Lowers Stress Levels
Feeling overly stressed about your job, relationships, finances, or health? If so, you may want to consider massage therapy. This treatment has been shown to have an almost immediate benefit on stress levels, relieving stress and anxiety while encouraging greater relaxation.
Improves Muscle Recovery
Another common reason why people seek massage therapy is to improve muscle recovery. When you lift weights or perform other high-intensity interval training (HIIT) exercises, it creates small tears in muscle fiber, which is essentially why you feel sore afterwards. When the muscle is massaged, it stimulates blood flow to the region, allowing it to heal in less time. And when your muscle tissue heals in less time, you can get back in the gym rather than sitting around the house.
Reduced Use of Painkillers
The vast majority of adults are stuck in the mindset of treating chronic pain with drugs. Whether it’s prescription drugs or an over-the-counter pain reliever like acetaminophen, all of them come with some risks and side effects. The good news is that massage therapy can be used in place of pain-relieving drugs. According to a study cited by WebMD, massage therapy reduced the need for pain-relieving drugs by 36%, which is pretty impressive to say the least!
Improves Immune System Function
Your body’s immune system is responsible for fighting off infectious disease and illness. When it’s weak, you are more likely to get sick. Massage therapy actually works to strengthen the immune system, which is another common reason why people get massages. The correlation between immune system activity and massage remains unclear, although some experts believe it’s attributed to the lymphatic system. Massage stimulates the lymphatic system, flushing toxins and waste from the body.
Fights Depression
One of the lesser-known benefits of massage therapy is its ability to fight depression and improve mood. Doctors have linked low levels of the hormone cortisol with depression, meaning people with low levels of this hormone have an increased risk of become depressed. Massage therapy can counteract this problem by promoting the release of cortisol. When you get a massage, your body will respond by producing and releasing cortisol as well as endorphins, both of which will create the feeling of pleasure and happiness.
Give me a call today to learn how you can get back on track to better health!
