Pressure Poll

[all i need is an answer]

In my practice, I get a lot of requests for deep tissue therapy. But I have colleagues who get far more requests for relaxation massage with light or medium pressure. I'm wondering what's most popular for the members of of this forum?

 

[dmg]

Most of my clients ask for medium to firm pressure. Very few ask for deep tissue.

When I am the receiver I like a mix of pressure and technique. I really like it when a therapist does not have to ask me if pressure is too much or too little. I would much prefer a therapist be able to tell from my body responses and how my tissue responds to their touch as to how much pressure I need.

From my back alone I like deep friction/compression to work between my shoulder blades, but the same pressure along my spine and I am jumping off the table. I get irritated when therapists "check in" during a massage.

But this is probably something to post in the "Mistakes to Avoid" topic, although it might just be "mistakes to avoid during akb's massages."

 

[arnie]

I definitely want a combination, and it will vary from time to time which areas need deeper work and where I need less pressure. Like akb, I prefer for my therapist to respond to the tissue's response to their touch, rather than continuously asking about the pressure. However, if they really can't tell, asking is preferable to hurting me. I will speak up, though, if something isn't working for me, and that won't ruin my massage. It's just very nice when I can zone out and let the work happen to me.

 

[Ron.Chae]

I actually really only like medium pressure. As a guy, when they ask if the pressure is too much, I'm sometimes afraid to say to lighten up a tad. (almost like I am being a wimp if I say that) It's not that it hurts then at the moment, but I am afraid later it will be sore, which has happened. More pressure is OK on my legs, but my neck is a very sensitive area for me and I like lighter pressure there. I've thrown my neck out of whack and pinched nerves several times in a softball and I do not like a lot of pressure at the top of my back or the bottom of my neck.

 

[Taylor S]

For the most part I agree with what people have posted. I think intuition's essential and a combination of pressures during a massage is the most effective way to release myofascial tension. That being said, I do disagree with one thing. Although I find it annoying when a therapist asks many times during the massage if pressure's OK, I think it's essential to check in at the beginning of the massage. I've received a lot of massage in my life, and I can say that very few therapists have the intuition to know if the pressure's right without any feedback at all. By not asking, you run the risk of not giving your client the massage they want. By checking in once, you know you're in the right "zone" and from that point forward, you should definitely follow your intuition and let the client melt into the experience. For me, when I check in, I'm trying to discern the client's "deep" end preference for the range of pressures I'll use during the session. Once I know what that is, I won't go past it. The trapezius is a great muscle to figure this out.

That's my opinion, anyway.

 

[LucyBabes]

I answered to quickly and didn't read the combination one. So I'd switch mine from Deep to Combination. It should really depend on what needs to be done.

 

[Mr.Answer]

Depends on where I am emotionally and physically at the time, but generally a mix that is appropriate to what my body says at the time. Though nothing painful ... i don't do painful massages.

Mat xxx

 

[Atmey]

"Combination" is the only sensible answer. All parts of the body are not the same, and even a regular client needs different pressure on different days.

Something that always makes me smile is how our public doesn't understand that that the more tissue you have on your body (whether it's muscle or fat), the more likely it is that you will find deep pressure uncomfortable or too intense. It's rare for anyone not built like a 'stick-chick' to find all-over deep pressure desirable.

Then there's the misnomer that people have that if something's really tight, the only way to loosen it up is to really pound on it...

 

[Buffy]

Amen to MRSKitten's post. Beautifully said.

 

[Babak Kratosbbm]

VERY VERY DEEP MASSAGE !

!!! Deep Massage, or none at all !!!


I am 6'1", 200 Pounds, and well toned. I take my massage VERY VERY DEEP, and with Strong Trigger Point. Forget gliding strokes or "cruise ship massages". Bury your elbow deep into my upper traps with all of your weight. Sometimes get onto the table and kneel with one knee on my calf, and kneel on my hamstring.

Usually a strong elbow with lots of leverage by a strong therapist would suffice for all of these. Swedish actually bothers me, like I'm paying an uncertified person full price - to not work on me.


Too many times in the past I'd tell the therapist over the phone "Very stong and Deep ... can you work on me strong, like I was a Pro Football Player?" They would say "Yes, I'm small but I can pack a punch", so I went there. After 15 minutes into the massage, I would get up off the table, pay them for half of the hour long massage, and leave after asking them three times previously - Go as deep as you can, and they didn't have the strength. Can you go deeper, can you go deeper, can go go deeper, please use all your strenght, BYE!

If I can ever find someone to give me a massage how I like, I may possibly extend an offer of part time employment to them, or use them to referr people to when I'm booked.


I'm a retired Professional Indoor Soccer GoalKeeper (1995 Continental Indoor Soccer League). I played Pro for one season indoor, and Semipro (United Soccer League) for one season outdoor, also including 25 years of youth and adult amateur, and several other sports. Those injuries over the years build up, or else I feel them now when years ago, I didn't.


