PNMT Frequently Asked Questions
If PNMT is new to you, here are some of the commonly asked questions that people pose.
How is PNMT different than general massage?
High Focus
Massage systematically addresses every body part equally. In PNMT, the whole session is organized around problem-solving your particular discomfort. The therapist will focus on the area relevent to the objective, rather than trying to touch every area of the body. Precision Neuromuscular Therapists are more like soft-tissue detectives trying to uncover the reason for your pain.
Zoning out vs. Tuning In
In massage, often the receiver is passive and can drift into Neverland if desired. With PNMT, the therapist will need your input and feedback to discover where the restrictions are hiding.
How Often Should I Have Treatment?
This is a crucial question, and success and failure can often depend on frequency and dosage.
Frequency Recommendations
To make progress, the frequency of sessions often needs to be front-loaded. Waiting too long between sessions risks losing any improvements gained, like working out or practicing an instrument sporadically. Results are unlikely. In general, plan on four or five sessions within three weeks.
Dosage (Length of Sessions)
The first session is typically longer to allow for assessment and investigation of the possible muscular influences in your particular condition. After that, shorter sessions that are more frequent generate far better results than longer sessions spaced too far apart. Sound familiar? Any athlete or musician will tell you the same- frequency of practice matters. The same rules apply to PNMT.
Does PNMT Use
Really Deep Pressure?
There are many misconceptions about the appropriate amount of pressure that must be used to be effective. There are two major myths:
More is better! Many people believe that once a tightened area is discovered, the strategy is to get in there and ‘get it’. Not only is this oversimplified and mechanistic, but it is also physiologically incorrect. The fact is overly aggressive therapy does not work and often causes unintended backlash or rebound pain.
The therapist must sense what I feel. Often clients assume that if a therapist is pressing what seems to be quite hard (the keyword is seems; the amount of pressure and feeling can vary based on which muscle is being targeted and where), they know the amount of discomfort being produced and are doing that intentionally. This is incorrect; we cannot know what your experience is unless you tell us. While the therapist may be aware that an area feels like a problem, they cannot know how it feels to you. You must give them constant feedback. This cannot be overstated.
For addressing specific areas of discomfort, our job is to discover and diffuse these restricted areas. What then is the proper amount of pressure? First, if we are on the correct area, you should have strong sense that this is an important area of restriction. If we feel something and you don’t, you are usually correct. Tell the therapist.
When you do sense that this area is compellingly tender, be aware of your body's reaction. As long as you can passively ‘witness’ the discomfort without your body tensing, the pressure is perfect. The moment you tighten or protect in any way, the capacity for real pain relief ceases. At this point, many people say, “Go ahead, I can take it. Do what you need to do to get rid of that.” Unfortunately, not only does this not work, it can also backfire. The physiology behind this is complex and fascinating; suffice it to say that you need to stay within a level of comfort to create real and lasting change. The goal is that you always feel the pressure has that"hurts so good" feeling.