Deep Tissue Massage is a traditional style of massage which is designed to relieve muscle tension, reduce stress and break down knots. A deep tissue massage can be requested to be a full body massage or focused on lower limbs or upper body. This style of massage differs from Sports Massage as it focuses on all area of the body instead of a particular injury.
Tension from work and physical lifestyles can create intensive tightness within different parts of your body which are why a firm deep tissue massage can alleviate the pain bringing your muscles back to equilibrium. Other benefits include; improved circulation through the treated area, easing of back pain, break down scar tissue, helps Arthritis pain and increases flexibility.
Having a deep tissue massage depends on the level of tension you’re placing on your body. Some people can benefit from a DTM on a weekly basis, others monthly. It is best to assess your situation and figure out how many treatments you require over a span of time. You may also ask for professional advice from your practitioner.
The first thing to bear in mind is that deep tissue massage is used for therapy and rehabilitation, not only relaxation. So you need to be prepared to feel some discomfort during a DTM and even after. You will most probably lie on your stomach or back while the massage therapist applies various degrees of pressure on tight muscles that have issues and are lying dormant in your body.
Deep Tissue Massage is generally used for maintenance after stress from work or fitness. For this type of treatment, the expert analysis would not be necessary to do. The practitioner aims to provide DTM in all areas of the back however the patient may like more time on a specific area. DTM techniques may differ from Sports Massage techniques. Your expert SMSM Therapist will use effleurage, petrissage, and trigger point release to improve function.
A Sports Massage uses various techniques to improve the integrity of the injured muscle, tendon or ligament. Expert analysis is performed before carrying out the sports massage so that the practitioner completely understands the injury. Your SMSM Therapist may use techniques such as Muscle Energy Techniques (MET) and Soft Tissue Release (STR) which is being advanced sports massage techniques to speed up your recovery process. Due to the different techniques and massaging styles, the therapist may ask you to regularly change position to accommodate the treatment.
| Key Differences | Sports Massage | DTM |
| High Pressure | ||
| General Maintenance | x | |
| Relaxes muscles | ||
| Greater Muscle Flexibility | x | |
| Stress Relief | x | |
| Re-establishes muscle strength | x |
Most people who book a deep tissue massage at our Bromley clinic are not athletes. They are office workers whose shoulders have crept up towards their ears, parents carrying children on one hip, tradespeople whose lower backs have been complaining for months, and gym-goers who have added load faster than their tissue has adapted. The common thread is not sport — it is accumulated tension that has stopped resolving on its own.
Every appointment starts with a few questions and a look at how you move, because pressure applied to the wrong place is just discomfort with no purpose. If what you describe sounds like something other than muscular tension, we will say so rather than work through it.
The two overlap, and the names are less important than the goal.
If you are not sure which you want, book either and say so at the start. We will adjust.
It is the question we are asked most. Expect to feel worked on for twenty-four to forty-eight hours, a bit like the day after an unfamiliar gym session. That is normal and it settles.
What should not happen is sharp pain during the treatment, bruising, or soreness that is still there after three days. Deep does not mean brutal. Pressure that makes you hold your breath and clench is counter-productive — the muscle guards against it and you leave tighter than you arrived. Tell your therapist to ease off; a good one would rather you said something than endured it politely.
Drink water, move gently, and avoid a heavy training session the same day.
It depends what you are asking of your body. If you are in pain now, weekly for two to four weeks, then spreading out. If you sit at a desk all week, monthly tends to keep ahead of it. If nothing hurts and you want to stay that way, every four to six weeks is plenty.
If you find you need deep tissue work every week indefinitely, the massage is managing a symptom of something else — a movement pattern, a strength gap, a workstation. That is a conversation worth having, and one we would rather have than keep booking you in. Posture analysis and a tailored exercise programme exist for exactly that reason.
Being straight about this matters more than filling the diary.
And some symptoms need a doctor rather than a therapist: numbness in the groin or inner thighs, loss of bladder or bowel control, progressive weakness in a limb, unexplained weight loss, or pain that is markedly worse at night. Those warrant a GP or A&E the same day, not a massage.
SMSM Therapy is a sports injury clinic at Carlton Chambers, 5 Station Road, Bromley BR2 0EY — use the red side gate to the right of the building. It is a three-minute walk from Shortlands station. We see clients from across Bromley, Beckenham, Shortlands, Hayes, West Wickham, Chislehurst, Petts Wood and Orpington.
Call 07896 257328, book an appointment online, or see our full prices and how to find us.
Written by Dharam Vyas, sports therapist and clinic director at SMSM Therapy, Bromley.
