Bruising IS Normal!

'bruising' during a deeper style tissue massage is actually fairly common because when you're body's moved around, tissues cause your blood to rise, causing the redness, this is a process called erythema . With a deeper tissue massage, it is also quite normal to feel bruised. In most people, this is often within two to three days after the massage. 

This is the same type of soreness you might experience when you start back into exercise and slightly over do it. After some time, the muscles get better. You will feel looser, rejuvenated and energetic.

Actual bruising can occur when capillaries become broken and red blood cells leak, again very normal, contusion is the proper term of a bruise, and it refers to a traumatic injury that causes capillaries to break and red blood cells to leak. But in the instance of massage, really, no actual “injury,” as we think of the term, necessarily has to occur for a bruise to appear. Stagnant blood is usually stored in your tissues, hence why muscle because tight and less flexible, and releasing it through massage causes that colour change to the skin, this is a good ways to allow new blood to get through, but the redness (more purple in colour) can be seen.