WHY PAIN? Notes on Pain, Awareness & Denial,
Aspects in Developing a Practical Approach with Compassion

No, except to the degree that you feel you need to feel it in order to release tension. What : ? Really—many people seem to actually need to feel pain to some degree for effective release. "Feel-good-pain" is what a lot of people call it when they feel tension releasing from the body with massage. There is, however, the "old school" of practitioners, especially in Shiatsu, Reflexology, and Rolfing - who will claim that time is wasting unless you (as client) are practically clamping the sides of the table and biting wood!"

I've found that many (other) therapists look for a certain zone in the outer layers enveloping the body, wherein is located (what I call) "The Wall." The Wall is located by feel and pressure. (You might have guessed.) It is differently located for each individual with respect to depth into the tissues, and the depth may even vary somewhat among muscles/groups within the same person. EG: the calves are often very sensitive to the same pressure that feels great to the mid-back. In any case the "wall" is relatively easy to recognise since going beyond it causes the client's muscles to contract and protect, and this negates the purpose of the massage. An experienced massage therapist will usually kinesthetically and/or intuitively sense this reaction is close to happening before the client will feel threatened enough to begin the actual muscle contraction-protection."

And yet the pain gradient is not directly tied to where the wall is. (Uh oh! I thought you said ...) Some patients actually demand a certain amount of pain in order to feel anything is happening. Others are totally the opposite."

The common denominator has to do with what the individual does and needs for Balance with respect to where s/he is (in life) and where s/he feels and/or thinks s/he is going. "The only constant in the Universe is change," it is said, and pain is what we experience when we feel forced in ways or directions we don't feel are appropriate at that time (or ever). . This is true for any boundary we have. The subjective aspect of the experience of the recipient is paramount in these considerations, whether or not any stated rule or guideline has been abridged.

So, should a massage be painful? Only to the degree it feels (to the recipient) appropriate at the time, such that it is part of the healing process and no more (and perhaps no less). It is important that to the degree that you are unfamiliar with this variable within yourself, you communicate with the practitioner what feels good and what doesn't. It's not a difficult thing to learn so long as there is communication to facilitate respect of needs and boundaries. If the client is "into Sadism & Masochism," then there may be different considerations, but about those I don't feel capable to answer at this writing. And if the client came to receive relief from pain, then we're pretty much back to the original considerations anyway. And if, for various reasons the client tends to attract/create victimizing experiences, then we can at least hope that this is communicated (or somehow "picked-up on" by the therapist) before the client opens inappropriately to pressures that are not healthful.
NOTE: That was one of many statements here that might be applied to psycho-emotional level (or even spiritual) interaction as well as to physical level interaction."

Touch-Sensivity of Muscles - and Cell Congestion

          I want to add something now (Aug 2011) that I took for granted in my early days of writing. I guess I figured it was either already known by most folks that I hung out with, or else considered "too much info" for most non-health oriented folks. Athletes are learning more about this just from the experts in their own circles. But I include this for people who are picking up an increased interest in why and how their muscles behave as they do over time, perhaps becoming curious about getting massage, especially those in their 30's & 40's. So... I'm talking about the muscle pain that you notice, ONLY (or primarily) when your muscles are massaged or just touched - with more than the slightest amount of pressure, and the amount of pain can really be surprising. It's a bruise kind of pain, not a traveling pain. That pain is due to "plain old" cellular storage of waste material. I know, that phrase sounds terrible, but given a little patience, knowing it will feel better soon, after a little of the right pressure of massage, which might hurt a little at first... often, within 5 minutes or less, it will be far less sensitive.

          But why the pain when you didn't injure it and it works just fine? Cells are like households or factories, they take in resources, they work, they create waste products which need to be taken out. Which means taken out into the intercellular spaces (between the cells), and eventually out of there via blood and lymph vessels to the organs/systems that will process them and/or eliminate them from the body. If the circulation is sluggish around a given set of cells (including fibers of muscles and tendons), then they can become congested over time. It is the job of the nervous system to complain, to motivate us to remedy this. After a period of time, depending on various factors, the body's priority or focus may shift so that these complaints aren't "heard" by the brain. And for many people, this "sore muscle complaint system" (to put it in lay person's terms) has become virtually ignored, marginalized relative to other systems and conditions in the body far more critical to basic health.

          This is common, actually, especially for those who don't exercise or receive massage therapy. But, surprisingly, it's also common for many who do exercise, and even for many who do receive massage therapy. And for different and specific reasons.
          For those who do exercise, the congestion has to do with a limited degree of tension range. That is, given the maximum optimal range of tension between fully relaxed and fully contracted, there can be a habitually limited range between that degree one can actually relax and that degree one can contract a given muscle, the muscle might not be able to fully relax, and might even be limited to a range much closer to maximum contraction. That might appear to the average person as highly toned, but in truth, it is lacking texture, and therefore lacks optimal circulation, and is much more prone to injury as a result. This relates to what I refer to as the *Work/Rest Ratio*, to resulting *energy efficiency*, which is different from simply over-working the muscles. Common areas for this are the hamstrings, quadriceps, upper calves, and upper wrists. More on this at the "Tensing Yoga" page (in Reference Section).

          For those who do receive massage therapy, the congestion may be due to the therapy not being focused on these particular areas since the cells became congested. It may be due to the client's desire for a very light touch, or the therapist's style, approach, or techniques that work geared toward other purposes, or the therapist is just not sensitive to varying textures of muscle tissue. Also to consider: the health of the blood vessels, especially the capillaries, especially in the case of certain systemic conditions; ie: blood vessels in the legs in the case of diabetes.
          Old injuries can also be, often are, the dynamic focus of habitually contracted muscles and movement patterns, thence the adhesions (from adhearing fascia, the connective tissue around muscles, tendons, ligaments), the scar tissue and often times chronic pain. These can also be areas where congested muscles and tenden cells are found. Much much more about muscles and tension can be found via "Body-Mind Integration... The Basic How's And Why's Of Storage of Tension and Memory in the bodily tissues" ("normal" and otherwise): When, how and why it is stored and released; communication between body and mind, benefits; proprioreceptors, personal growth, massage/bodywork, therapist's approach, etc. Published in Massage Magazine, July-Aug 1992. The page includes "Muscle Q & A" - a Kind of overview of the core topics, Reviews for two articles "on Massage, Alternative Therapies, & Pain, with "Study: Massages really can make pain go away"; & Sept 2011 Consumer Report; quotes, commentary & charts, and a number of other short addendum essays for making these topics more easily understandable for *common sense* preventative maintenance application (much of which many therapists will enjoy teaching you how to apply, if you like), as well as further completing the context and clarifying the dynamics and processes involved.

          Also, the "Core Body-Mind Integration Concepts in Context Chart" is now (10/10/11) at the Organization Chart page. It compacts the key points into a relatively small visual space, and provides a summary of them and their implications relative to body-mind preventative maintenance, pain management, other aspects, as well as links to their respective essays or sections.