You've Been Sold a Lie

If you’ve been told “no pain, no gain” when it comes to massage, you’ve been sold a lie.

I said what I said.

Can there be moments of discomfort, sure. But it should ALWAYS be with your consent and ALWAYS be within your comfort level.


What do I mean by this?….

-Your massage therapist should be checking in with your pain levels throughout the treatment.

-Your massage therapist should listen to your requests to discontinue a technique or reduce pressure if needed. 

-You should not be coaching yourself to breath like you’re having a contraction.

-You should not be tensing up any area of your body in response to the work being done.

-You should not break out in a sweat.

-You should not feel beat up for several days after a treatment.

Many people think, or have been told that if it doesn’t hurt, they won’t get results. This simply isn’t true.

I often have clients come in for a treatment and say things like…….

“I have a really high pain tolerance because of (insert reason here), go as deep as you need to go.”

And while I think you are a badass for giving birth without meds, or coming out the other side of a severe injury, high pain tolerance has no place in the treatment room.

Remember just because it hurts doesn’t mean it’s therapeutic. There’s no justification for extremely painful massage.

When you have a condition that is already causing you pain/discomfort, your sympathetic nervous system is activated (fight or flight). To reduce your pain we need to calm this system down and engage your parasympathetic nervous system (rest & digest).

In other words adding more painful techniques is like adding fuel to the fire. When treating a painful area, muscling your way through with more pressure is counter productive. The muscles often tense up in response having the opposite reaction we are trying to accomplish.

Any RMT that is worth their weight in gold will NEVER push you past your pain tolerance, or convince you that it’s necessary.

There are many techniques RMT’s can implement without inflicting pain AND get incredible results.

Does this mean your treatments mean to be feather-light? 

No, not at all.

My therapeutic style is firm and relaxing, but I am never going to muscle through and use excessive pressure.

If you are looking for a therapist with a “no pain. no gain” approach. I ain’t your girl.