10/01/2025
This is my professional opinion after being in practice for almost three decades! Why are deep tissue massages not useful? Deeper is not better! Deep tissue massage is not a technique! Consider this: Asking for a deep-tissue massage when your body is stiff, or feels like it is full of adhesions or is hard like a brick is not helpful ! It would be like not doing anything to prep the muscle tissues and then going to going to the gym and lifting 300 pounds when you haven’t been to the gym at all or regularly! It is not helpful to do something intrusive to the body when it has had little time to warm up or build up endurance. When pressure is too deep, or too fast it triggers your adrenal glands which creates fight or flight and your body starts to guard itself and you cannot relax! If you are honestly looking for a change in the way your body operates then going to someone who is fully trained and also has a huge amount of intuition is the way to go. Going to a massage once every three years and requesting deep tissue so that all of the “knots“ are released just leaves a body feeling beat up. Feeling or being bruised by a deep tissue massage is not a good idea! Afterwards, you will almost always get a rebound effect. Our bodies do not respond well to being forced to do something if they are not ready to do it. You have to decide if correcting the myofascial restrictions, then releasing the muscles to improve your circulation, your lymphatic flow, and allowing your muscles, tendons and ligaments to move the way they were intended to move are important to you! It is just like brushing your teeth or showering every day. Also, if you care about your teeth, you will make it a point to go to the dentist every six months because your teeth can have all kinds of things going on including building plaque. Intuitive and committed bodywork with someone that knows what they’re doing adds a huge improvement to your health. It keeps you moving and it heads off any potential dysfunction or injuries! Personally, I would think twice before I set out on a mission to have a “deep tissue massage“ once every few years or even regularly!You are worth taking good care of yourself and having a therapeutic benefit that addresses everything from facilitating deep breathing, getting your body moving freely, getting and keeping you out of pain and improving your walking gait movement!
