Dr. Eboni Green
May 17, 2021
Throughout human history, massage therapy has been used to manage, treat, and heal a wide variety of physical ailments. And it’s certainly not some kind of outdated, quack, or voodoo medicine either, as there is plenty of science to back it up.
In fact, massage can have an extremely positive effect on yours or an elderly loved one’s body and mind. Massage therapy creates a whole range of benefits, from reducing depression to increasing your heart health. So, with that in mind, here’s how you can start reaping the health benefits of regular therapeutic massages.
Some people are surprised to learn that physical manipulation of the body during massage can genuinely help with a variety of mental health issues. Depression and anxiety for example are both particularly responsive to massage.
That’s because this modality can boost the natural levels of serotonin and release endorphins which combine to ease our mind and make us feel happier. Plus, there are also other positive psychological implications of massage therapy as well, such as the benefit of physical touch and empathy from another human. Depression and anxiety can leave you feeling very isolated and withdrawn – shut off from the world around you – and the caring touch of a masseuse can leave you feeling more connected and nurtured.
Another theory as to why massage is so effective against anxiety is that it lowers the body’s cortisol levels. Cortisol is a hormone that the body releases as a result of stress, and it is notorious for triggering out fight-or-flight response. It can certainly help to alleviate what is known as ‘state anxiety.’ Unlike the generalized anxiety disorders that many people suffer from, state anxiety is an acute reaction to a particular trigger, such as a traumatic or troubling event, setting or circumstance. Massage therapy can be very effective in alleviating the symptoms of reactive anxiety, bringing the person’s mind and body back to the present in a calming, relaxed way.
Headaches can become particularly debilitating if suffered regularly. Tension in the body can lead to headaches, so it makes sense that relieving tension through massage can in turn, ease the frequency and duration of tension-related headaches.
Trigger points in the neck and shoulders can become particularly tense, with tightly contracted muscle tissue that needs to be released to keep headaches at bay. Disrupting these tension trigger points and forcing the tightly contracted sarcomeres (proteins that create contraction) within the cells of the muscles can relax them to the point that the muscle tension dissipates and the headaches cease to be.
Massage has been found to successfully improve the ability of some people to focus, thus helping to increase their attention span. This is thought to be because massage helps clear your mind, reduce your worries, and ultimately cause you to become very relaxed.
Plus, whenever you’re not paying attention, it’s often caused by an elevated heart rate. So, by using therapeutic massage to slow down your nervous system, the following will effectively cause your heart rate to be reduced, leaving you able to focus better.
Maintaining our flexibility is key if we hope to age well. When our muscles are properly flexible, we are able to move our joints comfortably and freely through their entire range of normal motion, without any feelings of stiffness or pain. But when our flexibility is reduced, it can have a negative effect.
Thankfully, we can maintain or even improve the flexibility in our muscles with massage therapy. This modality can increase the circulation of oxygen and blood flow to our muscles, which lengthens tissue and decreases feelings of tightness. Massages can help ensure our flexibility and allow for us to move correctly with proper form and function as we participate in our normal day-to-day activities.
From major or minor surgery to all kinds of physical injuries, people will always want their recovery to be as fast and painless as possible. Massage therapy is often a very important part of many treatment plans, as it can help increase blood flow to the soft tissue in your body, which improves the healing response.
People suffering from chronic amounts of soft tissue pain can often use massage therapy sessions and massage chairs to considerably reduce the stiffness and soreness of their condition. According to Recliner Life, not only can massage therapy and massage chairs effectively relax muscles and reduce stiffness in joints, but they can also increase serotonin levels which can help the body heal pain naturally.
That’s why many people who are suffering from chronic pain will commonly rely on massage therapy to effectively help them improve their quality of life naturally. This can include people with health problems such as fibromyalgia, arthritis, degenerative joints, and a variety of other painful problems.
There are many theories around how exactly massage heals through interrupting the pain-loops in our body. One of the most well-regarded and oldest explanations is known as the gate-control theory. Supporters of this theory believe that the pain signals that the body sends to the brain can be muffled by competing signals and stimuli. More specifically, the pain messages travel along nerve-fibers with a very small diameter, whereas massage stimulates nerves that are larger. These larger nerve fibers deliver messages to the brain quicker than the smaller ones can. In essence, this allows the sensations of the massage to effectively beat the pain being communicated to the brain.
Massage therapy is equally relaxing and therapeutic, so it can be great for your body, your mind, and your soul. And as a healing modality, it can ultimately help provide you with long-term health benefits which can reach far beyond the time spent on the massage table. That’s why it’s such a great idea to add massage therapy into your regular routine for self-care, so you can start feeling better today.
