Communication

Communication is important in any massage, but it is essential in a pain management session. I am not a psychic; I cannot read minds. While I may use my intuition to guide me, I need your objective insight into how you specifically feel.

Communicate How You Feel

Sometimes our minds need near-absolute silence to settle and rest. There is a time for this, but even in these types of sessions, you must be open to communicating with your therapist. Many of the stress management massages I provide are adventures in silent serenity, but even in these sessions, I will check in with you to see how you’re feeling.

Pain management massage requires communication. I cannot help you if you won’t share how you are feeling with me. This is not an entry-level massage at a franchise. It is a customized treatment designed specifically for you. If you don’t communicate with me, I can’t help you.

Open Communication

Allows me to provide you with your perfect pressure in every area I massage.
It helps me analyze your patterns of pain, so I may adapt my approach to maximize the results of your massage.
Articulating how you feel improves your interoception, which helps develop your mind-body awareness.

Perfect Pressure

Pressure is subjective. What you consider light will be firm to someone else, and vice versa. The goal isn’t to endure painful pressure or feel as if you are being tickled by a feather; it is to experience pleasurable touch.

The only way to consistently experience your perfect level of pressure is to communicate with your therapist.

Adapting To Your Needs

Pain is more than a number. It is a feeling with many flavors. When you articulate how your pain feels, it helps me understand your experience and develop strategies to address it.

Muscle tightness, for example, requires a different approach than a hypersensitivity to touch. Each sensation of pain has its own needs and must be addressed uniquely. How you feel throughout the session determines how the massage is performed.

Mind-Body Awareness

Vocalizing how something feels is challenging, but it gets easier with each attempt. The key is to pause, feel, then think. This bridges the gap from the body to our soul.

Most people know what they are feeling, but lack the vocabulary to put it into words. This is why I designed the give general sensations of a massage. These terms will provide you with a basic vocabulary to communicate with me during your pain-management massage.

5 General Sensations of a Massage

During a massage, there are five general types of sensation you may feel. These are pleasure, meh, hurts-so-good, rewarding, and pain. They will help you communicate with your therapist.

Pleasure means the sensation feels good.
Meh means the sensation is neither good nor bad; it is a nothing-burger type of feeling.
Hurts-so-good is when a sensation is uncomfortable while simultaneously feeling good.
Rewarding is when you feel something good happening, but you cannot articulate what or how, and it may be pleasurable, meh, or hurts-so-good.
Pain is any sensation that doesn’t feel good. In massage, pressure should never exceed the threshold of pain; if it does, please alert your therapist so they can adjust their techniques and pressure accordingly.