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Like any Industry, especially one that is very close to the healthcare industry, massage has so many superstitions and out dated beliefs by both our clients and ourselves as practitioners. This page will hopefully serve as a helpful point of reference for any questions that you might have and will be updated constantly as more questions arise. Questions are how we learn, Right?
Does massage have to hurt in order to be effective?: No, in fact it’s not supposed to hurt at all. There is a long standing myth of “No pain, no gain”. This thought pattern is dangerous for Clients and Therapists alike. I can press down as hard as possible on a client and cause considerable amounts of pain, But that doesn’t ease pain or relax muscles long term, often the opposite affect is reached where the client leaves the session feeling stiff and sore for no reason other than ego.
Instead, the goal is to gently coax the muscle into relaxing with calmed sustained pressure. Even in Deep Tissue Massage the most effective approach I utilize is to start with light pressure on a focused area and slowly add more pressure following the rhythm of your breath to access whatever muscle or Fascial Restriction that am attempting to release. The entire experience is supposed to be a calm relaxing one.
In fact, your body is smart, like wicked smart. It will try to tense up and to protect it’s self from pain. Tightening muscles, ligaments, and tendons etc. because it’s under the impression that it’s being damaged. So the more intense or painful the pressure is, the more counterproductive the session will be.
So lay back, relax, breath deeply and let your body accept the pressure without it having to hurt.