Defintion of Deep Tissue Massage

Deep Tissue massage is inaccurately thought of as a massage that involves digging deeply into the body, in actuality it is intended "to affect the body deeply", as one of my absolutely brilliant I.P.S.B. teachers used to say.

Affecting the body deeply does not necessarily require a therapist to work the deepest muscles in the body.

Deep tissue massage is often performed on a specific area of the body (like hip, neck, etc) and is oriented toward specific structural issues, and often the entire session is focused on one area. This is different from Swedish Massage, in which attention is distributed evenly on the entire body and the intention is to relax.

ISSUE #1: "Fearing Deep Tissue"
There seems to be much debate as to what deep tissue massage entails. I have had clients come in fearing deep tissue work because the previous massage therapist left them in pain for days after the treatment.

I completely disagree with the theory there should be pain and/or bruising from deep tissue in the days following the treatment. However, not all therapists agree with me. Be cautious and ask questions before the massage, and communicate discomfort during the massage.

ISSUE #2: "Go as Deep as Possible"
I have also had clients come in and request that I "go as deep as possible".

My response is usually, "I'll go as deep as the muscle allows," which means I will go as deep as I can without doing damage to the tissue. Any quality therapist that has been practicing for a short while will know what it feels like when a muscle welcomes deeper pressure. It is a very distinct sensation. To many people, this feels too gentle for it to be effective, but it is actually more powerful and healing than going deep before the body is ready.

The body does not distinguish between pain from a massage therapist's elbow and pain from being hit from a softball.

If the body interprets the massage as potential injury (which it will do if the massage is too deep), not only will the massage hurt, but the body will react as it would to an injury, tightening up during the massage, and swelling and bruising after the massage.

In addition to the short term effects of going too deeply too quickly, the long term effects are that the client will need deeper and deeper massage to affect the body, the area will be tighter, and there will be less freedom of movement. This tightening of the muscle is called armoring and is very difficult to massage out once it is there.

Deep tissue is good for:

Specific areas of discomfort
Range of motion
Sports aches
Severe Adhesions (adhesion - when muscles with similar actions stick together)