Does deep tissue massage hurt?

People always ask me this. The answer is simple, massage should never, ever, cause you pain. 

There is however, this pleasurable pain that you can experience during a massage. It’s hard to put into words. It’s this kind of discomfort that still feels good. If it’s just down right painful, what I call ‘ugly pain’ the sort that makes you grit your teeth and want to say “get off me” that’s not good and is certainly never the aim of any treatment. 

What is this pleasurable pain? 

When we experience pain, our bodies are good to us and react by releasing endorphins, these act as a natural opiate and aim to reduce pain and also leave us with a slight feeling of euphoria. Ever heard of runners high? 

Most of us will feel elated after a tough run or another other form of vigorous exercise as well as after having a massage but not many of us will feel too chipper about stepping on a piece of Lego. 

What makes some pain good and some pain bad? 

This has a lot to do with context. If you have a good massage and the therapist gets those knots between your shoulders, its going to feel good and you are going to enjoy it. If however, someone just threw something at that same point in your shoulders it will not feel good and it will probably hurt and will leave you feeling a bit shocked and frightened. When you get a massage you are hopefully feeling relaxed and comfortable. You will have a good rapour with your therapist so you are able to trust them to work with you to get the desired healing affect. For some people deep tissue massage can feel really firm and for others it can feel less so and be quite superficial. 

Deep tissue massage really has a lot less to do with pressure and more to do with the layers of soft tissue in your body. It’s about accessing the deeper layers of muscle to promote a deep state of relaxation and healing within you. 

Think about ‘Shrek’ and his “onion layers” we are all the same, we have to work our way through slowly. 

Makai Massage with Chloe