Is Sports Massage Painful?

This is a really common question that comes up time and time again with new clients. So let’s address the confusion and hopefully help answer your query!

The purpose of Sports Massage is to prepare you, the client, for mental and physical performance in sporting endeavours, physical hobbies and in life. To reduce chronic tension, ease muscle pains, reduce anxiety and quieten the sympathetic nervous system.

How do we achieve those results?

This is where things get a little fuzzy. The type of treatment that you receive is entirely dependent on the training, skill and professional judgement of the therapist you’re visiting.

Is there only one way to perform a sports massage?

The good news is that there are many ways to achieve successful results with sports massage.

But is there a ‘one size fits all’ pressure required to achieve the results mentioned above?

Certainly not!

 

From my personal experience there are two things required for successful massage results

1.You, the client, have to be able to feel that your expectation of an effective pressure is being met. If you’re heavily resisting the pressure, it’s too much. And if you’re trying to push up into my hands, it’s probably too little.

Ideally, you want a COMFORTABLE level of FIRM pressure that feels beneficial to you.

2. From the therapist’s point of view, the effort of force being exerted during the treatment has to be sustainable. Creating too much force can lead to injury on the therapist’s part but may also be damaging to the client too, if the therapist is working outside his or her level of expertise against their wishes.

 

If we combine those two ideas, you will ideally experience a firm yet pleasurable pressure that is sustainable for the therapist to perform.

The more a therapist can work within their realm of comfort, the greater the input they can put into your treatment and thus, the better your massage results. And the more you enjoy the experience, well…it’s common sense. Why would you endure something that you fear or detest?

When the pieces click together it’s a win-win situation!

With that idea in mind, in my professional working environment I don’t want to, or like to, perform excruciatingly painful massages. They almost never produce a favourable outcome for the client.

It hurts you, it hurts me. And I don’t enjoy that kind of work.

Of course, there will be areas of the body that are more tender than others when being worked on. And as the client you have every right to inform me of your levels of comfort during that work.

You are never forced into pain.

Together we’re a team who work together to make you feel and perform at your best.

But let’s say you want to feel pain during your massage and enjoy bruising post-treatment.

You are perfectly entitled to any treatment that you feel is most beneficial to your health and wellbeing goals. However, just be mindful that if that’s what you’re looking for then I’m definitely not the therapist for you.

 

Find what works for you and embrace it.

If you’ve wanted to experience a massage but have been hesitant or concerned about pain or discomfort, then drop me a message and I’d love to chat with you further.

Alternatively, if this answers your queries then I’d love for you to book in for a session with me and experience a massage tailored to you!