Strain Counterstrain in Santa Barbara: The Gentle Technique for Pain That Won't Let Go
If you have ever left a deep tissue massage feeling worked over but not actually better, you are not alone. Some pain does not respond to pressure. Push harder into a muscle that is already guarding and it guards more. That is the problem strain counterstrain was built to solve — and it solves it by doing almost the opposite of what most bodywork does.
Strain counterstrain is one of the core techniques I use at my Santa Barbara studio, and it is often the one clients have never heard of before they walk in. Here is what it actually is, what a session feels like, and how to tell whether it is the right fit for what you are dealing with.
What is strain counterstrain?
Strain counterstrain is a gentle, indirect manual therapy technique developed in 1955 by osteopathic physician Lawrence Jones, DO. Instead of stretching or pressing into tight tissue, the therapist moves your body into a very specific position that puts the irritated tissue on slack — the direction of ease rather than the direction of resistance.
The process works in three parts:
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Find the tender point. These are small, exquisitely sensitive spots in muscle and connective tissue. They are often nowhere near where you feel your pain, which is one of the reasons stubborn problems stay stubborn.
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Find the position of comfort. The therapist shortens and supports the tissue around that point until tenderness drops significantly — the clinical benchmark is at least a 70% reduction while you are being held there.
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Hold and release. That position is maintained for roughly 90 seconds, then your body is returned slowly and passively to neutral. Slowly matters. Coming back too fast can re-trigger the guarding you just released.
That is the entire technique. No forcing, no cracking, no gritting your teeth.
Why holding still works better than pushing
The most widely accepted explanation is a proprioceptive one. Your muscles contain sensors called muscle spindles that report on length and stretch. After an injury, a fall, an awkward landing, or even a long stretch of poor positioning, these sensors can start reporting inaccurately — telling the nervous system a muscle is under threat when it is not. The muscle responds by holding a low-grade protective contraction it never turns off.
When the tissue is placed on slack for 90 seconds, that faulty signaling gets a chance to reset. The mismatch between the spindle fibers and the working muscle fibers narrows, the stretch reflex quiets, and the muscle is allowed to return to its normal resting length. There is also a circulatory piece: repositioning improves blood flow to a tissue that has been locked down, and at least one study found a measurable drop in inflammatory markers at the tender point after treatment.
The plain-English version: you cannot force a protective muscle to let go. You have to convince it that it is safe. Counterstrain is a way of making that argument in a language the nervous system understands.
A note on the research, because it matters: counterstrain has a long clinical track record and a growing but still limited body of evidence. Some studies show meaningful reductions in tender point pain, and much of the mechanistic work comes from animal and laboratory models. It is not a cure-all, and I would be skeptical of anyone who told you it was. What it is, in my experience, is a genuinely useful tool for a category of pain that resists everything else.
What strain counterstrain helps with
Counterstrain tends to be most valuable in situations where aggressive work is either unhelpful or off the table:
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Acute injuries and flare-ups, where the tissue is too irritated for pressure
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Neck pain, low back pain, and shoulder pain that has not responded to stretching, foam rolling, or deep tissue
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Plantar fasciitis and chronic ankle instability, both areas where counterstrain has been specifically studied
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Post-surgical recovery, once cleared by your surgeon, when tissue is sensitized and guarded
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Tension headaches tied to upper cervical and jaw restrictions
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Widespread pain sensitivity, including fibromyalgia, where deep pressure often makes things worse
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The old injury that keeps coming back — the hamstring, the hip, the trap that re-tightens within days of every session
It is not appropriate for everyone. Counterstrain is contraindicated with fractures and significant ligament tears, and it will not work if you cannot relax enough to let the position do its job. If something in your history makes it a poor fit, I will tell you and we will use something else.
What a session actually feels like
This is the part that surprises people most: it should not hurt.
You stay clothed or draped and comfortable. I locate tender points by palpation and ask you to rate what you feel — your feedback is the navigation system, so I will check in often. Then I move a limb, your head, or your torso into position and support the weight entirely. Your job is to do nothing. Most of a counterstrain session looks, from the outside, like almost nothing is happening.
What you notice is usually a softening under my hands, sometimes a deep sigh or a shift in breathing, and a tender point that simply is not tender anymore when I recheck it. Many clients feel a change in the room — in range of motion, in the sharpness of a symptom — before they get off the table.
Afterward, expect to feel loose and sometimes a little tired, the way you might after an unusually good night's sleep. Because there is no aggressive tissue work involved, counterstrain does not produce the day-or-two of soreness that follows a deep tissue session. That makes it a good option in-season, close to an event, or when you simply cannot afford to be sore tomorrow.
How it differs from deep tissue and myofascial release
Deep tissue massage is a direct technique: it engages resistance and works through it with sustained pressure. It is excellent for chronic tightness, adhesion, and long-standing restriction, and it is a large part of what I do. Myofascial release sits in between, using slow sustained tension to let fascia lengthen over time.
Counterstrain is indirect. It moves away from the barrier instead of into it. That is why it works in exactly the situations where direct work stalls out — irritated tissue, high pain sensitivity, acute injury, or a body that has learned to brace against being touched firmly.
In practice these are not competing choices. A typical session at my studio blends them: counterstrain to quiet down the reactive tissue, then targeted deep tissue or muscle scraping once the area can tolerate it, and mobility work to hold the change.
Finding strain counterstrain in Santa Barbara
Counterstrain requires specific training — it is not something included in a standard massage curriculum. I trained through the Jones Institute, the organization founded around Dr. Jones's original work, and I use the technique daily with runners, cyclists, surfers, triathletes, and plenty of people whose only sport is sitting at a desk.
My studio is at 4213 State St, Suite 206, Santa Barbara, CA 93110, serving Santa Barbara, Goleta, and Montecito. If you have a specific injury or a pain pattern that has outlasted everything you have thrown at it, mention it when you book so I can plan the session around it.
Still deciding? The counterstrain FAQ answers the quick logistical questions — session length, frequency, and what to wear.
Frequently asked questions
Does strain counterstrain hurt? No. Finding the tender point is briefly sensitive, but the treatment position itself should reduce that tenderness substantially. If a position hurts, it is the wrong position.
How many sessions will I need? It varies. Acute problems sometimes change in one or two sessions. Long-standing patterns that involve compensation elsewhere in the body usually take longer, and we will reassess as we go.
Is it the same as chiropractic adjustment? No. There is no thrust, no manipulation, and no joint cavitation. Counterstrain is a soft tissue and neuromuscular technique.
Can I get it while injured? Often yes — that is one of its strengths. But fractures and significant ligament tears are contraindications, so tell me about any recent injury or imaging before we begin.
Will I be sore afterward? Rarely. Unlike deep tissue work, counterstrain does not typically cause next-day soreness, which makes it useful during training blocks and before events.