“Pain is Gain” Debunked

“Pain is gain,” or the mentality that a massage needs to be painful in order to be effective, is probably one of the most common misconceptions when it comes to massage therapy. Not only is it a misconception—painful massage therapy can actually prevent you from achieving the results you want.

When a massage starts to become painful, more often than not the client will subconsciously begin to tense up or guard against the pain, effectively “kicking out” the massage therapist from being able to access deeper layers of muscle where dysfunction often exists.

Muscle pain can also go hand-in-hand with inflammation. This means that aggressive massage techniques can actually cause more inflammation, and even damage already compromised tissue.

During a massage, the massage therapist is obviously working directly with your muscle tissue, but they are also having a conversation with your nervous system. When your nervous system is stuck in the sympathetic (fight-or-flight) mode, this can lead to chronic pain, fatigue, digestive issues, depression, anxiety and more.

Many people living in our on-the-go, modern world may need some extra help shifting their nervous systems into the parasympathetic (rest, digest and heal) state. This simply is not going to occur when you’re in a lot of pain.

Instead of treating chronic pain by digging aggressively at inflamed tissue and causing a spike in a likely already over-active nervous system, it is much more effective to work with a client’s body in a slow, intentional, and gentle way. One in which they are able to fully surrender and feel safe so that their own body can allow change and begin the process of healing.

To find out how massage therapy can help with your pain, stress and overall wellbeing, book a customized massage today.