03/24/2022
𝐈𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞?
When I first got out of massage school, I built a reputation for being very strong and having firm pressure. Unlike the other students in my course who were building up their strength, I was learning restraint. It’s something I’m not proud of today, because I accidentally hurt a few people, but it gave me an unique perspective of the importance of pressure.
There’s unfortunately a well kept secret in the massage industry that deep tissue usually translate to deep Swedish and not actually the deeper muscle tissue like the name claims. In order to work on deeper muscle tissue, the therapist will need to apply significantly less pressure which, from my experience, annoys tf out of some clients.
There are many amazing therapist that believe in order for a massage to be effective, the therapist needs to apply light pressure through the whole massage. This activates the parasympathetic nervous system which allows the body to better receive the treatment.
I, personally, think that pressure is unique to each client and it’s not my job to police their preference. Some people aren’t sensitive to touch and light touch can aggravate them more than relax them and some people are very sensitive to touch and any deep(er) pressure hurts.
I have learned to be smarter with my touch rather than stronger, which has saved my body and has helped me be a more rounded therapist. When a client tells me they like deeper pressure during the initial intake, I very rarely actually apply deeper pressure during the appointment. A lot of this is my privilege of being naturally strong, but a bigger portion is my ability to target muscles in productive ways.
Massage can be uncomfortable, but it should rarely be painful. Ultimately, what the therapist and client wants is a balance where the issues are being addressed while the client feels safe and secure.
What kind of pressure do you like when you get a massage? Have you ever thought that you wanted one type of pressure and discovered that you enjoy another more? When was your last massage?
