If you’ve never had a massage before, you don’t know what you’re missing. You don’t know what you’re missing and might want to keep it that way because they are way too good (and good for you) not to want one every week (or every day…). But, if you HAVE ever had a professional massage you know instinctively how good they are. You don’t need statistics and research articles to tell you how great it feels when you’re finished. How the aches and pains are gone almost as if by magic. How headaches dissipate, tension melts, and how, ‘wow… you can turn your head all the way to the left now!’. It’s not just that someone is helping to ease the aches and pains of everyday life with their skills but also treating you with loving intent and creating a safe, judgment free space where you can begin to relax the mind as well as the body. Where the mind goes, the body follows. If you are living in a state of constant stress or worry it will inevitably show up in your body in other ways like knots from hell in your neck that now causes tension headaches for an example from my own life, or worse…
*Parent Tip: If you have small children, I have a fun experiment for you to try to illustrate the calming power of massage. This little experiment has worked with babies under a year up to 18-24 month olds but I have a feeling that it could work with older children too. The trick is to try this when your child is full of energy or over tired and just on the go go go… If you can catch your child try to lay them down on the couch or bed or an ottoman at your friends house (like in my case when I first stumbled onto this trick) and quickly, before they bolt, try some long strokes down his or her back and see what happens. If it’s bedtime but your baby is wiggly and crawly and just won’t settle down try using some lotion, grab a squirmy leg and start rubbing that leg from foot to hip and back and see what happens. If your baby doesn’t become still and focus on the massaging feeling than I’d be shocked!
Now, on to the quantifiable benefits of massage…
1- Massage can alleviate pain and soreness due to muscle overuse, injury, knots and adhesions in muscle fibers, postural imbalances due to repetitive movements or occupation… Eight out of 10 Americans will experience debilitating back pain, according to Time.com, but a massage can help. According to a 2011 study, massage helped people in pain feel and function better compared to people who didn’t receive any massage treatment. Dan Cherkin, Ph.D., lead author of the study said “We found the benefits of massage are about as strong as those reported for other effective treatments: medications, acupuncture, exercise and yoga,”, said in a press release. Massage has also been linked to decreased stiffness and pain, as well as better range of motion in people with osteoarthritis.
2-Headache relief Just like muscle and back pain, headaches can also be alleviated thanks to massage. A regular massage can reduce a person’s number of migraines, according to WebMD, as well as limit how painful each migraine feels, according to the TRI. A 2009 study found that a 30-minute massage decreased pain for people with tension headaches, and even curbed some of the stress and anger associated with that pounding head.
3-Reduce stress and induce relaxation, bringing you into a meditative state. For the same reasons that a massage is relaxing, it can also soothe anxiety and depression. Massage reduces levels of the stress hormone cortisol, resulting in lifted spirits and often lower blood pressure. It can also boost the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine, which are involved in depression.
4- Massage causes increased blood flow which improves oxygen and nutrient delivery and waste removal throughout the body. This means that It also decreases blood pressure and induces relaxation.
5- Improved muscle and skin tone- A little massage in the right places can even have beauty benefits. “Massage increases blood flow, which plumps up slack skin, encourages lymphatic drainage (the shuttling of toxins out and away from cells so that more nutrients can travel in) and adds vitality to a dull complexion and lackluster hair,” Kimara Ahnert, a New York City skin-care studio owner told Women’s Health. And you don’t even have to make an appointment — simply rubbing your face and scalp for a few minutes can make a big difference.
6- Improve digestion and nutrient uptake- massage Indirectly normalizes digestive functions through normalization of the Autonomic Nervous System;
- Improves tone of the large and small intestines;
- Stimulates peristalsis, which can aid in relief of constipation and/or diarrhea; both of which causes a disruption in the absorption of nutrients
- Manual massage techniques over the abdomen can really help alleviate constipation and blockages in the colon…
- Has a stimulating effect on the digestive organs, which helps improve digestion;
By stimulating the small intestines, massage can aid in the absorption of fat.
7- Assists the immune system by the movement of lymph flow. Multiple studies, although often small, have linked massage to better functioning of the immune system. In one 2010 study, researchers found massage increased a person’s disease-fighting white blood cells. The stress-reducing powers of massage can also help keep you healthy. Lymph fluid is mainly free flowing fluid loaded with lymphocytes/white blood cells) that attack foreign invaders and toxins too big to be removed and filtered through the circulatory system, and bring it through the lymphatic system and out of the body.
8-Improve sleep. If you’ve ever dozed off on a massage table, you don’t need to be convinced that a massage can promote healthy sleep. A number of studies have examined this link, and chalk it up to massage’s affect on delta waves, the kind of brain waves connected to deep sleep, according to Health magazine. This is also responsible for that foggy, hazy, intensely relaxed feeling you may have after getting up from the massage table.
There you have it, 8 amazing benefits of massage. If you have trouble with any of these and would like to improve your quality of life you should be encorparating regular massage into your wellness plan. One or two massages per year is a treat. One or more massages a month is a healthy habit. Why not start a new habit of feeling better today?!
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