The Benefits of Regular Massage Therapy
Most people view getting a massage as some luxury treatment reserved for a relaxing spa day. While massages can be part of a nice spa day, the benefits of massage therapy, especially regular massage therapy, extend far beyond a spa day.
Stress Reduction
It is true that massage can help provide relaxation, but do you know the science behind why? Massage therapy can help reduce cortisol which is your body’s stress hormone. The reduction in cortisol can help your nervous system shift from sympathetic activation (fight or flight) to parasympathetic activation (rest and digest). Notice how after a massage your sleep and digestion will improve. This change will help you feel more relaxed and less anxious allowing you to be more calm and present in other aspects of your life like your friendships, work, or physical activity.
Physical Benefits
There are also a multitude of physical benefits that come from massage therapy. Massage therapy provides mechanical pressure to your muscles, joints, tendons, and ligaments. This pressure can help your muscles and tendons move better which will help increase your range of motion. This pressure will also decrease active and passive stiffness. In simple terms, you will feel less stiff when you are up and about as well as when you are sitting or laying down. The combination of increased range of motion and decreased stiffness can help alleviate pain from things like injuries, car accidents, or the tolls of daily life. Regular massage therapy can help reduce future compensations from injuries.
Circulation
Massage therapy can help improve circulation of the blood. The same pressure that is helping to reduce your pain, helps increase vasodilation, which simply means making your blood vessels bigger allowing blood to more easily flow through. The compression of the muscles also helps blood return to the heart. Massage acts like a sort of pump for the blood in your veins.
Besides just helping improve blood circulation, massage also aids your lymphatic system. The more gentle pressure in a massage helps activate your lymph nodes which encourages lymphatic flow. Your lymph carries toxins out of the body which helps you to feel your best.
Although some of these benefits can be found from just one massage, consistency is key to experience lasting benefits. We recommend one massage a month as this is considered the gold standard. Although 60 or 90 minutes can seem like a lot of time, it can save you time not spent in pain later on down the road. Your future self will thank you for making this investment in your health and well being!