12/03/2025
Hanging out at the pool today since no one is on the schedule. Figured this would be a great way to talk about DEEP TISSUE vs DEEP PRESSURE.
Let’s use the pool as our illustration.
When you get a Swedish Massage you can have light to deep pressure.
Swedish massage is the most common type of massage that uses long, flowing strokes with kneading, tapping, and vibrating movements to relieve surface muscle tension. Its surface work. Much like being in the shallow end of the pool. Surface glides. Shallow dives. LIGHT PRESSURE = top of the water. MEDIUM PRESSURE = midway of the water. DEEP PRESSURE = dunking your head underneath.
DEEP TISSUE refers to a type of massage that targets the inner layers of muscles, tendons, and fascia. It uses firm pressure and slow, deliberate strokes to release chronic muscle tension and break down adhesions or "knots". While it can be intense, it aims to alleviate pain and improve mobility. You start with warming up the area before focusing on a particular area. This is work for chronic pain and issues such as plantar fasciitis, frozen shoulder, sciatica, etc.
This is deep end of the pool work. Take the Pec Minor muscle for example. To do the work, you have to go into the armpit area to reach the pec minor muscles. You don’t just jump into the armpit area. You start slow and work layer by layer to reach the pec minor muscle.
Do I do DEEP TISSUE work? Yes but I don’t put it on my schedule because too many clients confuse DEEP PRESSURE AND DEEP TISSUE.
Hope this info helped today. Hope the illustration makes sense.
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