I’ve not written a blog in quite some time, and I thought it was time to get another one out there. There has been something really bothering me recently.
The number of times I hear.
“No pain no gain!”
Stop it! Just Stop it!
I’m going to explain why this whole mindset is utterly ridiculous.
If you, as the client believe the NPNG mentality when it comes to massage, I’m going to ask you why you believe that? Have you had another therapist say this to you? Have you brought this mindset over from another aspect of your life? Maybe exercise?
Here’s the thing, and I’m going to get technical with you. When you get a massage, you lay down and the Sympathetic Nervous system (SNS) is fired up. You are in a new/different situation (no matter how many times you’ve had massage before, it still works the same way). When you SNS is engaged you are in fight, flight or freeze mode. Your body in set ready to react to whatever danger this new situation may present. Meaning you are already tense.
It is my job as a therapist to help your body relax, which means I need to turn off your SNS and engage your parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS). Your PSNS is responsible for your rest and digest systems. Meaning your body is actively trying to heal itself, its what happens when you sleep and its why having an hour’s massage is as healing for your body as 8 hours sleep. It’s also why your tummy usually starts gurgling part way through a massage. Tummy gurgling shows that the body is in rest and digest mode, and I am working with the PSNS.
Now our goal, as massage therapists, is to turn off your SNS and engage your PSNS, because that is what is going to help your body to heal. Our goal is ALWAYS to work with the body not just on it!
We cannot do this if we are causing you pain. If your massage therapist is applying too much pressure or using techniques that are painful then your SNS will stay in fight or flight mode. This means your muscles will stay in a constant state of readiness, you won’t be able to relax properly, and your body cannot heal itself. If your therapist is causing pain, you automatically tense up because you are expecting pain. Once you are tense there is absolutely no point in trying to work on that already tense muscles because any massage at this point is going to be completely ineffectual unless you cause physical damage, and what’s the point in that? You’ve come to us to help us heal you not cause more damage?!
Have you ever been for a massage, the therapists has insisted no pain no gain, they’ve tortured you for the best part of an hour and you’ve been in pain for a week afterwards? Well, that was not a good massage, and it shows the therapist does not have adequate training!
That’s not to say that as massage therapists we cannot achieve results or use deep pressure whilst trying to engage the PSNS. Its HOW the pressure is applied that is what matters. A therapists that takes their time, starts light and broad and then slowly sinks into the muscles can get some deep pressure and therefore get the results you’re after, whilst also engaging the PSNS. When I use deep pressure techniques this can feel quite uncomfortable as it’s a lot of pressure, but it should never be painful, because pain triggers the SNS. If I can stand on people and them stay in that state of deep healing meditation/sleep, then your therapist can use their thumbs without causing so much pain you want to jump off the table!
There are, of course times where things might be painful, but that is where it is vital to have great communication between client and therapist. As a client I would expect you to tell me when what I’m doing goes from discomfort to pain, because I have enough tools in my toolkit to be able to change what I’m doing so you still get the work done but without the pain. If your therapist cannot change what they are doing after you’ve told them you’re in pain then they lack the compassion to be working in a field designed to help people, at this point it is just about their ego!
If you have a therapist that insists that No Pain, No Gain is the only way to massage, let me be very clear. They either do not understand Anatomy and Physiology and how vital it is to work WITH the body instead of ON it, or they do not have enough skills to know how to change what they are doing!
So, now you know! Next time someone says to you no pain, no gain you can tell them it’s a pile of rubbish and they need to go away and learn about the nervous system and whilst they are at it some more techniques wouldn’t go a miss, so they can upskill.
RANT OVER.
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