What is a Deep Tissue Massage?
Deep Tissue Massage can include a wide range of techniques some of which have been marketed under the names of the practitioners who have focused on a specific technique, such as Paul St. John's Neuromuscular Therapy or "Rolphing", developed by Ida Rolf. While you may wish to educate yourself by searching on the web for any particular style you may have heard of, I will here describe Deep Tissue Massage as I practice it.
I work with you, the client on a massage table while you are fully undressed (to your comfort level). You stay under a drape sheet throughout the session ; only the body part being worked on is uncovered. Using a massage cream (more or less depending on the amount of friction needed) I gradually knead deeply into your muscle tissue to get as close to the boney structure as possible without causing you to tighten from the pain of my pressure. Since it is rare that any muscular discomfort is an isolated problem, I only offer to work the full body, from head to toe, in a minimum 1 hour session.
This is the style of therapy to choose to address more superficial or short term problems, for more immediate relief of muscular pain and stiffness. Keep in mind these additional points:
- It does not have to hurt to be effective! I will assist you to distinguish between discomfort (more therapeutic), as compared to pain (often counterproductive to relaxation).
- YOUR BOUNDARIES WILL ALWAYS BE RESPECTED!
- You do not need to feel embarrassed if, for any reason, you need to stop the massage.
- Massage is a non-sexual form of therapy. With this understood, you have the right to ask me to avoid any techniques or areas of your body that make you feel uncomfortable.
While massage can address problems such as headaches, low back pain, stiff neck, shoulder pain and many other discomforts, you do not have to have a "problem" to benefit from a deep tissue massage. But you can certainly prevent some problems that often result from overstress. Make massage a regular part of your health maintenance program and just see how much better you will feel!