Massage- Does it hurt?

People regularly ask me if massage has to hurt to be effective. Is it really ‘no pain- no gain’ when it comes to sports massage or can a deep tissue massage even be enjoyable ? First of all it is important to note, that people have really very different pain thresholds. It is absolutely true, that the same level of pressure is more of a tickle to some and agonizing to others. Given the same diagnosis and no other underlying causes this really is just a personal issue. However the more a muscle contracts, the less release we are getting from it and it is important to find a level of pressure, which is both comfortable but effective at the same time.  Sometimes people describe that as ‘good pain’ or ‘ so good it hurts’. In other words, sometimes the feeling of the muscle releasing is a sensation very similar to pain, but feels good at the same time. I personally don’t think that a massage has to be ‘the harder, the better’. It just needs to have enough pressure to have an effect. Too much pain is only counterproductive. I believe more in accuracy than sledgehammer and sometimes that means being a detailed kind of delicate 🙂