Is deep pressure in a massage ever bad?
One of the first things you learn as a massage therapist is that everyone wants deep pressure in massage. This is because no one wants a light fluffy massage because they feel there will be no benefit and they have wasted both their time and money.
The second thing you learn as a massage is that everyone has their own idea what deep pressure is and what would be light pressure for one person is deep pressure for another person. Even if you take one client, the pressure they consider deep on their tight shoulders will be different from their idea of deep pressure on their legs. So there is no fixed concept of what deep pressure is, it varies from client to client, and with the same client it varies treatment to treatment and depending up on the part of their body your are treating.
Given all this how do we work out pressure in clinic. First, we base it on our experience, your body type, the tension in the muscle we are working on. But most of all we talk to you about how the pressure feels to you and respect your preferences for pressure.
I am sure most of you have heard me talk about good pain. Its based on a phenomenon that I have seen in clinic over the years. This is where someone comes into clinic in pain, we apply pressure and the pain turns into a good pain – because the pressure is a source of relief. For some people this “good pain” just feels right. This good pain is strong but welcome and came sometimes be described as a “sweet ache”. For some clients the good pain, is such a welcome relief that pain doesn’t even seem the right word.
A word of warning, I like all my other therapists are only human and sometimes we get it wrong. This can be if we have missed a trigger point that is very sensitive, and we go into deep or the opposite can happen where a muscle locks up and we apply pressure and you as the client can’t feel anything. These situations can also arise due to change with your body i.e. an intense gym session or longer work hours than usual so lots of extra time sitting at your desk.
I try to ask all my clients regularly without sounding like its some automated message, do you want the pressure deeper or lighter and if so let me know. I know the other therapists in clinic do this as well.
In clinic we always want you to get the most out of your treatment. So please remember we always welcome feedback on pressure throughout your treatment.
Related Posts
Natural ways to reduce anxiety – Part 3
What I want to share with you know is probably the simplest and easiest method of reducing anxiety, you can do it anywhere and it costs nothing. Its called breathing. Yes I know we do it all the time. But when you get anxious we begin to breathe rapidly and shallowly from our upper chest. This breathing breath from your upper chest is why you get tight neck muscles as they can get overused as they help to move the top rib we breathing. What I am talking about is breathing deeply or calm breathing.
Calming Breath- Take a long, slow breath in through your nose, first filling your lower lungs - put your hand on your belly and you should feel it move out as your breath in. Then breath into your upper lungs.
- Hold your breath to the count of "three."
- Exhale slowly through pursed lips, while you relax the muscles in your face, jaw, shoulders, and stomach.
- heart rate slows
- blood pressure decreases
- muscle tension decreases
- growing sense of ease in body, calmness in mind
Massage Therapy and Neck Pain
One of the most common conditions we treat is neck pain which can range from a simple stiff neck, to inability to turn your head to either the right or left.
So in this blog post I wanted to discuss the recent scientific research regarding massage therapy for neck pain in people with neck arthritis.
Background
- 1 in 5 people who visit a massage therapist do so because of neck pain
- 28% of people with neck pain due to neck arthritis are likely to book a massage
Until the most recent research the scientific literature on the effects of massage therapy on neck arthritis pain was mixed. In this study an attempt was made to enhance the effects of weekly massage therapy by having the participants massage themselves daily.
Methods
Forth eight participants from a medical school, suffering from neck arthritis pain, were randomly split into two groups, one that received massage treatments and a wait list control group. The first group received a course of four 30 minutes weekly moderate pressure massages and supplemented this with 15 minute daily self-massage. The control group started the same course of treatments after four weeks without massages.
The effectiveness of the treatments were measured through self-reports and range of motion assessments, completed after massage treatments on the first and last days of the monthly study period.Results
The group that received the monthly course of weekly massage treatments, showed significant reductions in pain and improvements in range of motion. These ROM changes occurred specifically for nodding your head (flexion) and right and left lateral flexion motions. Between the first and last day of the course of treatments showed on average a 50% decrease in pain during flexion. Conversely the control group reported increases in pain and reductions in range of movement while waiting for massage treatments.
The study Field T, Diego M, Gonzalez G and Funk C G (2014) Neck arthritis pain is reduced and range of motion is increased by massage therapy, Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice 20(4): 219 - 223 supports my subjective experience that massage therapy helps reduced neck pain and increase clients range of movement when it has been compromised.Natrual Ways to Reduce Anxiety – Part 1
Anxiety is very comman and from time to time its perfectly natural. However when it becomes excessive then its time to do something about it. There are several types of anxiety
- General anxiety disorder
- Panic attacks or panic disorder
- Phobias
- Obsesive compulsive disorders
