The Thing About Pain

I recently had a conversation with a friend of mine who had a bad massage experience, which turns into a personal lesson for me. The problem was pain tolerance. The therapist she saw expressed that her preferred pain level to work in is an 8, (of a 1-10 scale, 1 being none at all, 10 being the worst pain ever) however her clients preferred pain level is somewhere in the 3-6 range depending on the area being worked on. This has created a wonderful opportunity for me to explain pain in relation to massage therapy.

In school I was taught that the pain scale number never to be surpassed is 7. Here is where it gets tricky, what is a 7?? I consider anything from 8-10 a point in which your muscles rebel against treatment. When the combined pressure and pain levels create the muscle to contract, and kick in the automatic guarding response. In other words, it is the point in which you legitimately consider causing me bodily harm (fight response) or run out of the room (flight response). A 7 is something that I believe is the point in which you are uncomfortable, but don't want to punch me. I try to stay in the good pain range (4-5) as best I can, but often people come in to see me when they are experiencing some discomfort already, and have some expectation of pain when treating those areas.

I never want to have my clients experience of pain go above a 7. The reason why the phrase 'no pain, no gain' doesn't apply to massage is because too much pain creates damage to your muscle. If a client doesn't tell me when the pain is too much, not only does the treatment feel like it is taking forever, and isn't enjoyable in the least; it can create pain for days after a treatment, cause bruising, and ultimately leave you feeling far worse than you did when you came in.

Pain is subjective. I have no idea how painful, or not painful my treatment is on your body. The only person who knows is you. Everyone has a pain tolerance that differs and the only way I know if the pressure is too much or not enough, is to have you let me know as soon as I need to alter my pressure. Remember, once again the massage is about you. How light or how deep you prefer your massage to be is important for me, as a therapist, to know. I will honor what type of treatment you want, and what pain range you want to stay in. It is your body, and truthfully, you are the one who knows best.