other styles – more conscious and aware – and pairs really nicely with the safe, functional movement approach of the Navina style (as I experienced it). I feel like every time I finish a massage with a client, they leave feeling grounded, relaxed, and like they’ve have a “deep” experience.
As a recipient of deep tissue massages that were both rough and some softer/gentler, I can say that this makes sense entirely. I’ve left gentle deep tissue massages feeling more relaxed and open than any rough/painful deep tissue massage.
As a TYM practitioner and yoga teacher, I’ve been studying pain research from Neil Pearson and what is said here is in alignment with his writing on pain. Basically he explains that “pain neurons”, as he calls them, will respond to 3 different kinds of changes: changes in pressure, toxicity and changes in temperature. So when there’s too much pressure too fast from say, a hand or fingers digging into muscle tissue, the body registers this as a threat and a pain response is generated from the nervous system, causing the Sympathetic Nervous System to respond correspondingly — fight/freeze/flight. Muscles tense, breath becomes shallow, etc. And if I’m going to tie this back in to our training, does this correlate to the Golgi Tendon reflex? #learningisfun
In addition to the above, what I find really interesting about this phenomenon is the fact that so many recipients of this kind of touch WANT the sensation of pain (hey, I’ve been there) as if that were indicative of better results or a higher quality treatment. It’s telling of the cultural beliefs to which we are exposed around effort, work, productivity and output (Rise and Grind, No Pain No Gain, etc). It’s wonderful that modern science is giving us the tools to dismantle old-school beliefs and get comfortable!
Thank you for this article!
Society has somehow managed to subconsciously link the words “deep tissue massage” and “painful massage” and it is our responsibility as health care providers to help others unlearn this! As a massage therapist (and prior to Navina training) I have been guilty of using my elbow as much as possible as to try and apply enough pressure for clients who request these type of treatments. For some time, I, myself, believed that if I managed to get them to their pain tolerance or a little past it, I have achieved the rewarding title as a deep tissue massage therapist! How wrong was I! Feeling pain during a treatment does not not mean deeper muscles are getting engaged.. and its a hard concept to wrap your head around, its hard to change your perspective on something like this but I believe it is crucial to imform others and spead the knowledge that we have gained! Navina training has allowed to to experience truely giving and receiving a deep tissue massage for the first time and with this I can teach clients that slow, sustained techniques that engage the muscles, work with their bodies, really focus on my body weight, postures and what the muscles needs is a much more effective way to give deeper massages. In a culture of fast, quick rewards, no pain no gain, it is increasingly important that we dispute this outdated and incorrect way of thinking.
Hi.
I’ve been saying this for a looooong time. But there so many Massage Therapists saying that pain is needed. And even worst, some instructors/teachers are teaching in several Schools that kind of philosophy/way of thoughts. Pressure is needed, pain not at all. Some people ask for a Massage Therapist exactly for the pain they have. Doesn’t make sense (it never did) inflict more pain. It’s torture, not massage. I hope more people spread the word about this and above all, explain this to every single client. Thanks for this article.
Education on this topic is so important, because if our clients are under pain, they are tense and not relaxed, meaning that we are not getting to the root of the problem if pain is expected during treatment. Putting the body at ease and gaining the clients trust is so important. If their body’s are not able to slip into that zen state to where they are almost asleep, as some of the techniques will trigger this state, we’re not doing our job and not helping the body get the boost that it needs from allowing the nervous system to let it’s defences down into a completely relaxed state. I had a client comment after a treatment about not feeling enough pain, and now after reading this, I know how to explain it if it is ever brought up again. Our roles as practitioners are clear, to inform more and educate and keep doing good work so they can feel the benefits for themselves and understand this concept.