“massage time” photo by ivaa licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Deep Tissue vs. Deep Pressure Massage

Regardless of whether you have done a workout video, or you have been involved in a sport, there is a good chance you have come across the phrase “no pain, no gain” at some point in your life. It is a phrase that has been used across the ages, as early as the 2nd century AD, and was originally intended to portray that if you work hard and do things that are difficult you will see greater benefits and rewards. Nowadays, many people take it to mean “no pain, no results”, which is especially unfortunate when applied to massage.

Many people have come in for massage requesting that they get “beat up” stating, “if I’m not hurting by the end of it, then you didn’t do anything”. On the other hand, many people are too afraid to receive deep tissue work, even if they would benefit from it, because they believe they will be in pain during or after their massage. In reality, deep tissue massage is not the same as deep pressure massage and neither are beneficial if they are truly painful.

Before I go much further, I should probably define the difference between pain and discomfort. In the world of massage therapy, there are times where massage can be uncomfortable, especially when addressing an injury or one of the “awkward-to-get-to” muscles. This discomfort can come in several forms such as a burning/stretching feeling, as a deep ache that spreads out from a trigger point, or as a grinding ache when scar tissue is being broken apart. They are not the most pleasant feelings, but they do not (or at least should not) take your breath away. Pain during a massage will be sharp and intense and can make you want to tense the area, involuntarily hold your breath or may even trigger a jump response. Sometimes, pain can feel like a sharp, hot, electrical current, when a nerve is the culprit, which is something you should never allow to continue.

With deep pressure massage you can expect heavier pressure while using Swedish (relaxation) massage techniques during the massage. This means that the movements will be slower, more fluid and you can request heavier pressure to help enhance the calming effects of the treatment. Deep tissue massage is an entirely different set of massage techniques focusing on the muscles treated rather than the level of pressure used. The muscles in our body are layered on top of each other and, in order to focus massage treatment on the deeper layers, the upper layers need to get warmed up before the deeper layers are addressed. If your massage therapist is doing it right, you should have minimal (if any) discomfort and pain during your deep tissue massage. That said, if you want a pain free deep tissue massage you have to be willing to have less surface area covered during a massage since it is time consuming to work through the layers, especially in certain areas of the body.

When it comes down to it, what I hope you get out of this post is deep tissue massage IS for everyone and you do not have to walk out feeling like you got hit by a truck to get results. That’s not to say that you will never have some soreness after a deep tissue massage, but I am confident that if you have a competent massage therapist and if you communicate about what you are feeling you should walk out feeling better than when you came in. And, if you are one of those who wants the soreness, I hope you will consider that you may actually be causing more harm than good by asking for a beating and give lower impact massage a try, just to see.