Massage is a technique that involves the stroking of the hands rhythmically over skin, increasing blood flow to tissues and aiding the dispersal of waste products. It is usually done with varying degrees of pressure and tempo depending on the client’s needs.
Massage stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, which slows the heart rate and decreases blood pressure, thereby lowering stress levels. It can also help increase your focus and concentration. For professional help, contact Massage Tulsa.
Stress can cause or worsen many physical ailments and one of the best ways to relieve it is through therapeutic massage. Studies have shown that massage reduces the levels of cortisol and vasopressin, hormones which increase during times of anxiety. Massage also stimulates the release of endorphins which are the body’s natural “feel good” chemicals. By reducing these negative hormones and increasing the production of ”happy hormones” such as serotonin, massage helps to decrease feelings of stress and tension while improving elasticity in tissues.
The actual act of receiving a massage is very calming and comforting. This alone can significantly decrease the stress a person is feeling. The touch of a therapist can also help to calm a person’s mind and allow them to focus on their self-care and relaxation. Many people find that their stress levels are drastically reduced after just one session.
It’s important to remember that massage is a regular self-care activity, just like exercising and eating well. Adding massage to your schedule can significantly improve the way you feel, look and simply function far into the future.
When you add massage to your life, not only will it relieve stress but it will help you sleep better at night and increase the energy you have throughout the day. This is because you will have a better night’s sleep with less tension in your muscles, and the toxins in your body will be flushed out making your whole system much more efficient.
Studies have shown that even just 10 minutes of massage or relaxation can activate your body’s built-in system for overcoming stress. This is called the parasympathetic nervous system, or PSNS. This is your body’s natural coping mechanism to deal with stress, and it is activated through massage, exercise, meditation, breathing techniques and self-care. Your therapist can teach you tools and strategies to manage your stress in between massage sessions. This is why it’s so important to work with a therapist you trust and who has your best interest in mind. They can help you develop a plan to make self-care an integral part of your lifestyle.
Relaxes Muscles
Massage relaxes muscles by increasing the temperature of the soft tissues through friction. This is believed to increase capilliarisation and vasodilation which decreases muscle fibre tension. Massage also helps to remove knots and adhesions in the muscle which reduces tightness.
Massage increases the circulation in the muscle tissue which delivers fresh oxygen and nutrients to the cells and carries away waste products. This helps to decrease the time it takes for muscles to recover from a workout or injury and improves muscular performance.
The kneading and manipulations involved in massage work to break up scar tissue and reduce stiffness in the muscles, joints and tendons. It also helps to stretch the muscles both transversely and lengthways, which releases tension and increases flexibility in the muscle. This can help to prevent future injury and aid recovery from existing injuries, as well as reducing pain from the injury itself.
When a muscle is tight it can compress the nerves surrounding it. Massage is thought to relieve this compression and allow the nerves to assume their normal function of transmitting messages to and from the brain. This can help to alleviate headaches caused by muscle tightness and improve sleep patterns as a result of reduced tension and improved relaxation.
Research has shown that massage can reduce the level of inflammation in the muscles after exercise, which may help to reduce muscle soreness. However the exact mechanism for this is not fully understood. It is possible that mechanical pressure applied to the muscles through rubbing produces an immediate change in muscle compliance and reduction in neural excitability (biomechanical mechanisms).
The increased blood flow during massage also feeds the cells with oxygen, which speeds up the recovery process. It can also help to remove waste products of muscle contraction such as lactic acid from the muscle. This helps to decrease the occurrence of delayed onset muscle soreness or DOMS, which can occur after intense exercise or a strenuous period of inactivity.
Massage is also thought to stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system – your “rest and digest” response – which can cause the muscles and tendons to slow down, your heart rate to decrease and your breathing to deepen. This can be particularly beneficial after a strenuous workout to help speed up the recovery process and allow you to return to activity more quickly.
Reduces Pain
Massage stimulates pressure receptors — nerves under the skin that convey pain-reducing signals to the brain. Moderate pressure is best. Too much and it may feel uncomfortable or cause swelling. Massage may also help reduce pain caused by fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis and other chronic illnesses. Studies have found that patients who receive regular massages experience fewer aches and pains. In one study, people with knee osteoarthritis who received weekly massages showed less pain and improved mobility than those who did not.
The rhythmic kneading and pressing during massage has been shown to trigger physiological changes that provide relief from pain in the body. The brain has gates that transmit pain signals to the rest of the body, and the massage therapy stimulates large nerve fibers to compete with these pain-inhibiting signals, closing the ‘gates’ and reducing the perception of pain.
Many medical settings rely on prescription painkillers for chronic pain, but long-term use of NSAIDs and opioids has been linked to liver failure and addiction. Researchers are exploring more holistic methods to manage pain, including massage.
Research has also found that massage can be helpful in reducing stress and anxiety, helping to ease the symptoms of depression and other psychological disorders. It is believed that this effect is due to the way that massage prompts the release of certain hormones in the body, such as serotonin and dopamine.
The heightened blood flow created by massage also enhances the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to muscles and tissues, improving the function of these cells. This may also decrease muscle and tissue pain, increase the ability to remove waste from tissues, and allow faster recovery after exercise and injury.
There is a need to develop standardized, patient-reported outcomes and implement these as part of the assessment and evaluation of therapeutic massage. This would make it easier to compare massage with other treatments and to document societal cost savings for health care systems. It would also enable the development of clinical practice guidelines for massage and allow massage to be incorporated into healthcare. Finally, it would empower massage to become a tool in the arsenal of pain management tools for clinicians to use with their patients.
Increases Blood Flow
The squeezing and pulling action of massage improves the circulation of blood, which carries oxygen to cells throughout the body and removes waste products. It also encourages the movement of lymph fluid, which carries metabolic waste away from muscles and organs. Massage can help get rid of toxins that have built up in the lungs, digestive system and excretory system.
Blood flow is increased by massage by a process called vasodilation which occurs when the smooth muscle that lines blood vessels relaxes. As a result blood vessels expand and the movement of blood is improved, which leads to an increase in supply of nutrients and other substances to the area being treated.
This increase in supply of nutrients and other substances accelerates an exchange at the cellular level, which helps the muscle to relax and increases the range of motion. It can also lead to an increase in the elasticity of the muscle fibres, which is helpful for posture and flexibility.
However, there are so many variables that control circulation (blood pressure, for example) that it’s a little hard to see how any short, minor input of pressure on soft tissue could have a significant effect on this. There are also some conditions, like claudication where the blood vessels are pinched by other anatomical structures, that massage is unlikely to be able to help with.
In such cases, moving the patient around would be more effective. Even if there is not sufficient mobility to do this, simply relieving the pressure by taking the weight off will likely improve circulation far more than massage could ever do.
Massage can also stimulate the release of histamine, a chemical that increases the permeability of blood vessels, which is known as vasodilation. This is important for maintaining the proper function of the immune system, helping the body to fight infection and reduce inflammation. The squeezing and pushing of massage also stimulates the sweat glands to produce more sweat, which is helpful for the body’s detoxification process. It’s a good idea to drink plenty of water after a massage to help flush out the system.