While it is common to experience muscle soreness in the days after a deep tissue massage treatment, managing the pain is essential to preserve benefits that treatment may have delivered. In fact, mis-managing delayed onset muscle soreness, post massage, can escalate the original symptom or create pain where previously pain didn’t exist!

Remedial and sports massage therapy is designed to disrupt soft tissue holding patterns that cause symptoms. Symptoms such as muscular pain, tension, and restrictive mobility are indicators of a tissue dysfunction that needs to be disrupted. It usually requires a course of three plus sessions to evoke the physical changes necessary to resolve the symptom. Longer lasting healing and benefits also require any postural causes of pain to be challenged into new constructive holding patterns.

To affect stubborn tissues and coax a new holding pattern, deep tissue massage pressure is applied to break down adhesions, melt muscle knots, stretch tissue, and untwist fibrotic fascia. This pushing around causes micro traumas to occur in tissues. When these micro traumas begin to heal, sometimes in the hours or days after massage an inflammation (potentially painful) healing cycle can start. It is just like the delayed onset muscle soreness experienced after a heavy exercise session!

Post massage soreness is normally reserved for people receiving treatment for a new episode of symptom. Regular deep tissue massage receivers are less likely to feel discomfort in the days following a session. If you experience discomfort after your first session it does not mean that you will continue to suffer after every session. It is more common to have less and less post massage ache, after subsequent sessions, as the function improves.