What Are The Benefits Of Massage Therapy?
By Doug Brinlee
Massage therapy has been a therapeutic way to relax for centuries. It can help relieve tension, re-align your spirit, and rejuvenate your energy levels. There are many positive benefits to massage therapy. Considering how much faster paced the world is today, a little stress-management is good for everybody. While it is considered an alternative means of medicine in the United States, there is no doubt to its effectiveness. Many Americans use therapeutic massage treatment to provide relaxation, to deal with stress associated with their busy lives, or to simply maintain good health.
Types of Massage Therapy
There are many types of massage therapy, all with different benefits. Some are for treating soft tissues and muscles while others are for improving circulation or maintaining flexibility. And plus, massages just feel really good. But what are the benefits of massage therapy? Can massage therapy actually improve any conditions? Below is a list of positive benefits that you might gain from receiving massage therapy.
Advantages of Therapeutic Massage
As any massage therapist will tell you, there are many advantages of therapeutic massage. The list below only covers some benefits and may not include all known advantages of massage therapy.
Relieves Stress And Tension
There are so many people these days that deal with a lot of stress on a daily level. Stress management is essential for anyone who wants to lead a healthy lifestyle. One of the best means of achieving this is through massage therapy. There are studies that have been done that prove massage therapy to be one of the most effective methods for achieving stress relief. It relaxes muscles that have tensed up and puts you in an overall better frame of mind so that you can think more clearly. It can even boost your body's immune system, which can be affected if you have to put up with extended periods of stress.
Relieves Pain From Chronic Illnesses
Massage therapy is a good addition to help with pain management. Massage therapy is a great way to relieve pain from chronic conditions and illnesses such as tendonitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, sciatica, arthritis, and fibromyalgia. What is more, massage therapy can help manage pain from post-surgeries and sports injuries. It has even been proven to be effective with muscle/skeletal disorders. Cancer patients have shown to have less anxiety and greater recovery time after chemo-treatment with massage therapy.
Improves Physical Rehabilitation
Rehabilitating any injury can be frustrating. Physical injuries can keep you off of work and unable to perform even the simplest of everyday tasks. Massage therapy can play an important part in the rehabilitation process. It can help loosen up muscles and relieve cramping after rehabilitation sessions. Massage therapy helps the patient to endure the rigors of a physically demanding session with body parts that are not functioning to their full capacity. By receiving a massage at the end of a rehab session, it allows the injured areas to become more flexible and heal at an accelerated rate.
Improves Circulation
Massage therapy benefits more than just your muscles and tissues. It also aids in circulation. By receiving massage therapy on a regular basis, it can have long term effects on improving your circulation. Massage stimulates your circulation throughout your body because the pressure created by the massage technique actually moves blood through the congested areas. The release of this same pressure causes new blood to flow in. It is similar to a pump. All of the pushing and pulling can also flush lactic acid from the muscles and improves the circulation of the lymph fluid. This is important for carrying metabolic waste away from muscles and internal organs. By increasing circulation and relaxing muscles, massage helps the body to pump more oxygen and nutrients into tissues and vital organs.
Lowers Blood Pressure
High blood pressure is definitely on the list of the top five killers in the United States. It can lead to stroke, impairment, and death. Those who battle it on a regular basis can still have symptoms such as dizziness, low energy, increased heart rate, and anxiety attacks. One of the most effective ways to deal with high blood pressure is through massage therapy. A regular massage therapy program can decrease your diastolic and systolic blood pressure. Much of high blood pressure is stress-related and massage sessions are already proven to relieve stress and tension. So by managing your stress, you also manage your blood pressure. Another good point about using massage therapy to lower your blood pressure is that it can also lower related symptoms such as depression, anxiety and hostility.
Relieves Tension-Induced Headaches
There are millions of people everyday who suffer from chronic headaches such as migraines. Most of them are caused by tension and lifestyle. The disorder can be extremely difficult to cope with and the usual treatment is medication. However, massage therapy has been proven top be effective against chronic headaches. The main body areas for treatment are the neck, shoulders, and head. By centering on these areas, massage can help in two ways. One way is that treatments that are performed on a regular basis can help the body maintain a level of relaxation. This will overall reduce the chance of a migraine or tension headache significantly by relaxing muscle spasms and trigger points. Another way to help is that massage can be used to ease the pressure and pain brought on during one of these attacks.