To relieve chronic muscle tension your therapist may need to work more deeply than he normally would during a relaxation massage. A skilled therapist will take plenty of time to relax the layers of muscle close to the skin, and then take more time to warm up the deeper muscle tissue before massaging too deeply into the muscle. This extra effort may not leave your therapist enough time to massage the rest of your body thoroughly. So if you have large areas of muscle tension, you may want to schedule a 90 minute massage session. Everyone's pain tolerance is different.
Some people enjoy deep muscle work and can tolerate a lot of discomfort.
Others want their massage to be gentle and relaxing. It is important for clients to tell the therapist if they are experiencing more discomfort than they want to, or if they don't feel the therapist is using enough pressure. That varies greatly from client to client. Some people hop off the table full of energy and ready to take on the world. Others are lethargic and are ready to take a nap.