What is deep tissue massage?

Cats cats cats cats cats cats cats (are great at communicating what they want from a massage - are you)

Deeply Personalised

When your deep tissue massage begins and ends, your therapist will be using classic Swedish massage techniques. They will use them throughout the treatment, as well. Before you get onto the massage table, your therapist should have a chat with you to find out what it is that you are actually looking for, and should adjust the treatment accordingly. What you book is really the first stage in signalling to your massage therapist what kind of experience you are hoping to have.

Much Kneaded

I call my deep tissue massage the ‘Much Kneaded’ because describes how it will deviate from a classic massage treatment. There will be a greater intensity of focused attention on muscles which have been causing pain and discomfort. When you are taught deep tissue massage, you are taught techniques which both increase the depth of the pressure you are able to use, and increase the specificity of how you can work with muscle tension. Really, you can have a Swedish massage with very deep pressure, or you can have a deep tissue massage with less pressure, depending on your individual needs – the key difference is this time out from the flowing, soothing massage routine to attend to individual areas.

Healing Pain, not Causing It

In a deep tissue treatment, your therapist is likely to check in with you when working more deeply in specific areas, to make sure that they aren’t work towards your pain threshold; the intensity of the feeling should never go beyond a 6 or at very most a 7. Although some clients do like to be massaged so hard it hurts, this is actually counter-productive, because it causes your nervous system to a good therapist will never cause pain.

Because of the increased depth and intensity, people sometimes feel slightly achy and strange after a deep tissue massage. This isn’t to say that you should be in any pain. If any pain is caused your therapist has worked too deeply – you should let them know. The experience feels a little like you’re ‘coming down with something’, but it won’t be powerful enough to disrupt your normal activities and will be over within 24 hours or so. It seems to just be how some people’s bodies recalibrate after an intense massage experience, and is mainly worth knowing about so that you don’t assume you’re ill if you feel strange after your treatment.