We already know that having a massage feels good, help us to relax and to go through the stress that life can give us. But, massage can be much more than an indulgence to ourselves, it can be a real remedy.
Every day we deal with situations and tasks that can put us under stress. Traffic, work, kids, cooking, deadlines, cleaning, etc. How often do you take a quick break to actually listen to your body and check out how it is handling it all?
Here, we want to discuss how regular massages can benefit your health, being such a powerful prevention or even a treatment to some conditions that we are likely to come across in life.
1. Massage for anxiety and stress
First we should understand the mechanism of anxiety and stress in our body. When we are under stressful situation, our brain release hormones to prepare the body to respond to it. This calls “fight or fly” response, as we are ready to fight situations or run away from it, as that was the choices that our ancestors had when they were under stress. But nowadays, the situations that put us under stress are not situations where we are literally fighting or running away. We can’t actually fight people in traffic or running away from our bosses. So what happens to all those hormones released?
We get in sympathetic nervous system, when our body tight up, heart rate, blood pressure and breathing rate increases. The power of massage is that it can lead our body to work otherwise: in parasympathetic nervous system, when the body gets relaxed, heart beating, blood pressure and breathing rate slows down, releasing the muscle tightness and bringing chill and comfort to our mind.
2. Pain relief
Massage helps to relieve pain in many ways. First, it increases blood flow in tight muscles and stiff joints losing it up. Also, massage stimulate the release of our natural pain killers, Endorphins, relaxing our body and consequently, our muscles.
One of the causes of body pain is postural unbalance, like pelvic tilt or rounded shoulders. How we sit, how we walk, exercises we do, sports we play, what we do for living… all this, by time, condition the body to a certain posture, that is not always the anatomic one it should be. A good massage therapist will be able to work on what is leading you to this posture, releasing the tight muscles and stimulating the weak ones.
Working on trigger points, that little painful dots in our body are also a very powerful way to treat pain.
3. Increase range of movement
A poor range of movement is usually caused by tight muscles. When range of motion is limited, injuries are much more likely to occur. Massage can be a great ally releasing muscles, increasing blood flow warming up the area, bringing more elasticity and flexibility, breaking down adhesions, softening scar tissues and stretching up tight muscles.
Much more than just getting to relax, having regular massages is a delightful medicine ☺
Find out more about remedial massage Manly at pHClinic.
Isabella is a graduated Physiotherapist back in Brazil and has Diploma in Remedial Massage in Australia. She has been working in the industry with Chiropractors and Physios for over 2 years, where she has been able to develop her skills in Remedial, Sports and Swedish massage. She has always been passionate about how powerful the human body is and how it can heal itself. Isabella works on Tuesdays and Friday mornings. Please click here to book in with Isabella.