As a Professional Indoor Goal Keeper you WILL BE KICKED every single practice and every single game; in the neck, spine, head, ribs, hips, and basicly everywhere. Plus the ball is travelling over 60 mph straight at your face too. (That's why I look the way I do : )


We don't wear too much protection unlike football, just shin guards and maybe some elbow pads. Due to the injuries that caused me to retire, (Now a Professional Outdoor Soccer Referee), I have to take my massage very deep.


FACT: An Outdoor Center Referee for soccer runs two miles every game (up to 3 miles for FIFA World Cup Games), and Assistant Referee on the sideline Sprints over a mile each game. My record is working 370 Outdoor games in one year! My average is 325 games per year worked.

FACT: A Soccer is the only sport in the world where the Referee runs MORE than any player on th field.



There are times where I will referee a National Tournament in Virginia Beach, 8-10 adult mens Division-1 games in two days, in 98* Heat, at an out of town tournament. With a one or two game break during the day that's two 14 hour days of back to back of running! I will then have to shower and immediately drive five hours home after the Championship game.

When I arrive home from driving just before midnight, I just look at my wife, drop my equipment on the floor, lay down next to the wall, and she walks on me with her heels digging into my hamstrings, then lower back, then glutes, and eases into my calves. She finishes up by stretching me for 5-10 minutes. At the beginning of each section, I sometimes have to bite a pillow to keep from yelling. But it hurts so Good! Pain for fifteen minutes squishes out my lactic acid buildup, flushes me out, moves everything around, and reduces my overall pain by 80% in just 15 minutes. The overall pain that is left over I can deal with the next morning. The relief afterwards is more than a bargain in exchange for the brief spurt of pain.
Then I wake up the next morning in seven hours and go to massage someone or go to the gym for a light workout, swim, and soak in the hottub.

That doesn't even include the three times each year I have to take my "Cooper physical test". If I don't pass the physical test, then I don't work games! 1 3\4+ miles in 12 minutes, (2) 7.2 second 50 yard dash, (2) 32 second 200 yard dash ... all in 45 minutes.



Only two females and one male in my massage class of 21, had the strength to work on me during school. All the others would complain about working on me because I requested the massage so deep. Now, I even take my massages deeper than before! I hired those two females to work for me. One of them still works out with me at the gym even now. Out of the 21, only about 5 are still working as Massage Therapists.


Several male applicants since then don't have the strength to work on me, so they don't have the strength to work on my clients, not hired. I don't lift weights for "Bulk" like bodybuilders, I lift for running and massage endurance, and toning of what I already have.


80% of the clients we work on specifically request "Very Strong Deep Tissue Massage", even many of the women!


Signed, Paul S.

http://www.MassagesOnTheRun.com
Owner \ Massage Therapist
USSF \ USL Referee
USSF Certified Instructor

 

[Susan L]

Different strokes for different folks.

That's what makes the world go round.

Angie

 

[MMA]

VERY VERY DEEP MASSAGE !

!!! Deep Massage, or none at all !!!

If I can ever find someone to give me a massage how I like,

To each his own ...B U T
I can confidently say that I most definitely give you the quality massage you ask for without a heel dig(probably an elbow or two AFTER a great deal of warm up)...you will leave walking like a wet noodle...and perhaps even feel rolled over by a truck....it may not "hurt so good" but it WILL do the trick.
I have had a handful of "HURT ME BABY" clients and all have been converted.....and are repeats.
So, next year you are invited to Myrtle Beach for said massage.

Oh, and I've hired myself...so don't need the job.



Robyn

 

[Litgraida]

Hmm free massage?

Hmm Nybor7 free massage? I only get about two massages a year, and maybe one interview massage a year. I don't have enough time.

There was ONE guy who could massage me without digging in hard in the last seven years. Once I opened my company a couple years later he worked for me until his wife's job moved to another city.

If I work (referee) any Pro soccer games near you I'll go take you up on your offer, and give you some free front row passes, or field passes.
Charleston Battery, Wilmington Hammerheads, and Atlanta Silverbacks are three teams. How far is that away from you? Charlotte Eagles are another, but that's a hike I know.

Oh, and as for the Deepness. My wife is studying to be a personal trainer. Strong! She takes her massage stronger and deeper than most men I work on. I guess we match?

Is it different from any of you that 80% of our clients (male and female) take their massage VERY DEEP? What is the perceneforum.xxxe for your clients?

HAKUNA MATATA! :

 

[`SoA Nintendo]

Oops Robyn

Sorry Robyn,

I accidentally said South Carolinia.
There are several Philly, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware teams I referee each year. Along with Patterson, Howell, Freehold, and other soccer complexes. Dynamo, Phantoms, Freedom, and others.

The offer still stands for free tickets for you. I can even get my referee crew to buy some 30 minute massage from you.

 

[MsJamers RN]

Hmm free massage?

