Needless to say, having had my own bones ground to dust by other well-meaning massage therapists, I can say from personal experience that that's neither the most effective nor the most comfortable option for resolving pain and injury.
It's an art form that requires skill and practice, and I have worked for over 18 years to get it right.
Deep Tissue Massage is Relaxing and Comforting
Skillful Deep Tissue Massage is a beautiful thing to receive. The firmer pressures used in deep tissue massage are paradoxically comforting and help relax and slow the impulses from an over excited nervous system. When people say that they don't like massage, many of them have never received a good deep tissue session. Lighter pressure tends to excite the nervous system, increasing stress. Deep pressure tends to calm the nervous system, promoting relaxation.Effective and skilled Deep Tissue therapeutic massage requires a deft hand, intimate knowledge of anatomy, and also requires that the therapist stays in constant touch with you and with what you are perceiving in each moment, sensation-wise. When using firmer pressures, especially with fatigued muscles, it is possible to elicit pain; that is when skill and experience come into play; though I am mostly right on the money to know what you are feeling in your body when I give deeper pressure, there are instances when what you are feeling is out of all proportion to the input I am giving your tissues.
For those who sit at computers all day, occupying a mental landscape, deep tissue massage can be invaluable at bringing the mind's attention back to the body in which we really live. When I was a software developer, deep tissue therapy was invaluable to me to really ground me back in my body and help break the obsessive bond that my work life had on my mind.
Physiological Effects of Deep Tissue Massage
Although just a variation of the many types of Swedish Massage strokes, as the name implies, deep tissue massage accesses deeper anatomical structures and handles them differently than light Swedish massage. One of the most important physiological effects of deep tissue massage is to resolve adhesions in the layers of myofascia. Our tissues are designed to glide against each other, and when we sit for long periods or restrict our movements to a small subset of what our joints are capable, some areas of the gliding tissues become adhered or stuck to each other. Deep tissue massage helps to unstick these adhered areas and renormalize natural range of motion in our muscles and myofascia. Myofascial release also helps release the stuck layers of tissue so that muscles glide more easily.Deep Tissue and cross-fiber frictioning can be excellent at quickly resolving inflammation due to minor tears in muscles and tendons.
Deep Tissue Massage can really flush out deep pockets of metabolic waste in stagnant and dis-used tissues.
When to Avoid Deep Tissue Massage
One example of when to avoid deep tissue massage is if there are varicosities present. Often, but not always, varicose veins are painful to the touch. It is always a contraindication to give deep pressure to varicosities. If the varicose veins are deep, the therapist may not see them and mistakenly give too much pressure at that particular site. My right inner arm has varicosities, and though I love deep bodywork, it is painful for me to receive it there. Other parts of my body mostly require deeper pressures, and it feels great except in that one area. Talk to your therapist and let them know if you have any areas that are painful to deep touch.Another situation in which deep tissue massage must be avoided is on fatigued muscles which are on the verge of spasm. Deep pressures can trigger a spasm, rather than relieving it. Sometimes it just feels like a funny tickling sensation; clients tend to giggle or laugh when this is the case. Lighter pressures must be used first to acclimate the muscles and calm the nervous system responses before deep tissue is applied to them.
Likewise, acute inflammation, edema, and open wounds are contraindicated for deep tissue massage.
In skilled hands, Deep Tissue massage can be extraordinarily effective, comforting, and deeply relaxing.
