Deep Tissue Massage
As recently as 10 years ago, I would not have had much to say about deep tissue massage. I’m not really into being touched (I’m not a hugger), so naturally I have avoided massage of any kind for most of my life. And, being a dude, I didn’t feel a need to be pelted with jokes from my fellow dudes upon hearing I’d gotten a massage (“did you get a happy ending?” HAR HAR HAR), so I was effectively scared away from it by peer pressure.
After a snowboarding accident, I visited a Licensed Massage Therapist at the urging of my then-girlfriend, now-wife. It opened my eyes to the benefits of deep tissue massage and I began to realize stereotypes aren’t necessarily true.
I am naturally ticklish, but receiving a deep tissue massage doesn’t “bother” the nerve sensors at the skin’s surface, so no problem there. Instead, it uses pressure on the muscles and tendons below the skin (applied by the therapist’s hands or elbows against your bones, typically) to stimulate movement of fluids (blood, lymph, etc.) and put things back in place regarding your joints, muscles and bones. This accelerates the flushing of toxins out of your system, kickstarts your body’s natural self-healing processes, and undoes the everyday trauma of our spine-compressing, muscle-tensing lifestyles.
Unlike what you might see on movies or TV when a person is getting massaged, DTM is not soothing, unless you happen to find the act of getting physically beaten in super-slow-motion to be soothing. For me it’s much the opposite. But I sing DTM’s praises anyway because it tends to get things moving and my body responds, initially with pain, but over the following days with better posture, less pain than before, and a more positive outlook. For someone like me who spends much of my day sitting in a chair, the days following a DTM are a wonderful break from my normal hunched, compressed self. I’m not exaggerating when I say I often walk out of a DTM session about an inch taller than when I walked in.
Also, when I receive a DTM I tend to experience some kind of epiphany of personal truth. Maybe it’s the improved flow to my brain from the circulatory and nervous systems. Maybe it’s because I do controlled deep breathing during the DTM to get past the initial pain/trauma/awkwardness of getting slo-mo beat up by a stranger. Maybe it’s because it’s a rare opportunity to be still and quiet but not asleep for an hour and just focus inward. Or maybe it’s a combination of these things.
Whatever it is, I get more out of a good DTM then I ever have from any pill, drink, or doctor’s office visit. Once I find a good Licensed Massage Therapist near my home, I hope to go in for a DTM 2-3 times a month.
Here endeth the lesson on deep tissue massage.
Bike Newbie 