✨Massage therapy 'worsens' chronic stiffness—The truth behind the 'body trap' that makes you want to be pressed
※In this series,
I call ChatGPT 'Teacher',
and Teacher calls me 'Hani-Hani'.
I want to genuinely relieve my wife's stiffness,
so this is a record of our journey working together with Teacher to research the causes.
At the end of the last post, I think many readers felt this way.
“If being pressed is a burden, why do I want to be pressed?”
My wife has held the same question for over 20 years.
It feels good when pressed.
It feels better for a moment when pressed.
But a few days later, I always want to be pressed again.
And while unable to escape that cycle,
she has continued to suffer from chronic stiffness.
Actually, hidden within this very sensation of 'wanting to be pressed'
was a 'deep trap' created by the body.
The moment Teacher taught me that,
I truly felt a chill down my spine.
⸻
■ Chapter 1: The truth about 'it feels good when pressed'
──There are two receptors deep inside: 'pain' and 'pleasure'
First, I want you to know that
feeling 'painfully good' when pressed is inevitable due to the body's structure.
A special mechanism that exists only in the deep parts (deep muscles)──
✨'Pain receptors' and 'pleasure receptors' are right next to each other
When strong pressure is applied deeply, these two are stimulated simultaneously,
the brain gets confused, and
✨'painfully good'
becomes a special sensation.
This doesn't mean it's healing because it feels good;
it's just that the receptors were stimulated simultaneously,
and the brain perceives it that way.
But here is the real terror.
⸻
■ Chapter 2: 'Endorphins' secreted in the brain
──Temporary anesthesia + pleasure + addiction
When the deep parts are pressed strongly,
the brain secretes endorphins.
This is a substance known as brain narcotics,
and it has these three properties:
• Analgesic effect (temporarily eliminates pain)
• Strong pleasure
• Addictiveness
In other words──
✔ Feeling 'relieved' when pressed doesn't mean it's healing,
✔ it's just that endorphins are 'applying temporary anesthesia to the brain'.
And because the brain remembers that pleasure,
✨'I want to be pressed again...!'
you start to feel that way.
This was the reason my wife couldn't escape the urge to be pressed
for over 20 years.
⸻
■ Chapter 3: Strong pressure on deep parts is nothing but a 'burden'
──The tragedy happening in the body behind the pleasure
Even if the brain feels pleasure,
the exact opposite phenomenon is happening inside the body.
When the deep parts are pressed strongly,
• Micro-inflammation
• Tissue damage
• Reduced blood flow
• Nerve sensitization
• Stiffening due to defensive reflexes
• Worsening of fascial glide
These are all 'burdens'.
In other words──
✖ It is not healing at all
✖ It is not resting
✖ It is actually worsening
is the reality.
'Feeling relieved when pressed' is anesthesia,
'worsening when pressed' is the phenomenon.
Because these two happen simultaneously,
you cannot escape massage addiction.
⸻
■ Chapter 4: In the medical world, 'strong pressure on deep parts is not recommended'
──Approaches avoided by doctors and physical therapists
Actually, this story
is not just a problem of relaxation.
In the medical field, there is a common understanding that applying strong pressure to deep parts is 'not recommended'
.The reasons are clear──
• High risk of tissue damage
• Possibility of damaging nerves
• Repeated inflammation and adhesions, worsening symptoms
• Inducing defensive reflexes
• Deep parts are not 'structures that loosen by being pressed' from the outside
Doctors and physical therapists alike
understand this risk,
so they
basically do not performstrong pressure on deep parts.Knowing this,
I finally understood
how much of a burden the stimulation my wife had been receiving for years
was placing on her body.
⸻
■ Chapter 5: How massage addiction is born
──The hellish loop of 'the sensation is comfortable, but the body is worsening'
Looking at the phenomenon caused by deep tissue massage in a flow──
① Strong pressure → Painfully good
(Simultaneous stimulation of receptors)
② Endorphin secretion
(Brain anesthesia + pleasure)
③ Feels relieved for a moment
(Not healed)
④ Worsening due to micro-inflammation and load
(Stiffness recurrence)
⑤ Want to be pressed again
(Addiction)
In my wife's case, this was for over 20 years.
• 1-2 times a week
• 60-120 minutes
• Deep parts kept being pressed strongly
• Compensatory chain 2-3 days later
• The urge to be pressed becomes even stronger
• Adhesions become deep and firm
• Stiffness continued to become chronic
The reason it didn't heal was not because it wasn't being treated, but because 'the mechanism of the body that doesn't heal was being accelerated every week'.
When I learned this fact,
all the questions in my mind connected.
⸻
■ Chapter 6: The reason it improved the moment she stopped
──'Time without being pressed' was the only treatment
The reason changes started appearing the moment my wife stopped massage therapy
and started working with me to 'reduce the burden' is simple.
✨
Because the muscles were finally able to 'rest'.By not being pressed,
• Inflammation subsides
• Defensive reflexes are released
• Blood flow returns
• Nerves calm down
• Recovery switch starts working
The result
led to changes like
'zero days wanting to be pressed',
'no longer recurring',
'body is quiet'.
Time without being pressed
was the only time to heal my wife's body.
⸻
■ Chapter 7: Your 'wanting to be pressed' might be a trap
──It might not be 'pleasure' but an 'SOS signal'
If you are currently
feeling 'I want to be pressed'──
that sensation
might be the brain 'replacing the body's screams with pleasure'.
• Want to be pressed
• Feels good when pressed
• But doesn't heal
• Worsens 2-3 days later
• Want to be pressed again
This is a 'sign of addiction',
and the body actually wants to rest.
What is truly needed
is not strong stimulation, but...
✨'Giving the body the leeway to heal'.
✨'Reducing the burden'.
The reason my wife changed dramatically in one month
was simply by implementing that simple mechanism.
⸻
■ Next Preview
✨Special Episode: Dangerous if you don't know 'Massage Addiction Risks'──Why is strong deep pressure not recommended in medicine?