Are Deep Tissue Massages Beneficial?

You’ve either had a rough week, worked out too hard, or just feel stiff and knotted up. That “deep tissue massage special” banner you pass everyday weighs heavily on your mind. You think, “Wow, haven’t had a massage in a long time, and I’m due.” You go on a whim, and in five minutes find yourself almost naked, laying on a table with a sheet draped over your body.

For the next 45 minutes, you squirm and wince as snot pours out your nose and falls through the headrest onto the floor while the masseuse digs her elbow under your scapula, into your lumbar, deep into your butt, and in places that would make you tell her any secret if only she’d stop! You leave feeling battered, beaten, wishing you would’ve told her to ease up, and a hundred dollars wasted. Here’s how to make your massage more pleasurable:

First, understand this:

A deep tissue massage releases built-up toxins in your body but doesn’t eliminate them. It merely unsettles them. Toxins are eliminated through hydration, waste elimination, and perspiration. Often, a deep tissue massage will make one feel nauseous and light-headed. This is due to unsettling toxins in a person who isn’t hydrated and has loss a lot of electrolytes. You must hydrate before, during and after a deep tissue massage to balance the toxin shake-up your body experiences. And, it is wise to get in a cardio session a few hours after to help flush those toxins out of the body. Plus, deep tissue massages actually create external contractile forces in your muscles that can create micro tears in your muscles (my theory which counters some who say it creates lactate release), just as you would when weight training. If the massage is rough, you can get soreness a day or two after getting one. They can be painful.

Next, when getting a massage, opt for a “deep tissue lite version” and tell the masseuse that you prefer rubbing the muscles as opposed to deep pressure. You want myofascial release techniques (myofascial release techniques involve applying gentle sustained pressure into the myofascial connective tissue restrictions to eliminate pain and restore motion) combined with a little Shiatsu (Shiatsu is a manipulative therapy developed in Japan incorporating techniques of Japanese traditional massage, acupressure, stretching and Western massage. Shiatsu involves applying pressure to points or certain areas on the body. Shiatsu, which can be translated as finger pressure, has been described as needle-free acupuncture).

Ask your massuese if he or she performs limbering (stretching–but not the rough Thai Massage kind) associated with the massage. Tell them you want them to rub the muscles and then have them elongated, as though unraveling a lock of hair, and flowingly combing it in a fluid motion.

Finally, throughout your massage, you want to incorporate deep breathing to assist in the oxygen flow, toxin elimination, and relaxation. Did I say hydrate? Indeed, you want to drink fluids throughout the massage. The hotter the room, the more you should drink..

So, now you’re armed with how to get a proper massage. Go get your relax on!