Does Deep Tissue Massage Hurt? | Deep Massage

Find out if a deep tissue massage hurts from celebrity massage therapist Meagan Holub in this Howcast video.

So, to answer the question, “Does deep tissue massage hurt?” my immediate answer is, “It depends on who you’re getting the deep tissue massage from.”

I wish that I could say, “No, it doesn’t always hurt, ” but that’s not always true. So, I, I personally try to keep deep tissue massage from hurting, and I feel that most deep tissue massage experts do. And the way that we can do this is by accessing the tissue really slowly, really gently, and you get to much deeper layers if you do it that way.

There’s actually something called the “soul gel theory, ” which states that if you access the tissue very slowly, your tissue almost liquefies and you can get nice and deeply and the body doesn’t experience any pain. But if you try to go in fast and, and, access those deeper layers really quickly, your body’s going to resist just like it does with any sort of extreme pressure or, or, trauma to the area.

So, while there may be some discomfort, it’s actually really important for your massage therapist to be checking in with you and make sure that they’re asking you where your pain threshold is. And where they figure out where that threshold is where you’re sort of on the line between “hurts so good” and “hurts, ” they need to keep you right on that side of “hurts so good.”