Surprising Health Benefits of Massage Therapy – Your Overall Wellness
Massage is not a simple indulgence, it can be a great tool for overall health and wellness.
Massage therapy is one of the fastest growing and most popular health treatment nowadays. Reduce pain, soothing stress, and anxiety is well-known benefits of treating your body to massage.
It is because of persistent tension in the muscles and skeleton can restrict blood flow and nutrients, the connective tissue in the body get denser, and it causes negative effects on posture and breathing.
What is massage?
Massage is a know as the term for pressing, rubbing and manipulating your skin, muscles, tendons, and ligaments with help of your finger and palm with light stroking to deep pressure.
There are many different types of massage, some popular types of Massage Therapies are;
- Swedish Massage Therapy
- Hot Stone Massage
- Deep Tissue Massage
- Sports Massage
- Thai Massage
- Ayurvedic Massage
1. Swedish Massage Therapy
Swedish Massage is the combination of 5 stocks that are effleurage (sliding or gliding), petrissage (kneading), tapotement (rhythmic tapping), friction (cross fiber or with the fibers) and vibration/shaking. It is helpful in reducing pain, joint stiffness, and improving function in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee over a period of 8 weeks.
2. Hot Stone Massage
Hot stone massage therapy helps to reduce tension, also helps to improve muscle stiffness and increases circulation and metabolism. Within 1½ hour of hot stone, massage therapy session you will feel a deeper muscle relaxation through the placement of smooth, water-heated stones at key points on the body.
3. Deep Tissue Massage
Deep tissue massage therapy is nearly similar to Swedish massage, but the deeper pressure is very helpful to releasing the chronic muscle tension. In this massage therapy, the main focus is on the deepest layers of muscle tissue, tendons, and fascia.
4. Sports Massage
Sports massage is one of the most popular massage therapy it is a form of bodywork geared toward participants in athletics. It is used to help prevent injuries, to prepare the body for athletic activity and maintain it in optimal condition, and to help athletes recover from workouts and injuries.
5. Thai Massage
Thai massage therapy combines broad and targeted acupressure, stimulation and manipulation of energy lines called sen and assisted yoga postures. Treatment effects are enhanced when the patient is fully relaxed and breathing deeply.
6. Ayurvedic Massage
Ayurvedic Massage therapy is also known as Abhyangam in Sanskrit. According to the Ayurvedic Classics, Abhayngam is an important Dincharya (Daily Regimen) that is needed for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. The massage technique used during Ayurvedic Massage is known to stimulate the lymphatic system to expel the toxins out from the body.
According to a survey by the American Massage Therapy Association (1), 72% of the individuals surveyed claim their primary reason for taking a massage in the previous 12 months was 43% people take massage due to medical reason and 29% of them are claim stress is the main reason.
A research says that the health benefits of massage therapy for conditions like stress, fibromyalgia, low-back pain, stress, pain in muscles, and more. Find out more health benefits of massage therapy to your health and wellness.
Check Out the Health Benefits of Massage Therapy
1. Relieve stress
Stress is a prevalent component on today’s fast-paced tech world, which can negatively impact on an individual’s health like stress hormone, cortisol, which can contribute to weight gain, sleeplessness, digestive problems, and headaches.
Massage therapy helps to reduce the stress significantly on physical and psychological levels in the body and massage triggers lasting feelings of relaxation, improved mood, and reduced stress levels.
2. Improved Heart Health
Massage will help to improve your heart health, with reducing the tension built up in the various areas of the body and it improves blood flow which related to the healthy heart.
Regardless of whether someone struggles with cardiovascular conditions, have suffered a stroke, or they are looking for a way to improve their overall heart health, they can do exactly this with the help of a relaxing, therapeutic massage.
3. Manage Low-back Pain
According to a survey up to 85% of young adults experience back pain at some point in their lives. Massage therapy will help you to reduce lower back pain and this is true. Massage will lower down the volume of the alarm which sends by nerve system to the brain. Basically, body feels the massage overpowers the feeling of pain.
4. Sleep better
Not only can massage encourage a restful sleep-it also helps those who can’t otherwise comfortably rest.
“Massage promotes relaxation and sleeps in those undergoing chemo or radiation therapy,” says Lisa Marie de Miranda, registered massage therapist and kinesiologist at Paleolife Massage Therapy.
Also, massages help infants sleep more, cry less and be less stressed, according to research from the University of Warwick.
“Most RMTs can do an infant massage,” says de Miranda. And if parents want to do it themselves, it comes naturally. “There’s not really a particular technique. Whatever parents normally do to soothe their baby will be effective.”
5. Lower blood pressure
Yes, you read it right massage therapy will help you to reduce blood pressure levels. In fact, some research says that a continues massage session can help to reduce both systolic (upper number) and diastolic (lower number) blood pressure.
Moreover, love blood pressure levels can also help to reduce the risk of heart attack, brain stroke, and kidney failure, as well as much another health issue.
6. Massage can make you look younger
Massages help to stimulate blood flow in the human body, which is why regular gentle rubbing and kneading might keep your face looking healthy and radiant. Skincare expert says that massage plumps slack skin encourages lymphatic drainage, and adds vitality to a dull complexion.
7. Relieve tension headaches
Next time when a headache hits you, try booking a last-minute massage session at your nearest massage therapy center. “Massage decreases frequency and severity of tension headaches,” says de Miranda.
According to a Research from Granada University, Spain (2) found that a single session of massage therapy immediately effects perceived pain in patients with chronic tension headaches.
8. Reduce Muscle Tension
Massage can help to release muscle tension to relieve pain and soreness, release stiffness and reduce your stress levels.
Massage focuses on tense areas to release knots, tightness, and tension in the muscles of your back, arms, legs, and neck — to help relieve pain and tension and help you relax.
But the benefits don’t end there. When you reduce muscle tension and stress, you help also pave the way for benefits to your flexibility, mood and overall wellness.
9.Reduce Your Stress Levels
A Regular massage helps to reduce your stress levels, relaxes your muscle and helps you sleep better at night. When you are well rested, then your immune system is growing strong to all those nasty viruses going around, including colds, flu, and more serious illnesses, which is a benefit of massage therapy.
10. Decrease stress in cancer patients
According to a study by Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah, Georgia has found that Swedish massage can help cancer patients to deal with symptoms of their illness and lower distress, which might be able to boost their recovery.
Conclusion
When you are looking for massage therapy, be sure to check which type of massage a practitioner can provide.
Match that with the benefits you hope to get from the massage session. You may want to chat with several different practitioners to find the one who understands your needs and is used to working with people with similar goals.
Be sure also to discuss any allergies, such as to scents or plant oils, so your massage will be relaxing and beneficial without that concern.
Nice article. Thanks for sharing