Deep tissue massage--am I just a wimp?

FWIW, I've always hated massages.

Sometimes in drum corps, we would all turn and massage the person next to you's shoulders...and I always hated that.

If deep tissue massage is anything like active release therapy, and I suspect it is, then, yes, it is really painful.  I've had two sessions so far for my knee (I did a bad thing and stopped wearing my orothicsfor a while) and it is super painful.  The P.T. I do afterward is painful.  My knee and thigh hurt for the rest of the day. 

Today, though, my knee doesn't hurt at all.  Of course, I have only done pilates (painful, but I always feel that way) and the exercises prescribed by the P.T. (painful) today, so that could be why.

I'm going to try to jog a mile tomorrow.

I've had a microdiskectomy FOR sciatica and it's been 2 years. No sign of the sciatica, but the residual back pain that I had WAY before that just got to be too much one day. I had been going to deep tissue massage for my shoulders and neck because I got a couple migraines. It cleared them from coming back. One day when I couldn't take the back anymore when I was asked, 'what are we working on today?' I asked for lower back and was fearful but figured what the heck it already hurt like a MF. I had 4 days of it turned off and sore glutes, but with deep tissue it always depends on how deep they go. My masseuse tells me that the pain level of the massage should never be an 8 and ask for lighter pressure if it is (on the pain scale)

Funny enough the thing that has helped me the most has been triathlon training. I'm 5 weeks in and as I sit here, my back isn't even registering on the pain scale. I'm sure I've been lucky, but I've been living with back pain since 1997. Weight loss and exercise seem to be key for me. If you have sciatica and have put up with it for 10 years, with my experience I'd talk to a surgeon and look into microdiskectomies if it might help. It's arthroscopic and there is no down time, the science has come a LONG way. Used to be all they could do for people was fuse their discs.

From my perspective, it can hurt during (but not that bad!), but I get a kind of nice relaxed feeling afterwards...  almost "floppy".

It isn't back pain but "pain in the butt" stuff. I've seen a couple of massage therapists who believe it's from tight muscles in that area that compress the sciatic nerve, and the tightness travels to my hamstrings. Or vice versa. Mainly just tightness and pain that keeps me from speeding up or extending my stride; esp. when starting "cold" (not bricks).  I do get the classic tingling but only on very long hikes, not from running or biking.

 It's just very hard to get treatment as I spend little time in the US; can't find anyone good in Vietnam. My insurance doesn't cover non-emergency care in the US. There is a new sport-oriented expat chiropractor at one of the clinics in Saigon so will try that when I get back if massage doesn't resolve it.  Guess I will keep at it and see how it goes--definitely less nerve-type stuff going on. Just surprised at how much pain (maybe an 8, if 10 is limb amputation or natural childbirth!) during and how weird I feel afterward--I wouldn't describe it as relaxed but rubbery, then very sore and fatigued on one side of my lower body.

I just started A.R.T. for a piriformis issue. I should preface by saying I've never had a massage other than neck and shoulders, and I didn't really like that.

A.R.T. was quite painful. Thought I could feel it releasing a bit so I stuck with it. My Chiropractor actually had me in tears a bit. I wasn't crying per se but my eyes were watering. I was also sweating like crazy. Not really doing anything, but sweating through my shirt. Pretty crazy.

So today, three days later, my piriformis feels much better. My glutes feel like I just did an amazing squat workout. But that deep down pain has subsided a bit.