4 Health Benefits of Massage Therapy

Brian Acton

Getting a massage isn’t just some luxury experience reserved for the patrons of fancy spas and health clubs. Massage therapy is now widely available, and it conveys significant mental and physical benefits alike. Massage therapy can improve your mental health, relieve pain, and even help you avoid certain health conditions.

Here are four health benefits of massage therapy.

1. Reduced Stress and Anxiety

Over time, stress takes an emotional, physical, and mental toll on a person. Finding ways to relieve that stress can help fight symptoms of anxiety and depression. Your body’s parasympathetic nervous system, which focuses on routine and day-to-day functions that promote relaxation, can benefit from massage.

Short periods of relaxation, specifically those experienced when receiving a massage, have been shown to trigger a parasympathetic response, encouraging relaxation and reducing the physical and mental symptoms of stress. This stress reduction can convey both short-term and long-term mental health benefits.

2. Better Sleep

Getting a massage decreases cortisol (often referred to as the “stress hormone”) and helps facilitate the production of melatonin, the hormone that tells the body to relax and prepare for sleep. Encouraging quality sleep will provide far-reaching benefits.

Getting enough sleep can help you focus during waking hours, improve your productivity and problem-solving skills, and help regulate your mood. Getting enough rest can also decrease the risk of developing health conditions like obesity and heart disease.

3. Pain Management

Massage therapy can help relieve painful muscles, tendons, and joints, and stimulate competing nerve fibers to hinder pain messages sent to and from the brain. Common pain areas that massage can relieve include the back, neck, hands, feet, and knees. These days, many hospitals and medical providers use massage as an important part of a patient’s overall treatment.

But you don’t need a licensed massage therapist to work on painful knots – you can work on pain management at home yourself or with the help of a partner. With simple equipment like the Omni Multi-Massage Roller, you can relieve muscle tension and target painful areas.

4. Reduced Blood Pressure

Studies have shown that massage therapy is a safe and effective method for reducing and controlling blood pressure, which effects lasting far beyond the initial massage session. In addition, massage stimulates and improves blood circulation to the targeted areas.

In Closing

Massage therapy has short-term benefits like immediate relaxation and muscle relief, and long-term benefits like a better mood, improved sleep, and lowered blood pressure. With massage therapy, you can improve your overall physical health and mental wellbeing.

And you don’t have to visit an expensive spa to get a massage these days. You can work with a professional massage therapist who can use their training and equipment like the Jeanie Rub® Massager, which can deliver high speed deep tissue massage with the flip of a switch.

You can also start a massage program at home yourself or with the help of a partner with some simple massage techniques and at-home equipment. Whether you’re planning to hire a pro or do it yourself, you can start enjoying the benefits of massage today.

Sources:

https://www.fulham-massage.com/blog/284-sleep-well-how-massage-therapy-can-improve-your-quality-of-sleep

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/benefits-of-massage/

https://www.health.harvard.edu/alternative-and-integrative-health/therapeutic-massage-for-pain-relief

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/massage-measurably-reduces-stress

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3733180/