Pressure & Time...
- domchadsportsmassage
- Jul 23
- 5 min read
I was paid what I consider the ultimate complement today, by not one but two of my sports massage clients.
Both engage at a high level in different disciplines - one a runner, the other a martial artist. Both reported the same result at the end of their respective sessions - that they were able to relax through the treatment (I almost had to wake the runner), not feeling as though they were being beaten up, yet experiencing so much benefit immediately from treatment. And both said that's why they come back to me.
It's lovely to receive feedback of that kind, especially since it's exactly the response I look for from my clients. As a student of the Institute Of Sport & Remedial Massage in 2015/16, qualifying for their Level 5 Diploma, I was taught that while we can use our bodies and posture to deliver incredibly strong treatment, it does not always equal a good treatment. In fact the best treatment should be relatively pain-free, by which I mean the client should only experience "exquisite pain," i.e. the kind that feels strangely enjoyable since you can feel it doing you good. It often elicits a spontaneous giggle!
I always explain at the start of a session with a new client - that they instinctively know the difference between "good" and "bad" pain and if they experience anything that they would like to stop, they should tell me so.
A significant part of any Sports Massage qualification is devoted to the use of deep tissue techniques to supposedly break down adhesions in the tissues, or break up old scar tissue from muscle tears, etc. But over the years I have instinctively moved away from these beliefs and more towards what I perceive as the Neuromuscular effects of manual treatment.
I often favour Trigger Point and Pressure Point techniques, which in simple terms use static pressure and time to allow the neuromuscular system to normalise its experience of pressure at that point, to learn that it needn't elicit what has often become a habitual pain response, and then relax. To me it feels very much like a two-way conversation between my hands and the overstimulated tissues, rather than my using brute force to break anything up!
It always fascinates me how everything in the Universe follows the same few sets of rules, and this feels no different - Pressure & Time - apply the right pressure for the right amount of time and things change... Galaxies are formed, lifeforms turn into fossils, mountain ranges rise up... Tense bodily tissues relax and feel better!
I don't always get it right - as practitioners I think we tend to know when we're not going to see someone again (although it's lovely when a client proves you wrong - some people sure are hard to read), but we always try to do our best in the way that we feel we work most effectively. I've always been able to apply gratuitous, deep massage when requested by clients who prefer a painful treatment (yes, it is what some people want), but I prefer not to. I'd rather have that conversation with the nervous system and gently persuade it down.
Think about what you do instinctively when you experience an acute pain - your hand goes to it and the sensation of touch has an immediately soothing effect. I do believe it has something to do with a couple of million years of humans relaxing together and mutually grooming (a word which has of late been unfortunately hijacked by its darker connotations), just like any other animal species.
Western healthcare and medicine has a tendency to want to give a scientific explanation for everything, and to make the treatment the hero - with the patient and their body being nothing more than a passive recipient of some "miracle" cure; think of adverts with orange-coloured arrows representing ibuprofen molecules, 'racing around the body targeting the source of pain...' Utter nonsense!! Effective treatments, whether chemical or physical, are about prompting the body to engage as the very active participant in its own healing processes - and that brings me back to that two-way conversation.
So to finish, here are a few important truths about what we Sports Massage Practitioners do...
Firstly, we all do things in our own way. There are as many styles of Sports Massage as there are people offering it; no one's style of treatment is right for everyone - but over time, if we keep plugging away at it, we find our people and they find us.
We never know how a person is going to respond to treatment - again, you're not just some passive recipient of an undisputable cure; the treatment is just a trigger for your body to do what it does to heal itself and every body is different. In fact the same body may respond differently on different occasions, being as how so many variables are at play.
This one's important... Sports Massage IS NOT A DIAGNOSTIC TOOL! Sure, if you come in saying that you were just engaging in such-and-such an activity and you felt such-and-such a sensation in such-and-such a body part while performing such-and-such a movement, then yes we ought to be able to reach some conclusion about how you injured yourself. But when it comes to chronic musculoskeletal conditions, these issues develop over weeks/months/years as the result of your entire physical and emotional existence, so if a massage therapist tells you they can diagnose your long-term problem, either they are stalking you, watching and recording you 24/7, or they're simply b*llsh*tt*ng.
So... If after all of this you think you might be one of my people, and if ever you find yourself in discomfort but you just can't reach to place your own hand on it (not to mention that your partner is rubbish at massage and quickly gets bored/starts moaning - we hear that A LOT), get in touch and I'll see whether I can't just persuade that overstimulated neuromuscular system of yours to come back down.
Pressure and time...
Pressure and time...
Pressure and time...
To check out details of the various treatments that I offer, go to www.domchadsportsmassage.com and from there follow the links to book now.
If you'd like to chat to me first about your requirements, feel free to call or Whatsapp on 07867 844107, or email domchad.sportsmassage@tuta.com.
You can also follow me on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/dcsportsmassageandoveruk/?hl=en
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