Throughout my career I've heard many of my clients request a deep tissue massage. In addition to that request, I've had the majority of clients request deep tissue on the back and neck only. Although, there's nothing inherently wrong with requesting a back-only massage, the majority of those clients come to me with this request seeking relief from pain. Unfortunately, these clients will continue to come back in pain with no resolution, if not intervened by a PT or an Ortho.
Let me explain why! The muscles in our body are broken down into 4 basic categories: the "Prime mover", the fixator, the stabilizer, and the agonist or muscles in opposition. In the shoulder, for raising the arm, we use the biceps (PM), fixed by deltoid, stabilized by serratus, antagonized by the triceps in back to name one of each.
Now, most of our daily activities are in a forward posture, as there's little we do behind us. Due to this factor, muscles such as pectoralis major & minor, sternocleidomastoid, levator scapularis, and hip flexors become strong, tight, and overworked. This causes the postural muscles in the back become weak. As weakness occurs, these muscles will become tight, spasm, and develop contractions (knots) to help strenghten themselves and maintain the posture.
If a client has persistent neck & back discomfort, it's likely that the client is experiencing a kinetic chain issue called "upper-cross" or "lower-cross" posture. Consistently receiving massage to break down the knots and hypertonic muscles in the back without addressing these stronger, over-developed muscles in the front, the client's request will only perpetuate their discomfort.
They key to relief is to massage the overworked muscles in the front of the body, such as the pectorals & the hip flexors, while strengthening the muscles in the mid-back & glutes to help balance the front/back relationship and improving posture.
If you sit during your occupation, have a sedentary lifestyle, or active lifestyle, take a moment to stretch out then get a massage to these key areas and check out the difference!

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