If I work (referee) any Pro soccer games near you I'll go take you up on your offer, and give you some free front row passes, or field passes.
Charleston Battery, Wilmington Hammerheads, and Atlanta Silverbacks are three teams. How far is that away from you? Charlotte Eagles are another, but that's a hike I know.
:

All about an hour plus from where I am landing.
Perhaps when a CEU class coordinates. It would be interesting.
[quote="MassagesOnTheRun
Is it different from any of you that 80% of our clients (male and female) take their massage VERY DEEP? What is the perceneforum.xxxe for your clients?
HAKUNA MATATA! :[/quote]

The specific request....after their initial re-education of what DEEP tissue means.....less than 25%.
Mind you, I RARELY do fluffy relaxation only massage. MOST of my clients are either runners or cyclists...so while not football players they do have legs like cattle.....at first I was intimidated.....but like I said, and only the acceptance of the "challenge" will convince.....The work gets done....without the no pain no gain babble.

Robyn

PS
It may only be me but there are characters that aren't translating in your posts....they are butted by brackets...so I am thinkikng you intend images or bold etc?

 

[Ava is Beastin!]

I like a firm, deep, consistent pressure but not always 'deep tissue' work and I am the polar opposite of a 'stick figured' woman. If I don't feel that the therapist is strong enough to handle me and my body and provide the pressure I require, I can not relax and enjoy my session. I am always specific when scheduling my services to ensure my needs are clearly stated and so far the results have been bleak indeed.

I have been astounded at the frightening deficiency of knowledge of anatomy and total lack of comfort with the human body I have found in so many 'therapists'. I recently had a session with a new therapist where I requested a 'deep tissue' massage at a local massage school (as I often do, knowing that these people usually have more training in anatomy than the average 'relaxation' student) and they gave me a Swedish-trained therapist instead. She was clearly nervous and uncertain and said "I lowered the table and I'll give you what I can" which turned out to be her randomly leaning into strange places with odd hand placement and little contact to my actual muscles. When she asked me if I needed more pressure at one point towards the beginning of the massage, I answered that she could "Please just give me as much pressure as you can give without hurting yourself." NOTHING changed and when she was massaging my arms and hands, her light, feathery strokes were an irritation like none other. What a disappointment!

The point of my rambling here is that I usually ask for a therapist who can do a variety of techniques as well as being trained in 'deep tissue' when booking at a new place and then ask for a combination of a 'Swedish-style, flowing massage with a combination of deep tissue techniques and firm to very firm pressure overall'.

To end this on a positive note, I got a massage (a trade) with a friend who teaches anatomy, kinesiology, pathology and several other massage classes today. It was EXACTLY what I needed, she was GREAT and we had some incredible breakthroughs and releases-I let her work my scalenes and SCM in a way I have not felt safe allowing someone in before. I am really pleased with her work and this trade!

 

[thesongfairy]

When I am the receiver I like a mix of pressure and technique. I really like it when a therapist does not have to ask me if pressure is too much or too little. I would much prefer a therapist be able to tell from my body responses and how my tissue responds to their touch as to how much pressure I need.

I feel the need to respond to this statement. While an experienced therapist can read obvious signs of needing to decrease pressure or totally change what they are doing, none of us can read minds (to my knowledge). Add to that the fact that every human being has a different concept of "pain" and "discomfort" thus it is not possible for a therapist to instinctively know in every circumstance what level of pressure is most ideal for any particular client at any particular moment in time. Therefore we ask. We ask because we are concerned about how you are feeling and want you to have exactly the bodywork that you want.

As for the poll, I generally prefer a combination. But I think it would be more specific for me to say that I prefer firm, steady engagement throughout the massage, and attentiveness from the therapist so that he/she feels the restrictions in my tissue and responds accordingly. And I do like the therapist to check in occasionally, especially since I am often so zoned out during the treatment that it doesn't even occur to me to speak up.

 

[gia]

I didn't vote because the poll was closed, but I am more the medium to light pressure. I feel wimpy saying that as a guy. I can take more pressure on my hamstrings, quads, calves, feet, etc...but do not like a lot of pressure on my back and especially near my neck. I've had therapists really mess up my shoulders and neck area by putting too much pressure...my neck gets thrown out of whack easily. I guess I like a mix, overall. I hate that thing at the end of the massage that some therapists do when they kind of chop you on the back....

 

[Taniya A]

Pressure Poll

I wanted to bump this up

 

[dl_overdrive]

Pressure Poll

I voted for combo. I do not like very deep pressure. The only time it is necessary on me to any extent is to loosen up a trigger point and even then the pressure feels deep to ME but in reality is isn't.

I don't like it super light, but pretty light. I think there is this idea that if you have a massage that is too light, it can't be doing any good but for my own body, I need it lighter than most that I have come across. I don't like to feel that I have to guard against the pressure. I guess I am a fragile flower lol.

In the beginning, I had to learn how to give more pressure because I kept giving what I like instead of what the person on the table needed. I thankfully don't have that problem any more!