Nowadays, massage is not delivered only in health facilities and beauty centres – you can also enjoy a short massage session and unwind in your favourite shopping mall, in airports, or even at work. Why has massage become so popular? It’s simple – The Benefits of Massage makes you feel great and it comes with a wide range of benefits.
If you’ve never tried massage before, you’ll probably rush to call the services of a massage therapist as soon as you find out all its amazingadvantages!
Physical benefits
Massage involves applying pressure, rubbing or manipulating your skin, muscles, ligaments and tendons by using mostly hands or fingers. It’s no wonder massage produces biological changes and the first benefits you’ll notice are physical:
- Reducing postural stress – many people work in a sitting position which leads to pain or muscle weakness, and massage helps counteracting the stress caused by sitting at your desk job.
- Easing pain – massage is one of the most efficient treatments for pain, many times just as strong as medicines.
- Relieving headaches – you will feel less tension during a headache or migraine episode if you get a massage.
- Improving sleep – if you can’t rest otherwise, try massage therapy. Apparently, massage has an influence on brain waves connected to deep sleep. Many people even fall asleep on the massage table.
- Boosting immunity – several studies have shown that patients receiving massage therapy had a better white blood cell count and their bodies were more prepared to fight disease.
- Reducing the severity of symptoms in people diagnosed with serious illnesses – it has been discovered that massage can help cancer patients tackle fatigue, pain, depression and anxiety.
- Preventing or treating sports injuries – all professional athletes undertake massage as part of their care routine. Moreover, massage is an efficient treatment against inflammatory conditions and promotes flexibility.
- Improving skin appearance – massage also has beauty benefits, as it makes your skin look more toned, it helps eliminating toxins through lymphatic drainage, and it stimulated blood circulation, adding vitality to a dull complexion.
Mental benefits
Our culture doesn’t promote physical contact, and massage services are so successful because they provide that much-needed human touch in a professional and safe context that makes us feel comfortable. Massage is a great way of compensating for touch deprivation andrestores a sense of connection.
So, aside from easing muscle pain or sleeping better, people who get a massage regularly have also noticed a series of mental benefits:
- Soothing depression and anxiety – massage reduces stress levels and helps you feel more relaxed and happy. Physical contact makes your body release serotonin, a hormone with antidepressant effects.
- Increasing productivity levels– several small studies have shown that people who were given a massage were more alert and managed to complete attention or math tests faster and more accurately.
- Easing mental health conditions – fitting massage into the overall treatment plan has positive effects on patients diagnosed with mental conditions. The stress hormone cortisol levels are reduced by half after getting a massage, as physical contact has a powerful effect on the body’s biochemistry.
Massage has been found to support both physical and mental well-being; after all, the best argument is the relaxing and soothing sensation you experience even after a short massage session.