The gentle kneading of therapeutic massage has many health benefits, including boosting wellness, relieving stress and anxiety, and improving sleep. However, not everyone is a candidate for this type of treatment.
Medically supervised massages positively impact the body’s nervous system by triggering the relaxation response, causing the heart and blood pressure to decrease along with the production of stress hormones. Contact Massage Therapy Tulsa for professional help.
While massage has long gone hand-in-hand with vacations and spas, this ancient form of hands-on healing is more than a way to pamper yourself. Research is showing that this powerful tool, which utilizes the hands to manipulate muscles and other soft tissues, may benefit a variety of health conditions.
In addition to improving your mood and relieving pain, the physiological effects of massage include regulating blood flow, decreasing inflammation, and boosting the immune system. These benefits can also translate to improved energy, better posture and flexibility and lessened chronic stress.
Massages stimulate a relaxation response in the brain that decreases your heart rate and lowers blood pressure. This is in part because the touch of a massage therapist stimulates your body’s parasympathetic nervous system, which helps calm the “fight or flight” response in stressful situations and promotes rest and recovery. It increases your levels of serotonin and dopamine, which are neurotransmitters that boost your mood and make you feel good. Massages also decrease cortisol, which can cause feelings of anxiety and depression.
Regular massages can help you deal with daily stressors by lowering your overall “allostatic load,” which is the cumulative effect of inflammation and other stresses that lead to disease, explains Loncar. And the physical impact of a massage can help prevent or alleviate musculoskeletal disorders, such as chronic back pain and fibromyalgia.
During a typical massage, your massage therapist will use their fingers, hands, arms and elbows to manipulate the muscles and other soft tissues of your body. A variety of techniques are used, including effleurage (rubbing), petrissage (kneading) and friction. Massages can be given over the whole body or on specific areas, such as the head, feet or back. Specialized massages include pregnancy massage, which can help reduce stress and pain in the legs and arms, as well as improve circulation; and lymphatic drainage massage, which uses manual pressure to encourage the flow of lymphatic fluid through your lymph nodes, to remove waste and excess fluid from the body.
For patients undergoing cancer treatments, massage can be especially beneficial because it can relieve pain and reduce nausea and vomiting. It can also reduce fatigue and the psychological distress that accompanies many cancer diagnoses.
Relieves Stress
While many people view massage as a luxury, it is actually a powerful tool that can improve wellness and decrease stress. Licensed massage therapists use a variety of techniques to manipulate muscles and soft tissues. They aim to slow down the nervous system and stimulate the body’s natural relaxation response. Studies have shown that massage decreases the levels of cortisol, a hormone associated with stress, and increases serotonin and dopamine, which are neurotransmitters known to stabilize moods.
Aside from physical benefits, massage therapy also reduces psychological stress and anxiety. The reason is that it alters the balance of the body’s two nervous systems. One, called the sympathetic nervous system, drives your “fight or flight” response in stressful situations and the other is the parasympathetic nervous system that focuses on routine activities, such as sleep and rest. Massage encourages the parasympathetic nervous system to dominate. It has also been shown that massage decreases the level of adrenaline, which can be triggered by fear or panic.
It’s important to note that most studies on the relationship between massage and physiological measures of stress have been relatively small in size. However, they have been sufficient to provide a proof of concept and warrant further research. Adding massage to a patient’s regimen can have long-term effects and make a significant difference in their overall health.
In addition to reducing stress, massage reduces pain and improves sleep quality. This can help break the vicious cycle of stress and sleep deprivation that often leads to depression, anxiety and poor mental focus.
Regular therapeutic massage can also strengthen the immune system by increasing the activity of natural killer cells, which boost the body’s defense against infection and disease. This is especially important for those suffering from chronic stress, who often have weakened immune systems. Massage also helps prevent heart disease by lowering blood pressure, improving posture and strengthening the cardiovascular system. It can even lower blood sugar levels in those suffering from Type 2 diabetes. For these reasons and more, incorporating massage therapy into your healthcare regimen is an investment in a healthier future.
Reduces Anxiety
The stress-reducing and mood-enhancing effects of massage may be due to a decrease in the levels of the hormone cortisol as well as activation of the parasympathetic nervous system which acts automatically to calm the body and brain during stressful periods. It is also thought that the feeling of connection and comfort provided by massage can have a positive impact on anxiety disorders as they often involve feelings of fear or unease about specific situations.
Anxiety is a common problem that can be debilitating and has been shown to significantly affect both physical and mental health. It is caused by the body’s fight-or-flight response which can cause a wide range of symptoms including muscle tightness, trembling, rapid heart rate, sweating and difficulty breathing.
Massage is widely used in all cultures to evoke feelings of relaxation and reduce anxiety. Studies have shown that a one hour massage can help to alleviate the symptoms of anxiety and improve mood, allowing you to feel more confident and capable.
Many people who suffer from anxiety can find that their symptoms are made worse in busy or noisy environments where they feel overwhelmed and out of control. The calming and relaxing effects of massage help to ease these symptoms, as well as reducing the physical effects of anxiety such as muscle tension and headaches.
An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of massage therapy on the level of anxiety in cancer patients undergoing radiation treatment for their tumours. This was a randomised controlled trial, where the participants were either treated as usual or received a 20 min therapeutic massage every other day. The results showed that both groups experienced a significant reduction in anxiety, but the massage group had this improvement maintained at follow-up.
Anxiety can be a very difficult and debilitating condition to live with, however, if you are able to find a way to manage it, you can greatly enhance your quality of life. Massage is one of the most effective ways of doing this, and can be a very cost-effective treatment. It is best to start with a few sessions in a row, say once or twice a week for a couple of weeks, so that you can see how the massage makes you feel and then schedule regular sessions.
Improves Sleep
Lack of sleep is associated with many health and wellness concerns including obesity, high blood pressure, depression and heart disease. It can also lead to accidents and injuries in the workplace. Massage can help improve sleep by reducing stress, anxiety and pain in addition to boosting mood. This makes it the perfect bedtime treat!
Aside from relaxing and soothing tense muscles, massage also boosts your serotonin and dopamine levels, which are natural sleep enhancers. These neurotransmitters are responsible for calming the nervous system and stabilizing emotions. Studies have shown that people who receive regular massages fall asleep faster and have longer periods of REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, which is when the body produces important growth hormones and repairs muscle tissue.
Massage therapy improves insomnia, eases waking pain, relieves sleep apnea symptoms, soothes restless leg syndrome and decreases migraines. You can also experience these benefits with a self-massage at home. If you are struggling with sleep issues, it’s best to book regular massage sessions either from a professional therapist or at home. This will help reduce your stress levels, encourage a deeper more restful night’s sleep and also provide you with long-term benefits.
One of the reasons why massage therapy helps improve sleep is because it stimulates the vagus nerve, which is the major parasympathetic nervous system in the body. This nerve tells the body to relax which in turn, lowers cortisol and enables the body to rest.
Many women during the perimenopausal phase struggle to get a good night’s sleep due to fluctuating estrogen levels and menopause symptoms like anxiety and depression. During this time, massage is even more effective than ever as it promotes relaxation and increases serotonin and dopamine levels, helping the brain reset its natural sleep and wake cycle.
Sleep is incredibly important to your overall health and well-being, so it’s essential that you try to get a good quality of sleep every night. Aside from preventing chronic health conditions, getting enough rest can help you feel more alert and improve your mood. If you’re having trouble sleeping, make massage a part of your bedtime routine by booking an appointment or trying out some self-massage at home to see if it can help you fall asleep faster and have a longer period of REM sleep.