Does it hurt?

 

It is possible that you might experience some pain during the session. If you are already coming in with pain, there may be some range of motion tests or manual muscle tests that may cause some slight irritation. The amount of stress from the muscle test or range of motion test will be much less compared to the amount of daily stress you have been putting on it or the initial cause of the injury. The tests are used to gather important information regarding your muscular problems and any provocation of pain will be minimal.

 

In terms of the muscle palpations, it is possible that it might be a little painful. Typically muscles that are inhibited are sensitive to the palpations. However, as your muscle function increases, the pain related to the palpations decreases and sometimes completely goes away. Even though the goal and application is different from MAT, the pain associated with the palpations is similar to myofascial release (massaging or foam rolling a trigger point).