If you're recovering from a sports injury or have pain in your muscles from overuse, poor posture, or muscle tension, deep-tissue massage therapy might help. This type of massage is different from a relaxing massage you might normally take. It's intended to help with pain relief and healing. Here's a look at the technique for deep-tissue massage therapy and some benefits you might enjoy. 

Deep-Tissue Massage Therapy Applies Deep Pressure

This type of massage uses deep pressure on your muscles. The strokes are usually slow and the therapist uses harder pressure. They may even apply pressure with their elbow or thumb and hold the pressure in place. They may massage across your muscles to go against the grain and break up adhesions.

The therapist targets your areas of pain, so a deep-tissue massage might be uncomfortable. You shouldn't be in excessive pain though, so let your therapist know if they need to be more gentle with you.

Deep-Tissue Massage Helps With Healing

You might receive a few benefits from deep-tissue massage depending on the cause of your pain. The friction of rubbing your muscles and fascia increases blood flow in the area. When blood flow increases, so do the nutrients and oxygen needed for tissue repair. That's why this type of massage is beneficial after you've had a sports injury.

Deep-tissue massage is also helpful for other muscle pain. The massage can also reduce inflammation and that helps with pain relief. The techniques used for deep-tissue massages also relieve pain by breaking up adhesions and scars. This could improve your range of motion and decrease muscle tension.

You May Need A Few Treatment Sessions

The goal of a deep-tissue massage is to work on the fascia and connective tissue in your muscles to break apart scars and align the fibers in your tissues. You could feel better after a single treatment, but multiple treatments are often needed. However, a few massage sessions might speed the healing thanks to the increased blood flow. Plus, the massages might help you manage any pain while your body heals.

Massage treatments are usually easy to undergo, and you can have relaxation massages too if those help you feel better. Deep-tissue massage therapy shouldn't be uncomfortable; however, you should realize it's a type of therapeutic massage, so it's different from having a massage that's intended to relax you and provide stress relief.

Contact a local spa to learn more about deep-tissue massage therapy.