Massage has been used for thousands of years as a healing technique. It was common among the Ancient Greeks, Egyptians, Chinese and Indians to treat a variety of ailments.
Today, it continues to be an effective treatment for so many reasons.
Read on for seven surprising benefits of body massage therapy.
1. Full Body Massage Undoes Our Hours of Sitting
Did you know that on average, we sit for up to 14 hours each day? It’s no wonder with all the desk jobs, commuting, eating at tables, and TV watching we do.
All that sitting messes with our posture. Endless sitting also results in stress in the shoulders and neck and it can lead to pain or weakness in the low back and glutes.
When we sit for long periods of time, our muscles contract and shrink. One of the key benefits of body massage therapy is that it counteracts the issues caused by sitting.
2. Reduce Stress
Chronic stress research shows that stress is deadly. It affects every system in the body. Especially, the immune system which causes people to become ill more often than those who aren’t stressed.
It is vital to find ways to reduce that stress buildup in our bodies.
One of the most important full body massage benefits is the ability to relax and de-stress. Full body massages target the entire body to release tension. As a trained massage therapist works on your body, you also get a mental break from your worries.
Whether your massage is 30 or 90 minutes, that uninterrupted time to sit quietly in a dim room with soothing music is a powerful way to combat the stress of our daily lives.
You may find that you feel the calming effects of your massage for days or even weeks afterward! This is one of the main reasons it’s a good idea to schedule regular massage appointments.
3. Improves Quality of Sleep
Massages promote relaxation. Even if your massage is early in the morning, you are sure to get a good night’s sleep that night.
By promoting blood flow, releasing muscle tension, and providing a mental rest, people who receive a massage are in a better position to get a restful night’s sleep. Even those who are receiving radiation or chemotherapy find that they get a good nights’ rest after having a massage.
4. Improves Circulation
During a massage, your body’s muscles and tendons become looser. This allows for better blood flow all over your body.
Increased circulation has various positive effects on your body including feeling less tired throughout the day. Good circulation promotes cell growth and organ function.
It also leads to better blood pressure and healthy skin that can fight off infection.
5. Massage Relieves Headaches and Pain
Massage therapy is an excellent treatment for pain including constant headaches. Headaches occur due to a large amount of tension at the base of the skull toward the cervical spine.
That pressure causes compression of the neurovascular bundles that are connected to the brain leading to chronic headaches.
Massage therapy can gently use pressure to decompress the vertebral column. Also, a thorough stretch of the neck’s muscles can reduce the irritation there.
Even better, regular massages can reduce how severe and how often tension headaches are for you.
Now let’s look at how massage helps with pain in other parts of the body.
First, it’s important to understand that massage therapists don’t just work on muscles. They also treat connective tissues and the body’s lymphatic network.
Plus, they can relieve muscles that are sore or tight. You can expect pain relief after your massage appointment thanks to the work they do on the body’s systems and nervous reflexes.
But what can you do when you are living with chronic pain? You can invest in tools to treat your symptoms at home in-between massage appointments. A great example of this is an electric Foot Massager For Plantar Fasciitis.
6. Helps with Depression and Anxiety
One thing many people don’t understand is the connection between the body and mental wellness.
Yet, human touch when it is safe and professional is a great source of therapeutic assistance for people dealing with mental illness.
A recent study found that patients who were depressed and anxious had reduced stress levels following a massage.
Even though science doesn’t fully understand the body-mind connection, there is no denying that much of what happens to our bodies impacts our mental health.
You can use massage therapy as a way to deal with any kind of anxiety or depression. This treatment is safe to combine with other treatments including medication, talk therapy and so on.
7. Eliminate Toxins & Boosts Immune System
As we mentioned earlier, massage therapists access the lymphatic system as they work. During a massage, your body’s soft tissues are stimulated. In turn, this releases toxins out from your cells and drains out of your body.
The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine published a study in 2010, which concluded that massage therapy has a positive impact on the immune system.
Massage therapy promotes the creation of white blood cells. The more white blood cells you have, the better your body is at fighting off disease and illness.
Book Your Body Massage Therapy Session
There you have it! Seven of the top benefits you can expect from body massage therapy.
We hope this article has given you the incentive to make a massage part of your regular schedule. Not only will you sleep better and feel great, but you will also enjoy better health.
Come back soon for more great health-related articles to help you live well!
Throughout the year, our writers feature fresh, in-depth, and relevant information for our audience of 40,000+ healthcare leaders and professionals. As a healthcare business publication, we cover and cherish our relationship with the entire health care industry including administrators, nurses, physicians, physical therapists, pharmacists, and more. We cover a broad spectrum from hospitals to medical offices to outpatient services to eye surgery centers to university settings. We focus on rehabilitation, nursing homes, home care, hospice as well as men’s health, women’s heath, and pediatrics.
