How does massage help your body and health?

Benefits of body massage

The benefits of body massage are addressed carefully in this article. Massage therapy is the systematic and planned manipulation of the body’s soft tissues to make the person feel relaxed and relieve discomfort, anxiety, pain, and tiredness.

Dim lighting, soft music, and a sense of calm make a full-body massage. Most people do not realise that your body is in full activation mode even though you may feel totally relaxed during a massage. A massage wakes up your organs, muscles, and glands, moves your blood and lymph fluid and tells a lot of your cells to make and release chemicals and hormones.

When your muscles are sore and swollen, a massage can help circulate blood to the area and speed up the healing process. When you are pregnant, getting a massage can help your blood flow. Even if you do not appear to be pregnant, make sure to check with your doctor first and tell your massage therapist if you are.

Having someone put their hands on your body is a very personal thing, and COVID-19 makes it even more complicated. You have the authority to say if something does not feel right or if you disagree with what they are doing, and that is the most crucial thing to keep in mind.

Kinds of massages

There are numerous varieties, but the following are some of the most typical ones:

• A Swedish massage is a type of gentle massage that can help you relax. Your therapist may use long strokes, kneading, and deeper circular moves during this massage.
• A deep massage uses more pressure and slower strokes to get to the deeper layers of muscle and tissue. If you have hurt yourself, you might ask for this type of massage.
• A sports massage is a lot like a Swedish massage. This type of massage can help both athletes who are healing from injuries and those who want to stay healthy and avoid getting hurt.
• A trigger point massage focuses on tight and tense spots and works to relieve the pressure in those spots.
• Self-massages can help you relieve tension and deal with soreness after a workout; In this massage, you use either your hands or a massager.

Relieving stress and providing relaxation are included in the benefits of body massage. The most significant benefit of massage is that it reduces stress. More research is needed to determine how much massage therapy lowers stress hormones like cortisol. However, case studies show that massages could help reduce stress and make people feel relaxed.

Uses of massage

Patients with fibromyalgia have trouble sleeping, remembering things, and mood issues. Massage therapy is not a cure for this condition but could be used alongside counselling, medicine, and physical therapy. Nevertheless, remember that massage therapy can sometimes make your pain worse. Consult your primary care doctor about the possible benefits of massage for fibromyalgia, and tell your massage therapist ahead of time about your condition.

Increasing intimacy between couples is one of the benefits of body massage. Several studies show that physical touch can lower blood pressure and make us feel good by raising hormones like oxytocin. Couple massages are suitable for both the person giving the massage and the person getting it. Even if you do not desire a medical massage, it is a good idea to get some massage oil and use it on your partner or vice versa if you want to get closer to them.

A tension headache, also called a concentration headache, can make your head feel like a tight band is around your head. Even though the cause of this type of headache is unknown, there is evidence that massage can help. It relaxes the muscles in your head, shoulders, and neck, which may help relieve headaches.

Advantages of massage

Massages can help you feel less stressed, making it easier to fall asleep. However, there are other ways to improve your sleep hygiene, like limiting screen time before bed and having a bedtime ritual.

Helping relieve constipation is included in the benefits of body massage. If you have constipation or other digestive problems, massaging your stomach might help ease some of your pain. People who had trouble going to the bathroom after surgery felt a little better after getting an abdominal massage.

Myofascial pain syndrome is a sort of chronic pain in which pressure on your muscles causes pain in places you would not expect. Even though there is no cure, some people feel better when a physical therapist or massage therapist works on the painful areas to relax the muscles.

Pain and swelling in the joints are signs of arthritis. As your massage therapist kneads and massages your muscles, blood flows to your joints, which may help for a little while. If you have arthritis, tell your massage therapist before your session so they can show you how to work together.