Massage Therapy Journal Fall 2025

28 • Massage Therapy Journal

D espite our natural inclination to shun pain, studies have consistently shown its inherent value as a protective mechanism. This innocuous four-letter word has the uncanny ability to disrupt our daily routines, and yet by delving into the mechanisms and behaviors associated with pain, we can actively adapt our perspectives and more effectively mitigate its impact on our lives.

Pain has genetic, experiential and perceptual components that make how people experience pain highly variable between both individuals and cultures. 1,2 Massage therapists must understand a client’s unique pain story and validate their experience to create client trust and open the doorway to communication. Here, I hope to cover the multidimensional and contextual nature of pain, its evolutionary protective purpose, the role of suffering, and a more holistic approach to pain that includes brain training and community.

Understanding someone’s pain can be difficult, and our understanding of their pain will never be as full as their experience. As massage therapists, we will never truly be correct in our conceptualization of our client’s pain experience. Listening and gathering as much information as possible—alongside observation—is imperative. Our clients’ stories and language around their pain are key descriptive components and one of our only windows into understanding.

Pain Defined: How Life Experience Informs Pain

The International Association for the Study of Pain describes the phenomenon of pain this way: “An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, actual or potential tissue damage.”

Spinal Cord

Cell body of afferent neuron

Cell body of interneuron

Cell body of efferent neuron

Axon of afferent neuron

Muscle contracts, withdrawn parts are stimulated Axon of efferent neuron

The Pain Pathway

Pain Receptors in Skin

The brain controls threat perception and pain interpretation based on sensory inputs.

Stimulus (A Hot Object)

Nandalal Sarkar / Shutterstock.com

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