This article intends to dispel the myth that all therapeutic massage is painful. I will start by outlining the differences between light touch pleasure-inducing massage and deep tissue/touch therapeutic or remedial massage.

In the first instance, feel-good massage has been often associated with massage parlours and the exploitation of our instinctual attraction to the pleasureful sensation received through touch. The pleasure centres of the brain are activated when we are touched lightly and repeatedly by stimulating the excretion of neurotransmitters named endorphins. Endorphins are a drug which the body produces and distributes giving one a sense of pleasure. One experiences this feeling when running for an extended period of time or while experiencing sex.

This sense of pleasure produced by the presence of endorphins is mistakenly often correlated with sexual arousal which occurs when the genitals or erogenous zones of the body are lightly touched: eg: tongue, ear lobes, navel, inner thighs, etc. These areas of the body are not targeted or treated during a relaxation stress-reducing massage which one receives from a certified massage practitioner trained in basic body massage. The incidence of sexual arousal never occurs within this context of touch when the intention is reducing muscle tone and releasing physical and emotional tension. The intent is not sexual arousal. Should someone desire sexual touching then a massage parlour would be the right choice for that person and not a visit to a certified massage practitioner or therapist. The sex workers in the Winnipeg massage parlour industry are required to possess a 'massagist' license for tracking by police. These workers are not trained in remedial or therapeutic massage.

This brings me to the definitions and differences between a massage practitioner or bodyworker and a massage therapist. The massage practitioner or bodyworker performs stress-reduction massage without therapeutic intent other than achieving pain-free relaxation. This type of massage should not hurt. And when done properly shouldn't be pain-inducing.

A confusion sometimes arises for the client between stress-reduction massage and remedial massage. The first type is meant to be pleasureful and the second not. The remedial massage therapist, on the other hand, has therapeutic intent of targeting painful areas of the body identified through consultation and assessment and then using deep-tissue massage techniques and range of motion stretches to remove the underlying pain-producing causes.

Who comes to the remedial massage therapist for relief? I personally work in a fitness centre setting. Many of my clients are members who present with multiple kinds of pain: shoulder, neck, arm, back, legs etc. and not in any particular order. My job is to find out how they came to have those pain symptoms(weight-training, running), to reduce the tone of tight muscles, to propose stretches which are appropriate to the joint(s) and muscle(s) involved ; and recommend other hot/cold therapies for the home care and possibly strenghtening exercises for any weak muscles.

Repetitive strain injuries represent the bulk or vast majority of my clients. There is often associated inflammation of the tendons (tendonitis) or of the bursas beneath the tendons(bursitis). The way to tell the difference is that the bursitis is detected with passive movement of the joint whereas tendonitis is experienced with active contraction of the muscle.

MASSAGE CLINIC PAIN OR PLEASURE

By Roger Richard Fontaine, r.m.t. May2005

For massage services phone: 204-799-3663