While massages have long been synonymous with relaxation, especially at tropical resorts and upmarket hotels, they also have a wide variety of therapeutic uses. In fact, both Eastern and Western cultures used massage to enhance wellness and treat injuries for thousands of years, making it easily one of the oldest methods of traditional healing. With that in mind, here are some of the main health benefits of massages.
Massage can reduce stress levels
While not all stress is negative, constantly experiencing high levels of stress which never seem to go away completely can be extremely bad for your health. In fact, chronic stress has long been linked to a wide variety of related health problems, such as hypertension, heart problems, sleep disorders, and poor cardiovascular fitness. Thankfully, massage therapy has been proven to have a significantly positive impact on the treatment and reduction of stress.
There are a range of other remedies which are suggested to help relieve stress such as meditation, but they usually take a lot more time to be effective. Massage therapy may not alleviate all of your stress, but you will feel the effects immediately.
Massage can relieve anxiety and depression
There’s plenty of scientific evidence to show that massage therapy can improve mental as well as physical health, especially in the areas of anxiety and depression. This is because the feeling of human touch with skin on skin can be incredibly therapeutic and relaxing. As long as it’s in a safe and professional manner.
The stress-relieving effects of massage therapy have been shown to help eliminate these issues by increasing levels of dopamine and serotonin. Another effective method of improving your mental health would be by massaging other people so that they feel better. There are some excellent massage courses available online. While massage can significantly increase the production of positive hormones in our body, it can also decrease the levels of cortisol which causes stress.
Massage can improve sleep
Everyone knows that getting a good night’s sleep is extremely important for our overall mental and physical health. But what happens if we start experiencing symptoms of insomnia such as having difficulty getting to sleep or not being able to stay asleep for long? These issues are generally related to how active our nervous system is, which means that massage can be used to naturally improve our quality of sleep. That’s because whenever you have a massage, the pressure increases the serotonin level in our bodies which helps slow down our nervous system.
Massage can alleviate pain
While our bodies are designed to heal themselves, massage can be used to focus on specific areas to actually help speed up the whole healing process. Whether the pain is caused by aching muscles, tight knots, or even scar tissue, massage can reduce inflammation while increasing blood circulation in order to gradually loosen stiff muscles.
Plus, deep tissue massage and other remedial styles can especially be used to help reduce and alleviate a variety of other pain whether from injuries or arthritis. In fact, massage can be so effective in treating pain that it can reduce reliance on medication.
Massage can ease headaches
Unfortunately, there are many people out there who experience painful tension headaches or migraine pain. This type of intense and focused pain is usually triggered by the physical stress of increased heart rates and higher anxiety, or the result of brain or head injury. The good news is that massage can significantly reduce the chances of these painful attacks by focusing on specific trigger points on the head, neck, and shoulders to relax muscles and reduce spasms.
By concentrating on these areas, massages can ultimately help decrease the intensity and frequency of painful migraines and headaches. Simply by focusing pressure where it needs to be, massage can be used effectively to reduce headaches by decreasing cortisol levels and increasing the good hormones.
More and more people are learning about the effectiveness of massage. Because not only do massages feel amazingly relaxing, but they can also improve your overall good health, both mentally and physically. So, whenever you decide on pampering yourself with a massage, you’ll feel good knowing that it’s not just a special treat. It’s also a huge boost to your health, wellness, and quality of life as well.
