
Generally speaking, sports massage will often utilize stretching and a broad ironing of the fist or forearms to lengthen and displace tissues. Sports massage is also a misinterpreted term and often has to do more with timing than the technique itself. A little work on these muscles will often alleviate all the symptoms. More often than not, lower back pain can be attributed to structural issues or TrP’s in other areas such as the deep abdominals. A person may complain to their doctor or massage therapist of lower back pain and ask to get some sort of attention to that area. Since TrP’s can send sensations to other areas of the body, pain sensations can be deceiving. When it isn’t enough, a therapist can utilize other techniques such as friction, ironing, myofascial techniques or even stretching. Sometimes a little pressure and patience is all that is needed. They will then try to alleviate or deactivate the TrP. Using palpation to find bundled tissues or following the referral symptoms a client has complained about, a therapist locates an active TrP. It can feel like you’re wearing a watch, even if you aren’t, or can even be painful. For instance, a TrP in one of the rotator cuff muscles, the subscapularis, can create a feeling of heaviness down the arm at the wrist. A trigger point (TrP) refers to a muscle that can trigger sensations in areas beyond itself. Trigger point therapy, as mentioned above, can be used in conjunction with other techniques but can also be practiced as a stand-alone technique. The basic idea is to find an area of injured tissue, often near where it attaches to the bone or in the case of a spasming muscle (trigger point) perhaps the middle of the muscle belly, and move the muscle fibers against the grain in an effort to spread the fibers out. These are techniques frequently used in “deep tissue massage” but are in no way the only definition of it. Some more specific therapeutic techniques like frictioning and cross fiber frictioning can often be more uncomfortable and even painful, especially when working with compromised or damaged tissue. The following are some of the most common techniques: Frictioning and Cross Fiber Frictioning A Deep Tissue Massage doesn’t have to be painful What you may not realize, is that there are a multitude of body work techniques that address deep tissues in various manners, and with a wide variety of intensity. Massaging deep tissues is often extremely useful in cases of chronic muscle tension, muscle spasms, poor posture, repetitive strain, pain conditions, and recovery from injury. Unfortunately this preconception from therapists and clients alike can scare people away from trying it out. A lot of massage therapists themselves are even taught that Deep Tissue Massage is supposed to be painful. It is often assumed that “deep tissue massage” means neuromuscular massage or myotherapy, utilizing deep pressure and friction, often in a rough or less comfortable and sometimes even painful manner.

It is an often misunderstood term in the massage world. “Deep Tissue Massage: is it supposed to hurt?“Ī Deep Tissue massage has a reputation…that it hurts!
