The Health Benefits of Massage Therapy

Everyone knows that having a massage will leave you feeling relaxed and refreshed, but there are much deeper benefits to having regular massages. Massage actually has the power to increase your white blood cells and give your immune system a boost so that you won’t succumb to colds and other ailments as often as people who don’t have the advantage of massage. It also increases serotonin levels – a neurotransmitter in the brain that is thought to influence mood, giving you a safe and drug free alternative to anti-depressant pills. This is probably because massage stimulates the production of endorphins, the body’s natural painkiller and prostaglandins, an emotion hormone that helps us feel bonded to other people. The feeling of natural pain relief and closeness boosts mood and positively enhances how we feel about ourselves.

Massage for Stress Relief

Due to its effect of lowering heart rate and blood pressure, massage can relieve the physical symptoms of stress such as hyperventilation and palpitations, in addition to relaxing you. People with specific conditions like depression, anxiety disorder, OCD, insomnia or post-traumatic stress disorder can also benefit from massage. Using partner-assisted massage, yoga breathing exercises, acupuncture treatments, nutrition counseling and exercise, people with emotional disorders had a reduction in their levels of anxiety. In fact, in a trial of different alternative therapies using all of these treatments, patients were able to reduce the amount of medications they were taking, even though this wasn’t the aim of the study.

Massage and Immune Enhancement

In addition to increasing production of white blood cells that help you fight infection, massage enhances the action of natural killer cells. These natural killer cells keep your cellular function in check by destroying cells that reproduce abnormally, decreasing your risk of cancer and also benefiting those who have already got cancer. In a study of the use of massage in women with breast cancer, women who had a light full body massage every day in addition to their radiotherapy had superior natural killer cell activity, making them more efficient at destroying cancer cells. Massage also lowered their heart rate and blood pressure, helping to keep them calm and relaxed during treatment. This is one of the many reasons why massage therapies are good for people who are recovering from illnesses.

Massage and Pain Relief

Do you suffer with back pain, headaches or some other chronic pain? If you’re fed up of taking painkillers and want to get off drugs today and get to the root cause of your pain, try adding regular massages into your schedule. A review of all the research done into back pain and massage found that massage was more effective than joint mobilization, relaxation therapy, physical therapy and acupuncture. The positive effects of massage were still evident in patients one year after the last treatment. If you suffer from stress headaches or migraines and you want an alternative to opiates, massage is a drug-free choice with few or no side-effects. Migraine sufferers who have massages have less pain, more headache-free days, less distress and they can sleep better than their counterparts who have used medication. They also have increased serotonin levels, which is probably why people with migraine who utilize massage are less distressed by the pain they do experience.

Massage and Weight Loss

Massage can assist you in losing weight, along with other healthy lifestyle options like eating smaller portion sizes, exercising and giving up ‘junk’ foods. Massage does this by various means. Firstly it creates heat which breaks up the fat cells in your body. It will also encourage the flow of oxygen to your muscles which will help revitalize them and help them to become firmer and more toned. Researchers in Turkey found that overweight women with cellulite that were treated with mechanical massage decreased the amount of fat in their bodies by thinning it out. It also helped to banish cellulite. Even if you’re not especially overweight, massage can be good for your self-esteem as it alters the way people perceive their body. Individuals who have regular massages have a higher regard for themselves and the way they look.

So if you want to feel like yourself again, you’re tired of all the stress at work, or you just think you could benefit from some pampering, call Harmony Health & Massage today and our high altitude therapists will help you discover the right massage for you. 970-485-3344 Located at 118 S Ridge St #2 in Breckenridge, CO 970-485-3344

Graciously contributed by reader, Jenni Waters

[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”]

Sources:

Harmony Health and Massage, accessed May 28, 2014, https://harmonyhealthmassage.com/

Bonnie J. Dunigan, Teresa K. King, Brendan J. Morse, A preliminary examination of the effect of massage on state body image, Body Image, Volume 8, Issue 4, September 2011, Pages 411–414, accessed May 28, 2014,        http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2011.06.004.

V. Bayrakci Tunay, T. Akbayrak, Y. Bakar, H. Kayihan, N. Ergun, Effects of mechanical massage, manual lymphatic drainage and connective tissue manipulation techniques on fat mass in women with cellulite, Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, Volume 24, Issue 2, pages 138–142, February 2010, accessed May 28, 2014, DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-3083.2009.03355.x, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-3083.2009.03355.x/abstract?deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=&userIsAuthenticated=false

Billhult A, Lindholm C, Gunnarsson R, Stener-Victorin E. The effect of massage on immune function and stress in women with breast cancer–a randomized controlled trial. Auton Neurosci. 2009 Oct 5;150(1-2):111-5, accessed May 28, 2014,  doi: 10.1016/j.autneu.2009.03.010 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19376750,

Choosing a Private Rehab Center, Rehabs, accessed May 28, 2014, http://luxury.rehabs.com/private-rehab-centers/

Furlan AD, Imamura M, Dryden T, Irvin E. Massage for low-back pain. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2008 Oct 8;(4):CD001929, accessed May 28, 2014, doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD001929.pub2. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18843627

Maria Hernandez-reif, John Dieter,Tiffany Field, Bernard Swerdlow and Miguel Diego,  Migraine Headaches are Reduced by Massage Therapy, International Journal of Neuroscience, 1998, Vol. 96, No. 1-2 , Pages 1-11, accessed May 28, 2014, http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.3109/00207459808986453

McPherson F, McGraw L. Treating generalized anxiety disorder using complementary and alternative medicine, Alternative Therapy Health Medicine. 2013 Sep-Oct;19(5):45-50, accessed May 28, 2014, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23981404

Oshadhi Professional Aromatherapy, accessed May 28, 2014, http://www.oshadhiusa.com/

Relax Peacefully CD, Serenity Supply, accessed May 28, 2014, http://www.serenitysupply.com/

[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]