Why Massage Is Important

When you undergo massage therapy, it triggers your body’s relaxation response, signaling your body to slow your heart rate, lower blood pressure, stop the overproduction of stress hormones and crank up serotonin production. This creates a cascade effect of positive reactions, both physical and emotional, that add up to a far healthier mind and body.

All this tension and stiffness has become chronic for millions around the globe. Modern life is stressful. All that stress and anxiety causes you to tense up. All that tension leads to health issues, like high blood pressure, insomnia, digestive issues, joint pain, and more. Massage helps the body repair itself and recover from various traumas more quickly. Therapeutic massage is a great way to help you unwind and achieve mental peace.

How Massage Affects You Physically

When your body relaxes, just about every last function runs smoother, from better circulation to optimal organ function. Relaxed, flexible muscles make way for better blood flow, take pressure off of nerves, allowing them to send signals unimpeded, and allow for optimal oxygen levels and nutrient delivery.

Massage improves muscle flexibility - Massage aids muscles by stimulating normal body processes, improving circulation and blood flow to muscles, and helps eliminate waste products, such as lactic acid. This enables the muscles to move more freely and function optimally.

Massage helps you sleep better - According to the CDC, 50 to 70 Million Americans experience sleep issues that affect their health. Insufficient sleep is associated with multiple diseases and conditions including diabetes, obesity and depression. Massage promotes better sleep because it helps the body produce more serotonin, a chemical essential for melatonin production.

Massage improves mental alertness, memory, and concentration - A tight neck and shoulders hinders blood flow to the brain, making it hard to concentrate and remember what you’re doing. Studies show that massage stimulates activity in the left side of the brain, which is the side that is most active when a person is pleased, happy, or excited.

This boost of positive emotions helps you concentrate, protects your brain cells and hippocampus from getting damaged by chronic stress, and promotes better memory retention.

Massage alleviates myriad aches and pains - Studies show massage can reduce and even eliminate pain from headaches, joint pain, back pain, cancer pain, menstrual cramps, and more due to its ability to ease tension, increase blood flow, and improve flexibility.

Massage promotes better digestion - Getting your abdominal area massaged has been shown to reduce symptoms of constipation and make you more regular. A 2018 study showed that people who had a 15-minute abdominal massage twice a day experienced improved digestive function, reduced stomach liquid and bloating. And better digestion can lead to weight loss.

Massage helps with various health issues - People of all ages can find relief from both acute and chronic conditions through massage. Research shows that massage lowers blood pressure, helps treat sleep disorders, diabetes, depression, sciatica, hypertension, fibromyalgia, sports injuries, anxiety, asthma, and so much more.

Massage aids immune function - Immune function varies by how well you eat and sleep, how much you move your body, and how much it’s bombarded by toxins. Research shows that regular massage aids immune function by helping flush toxins, increase blood flow, and improve white blood cell activity.

How Massage Affects You Emotionally

The physical impact of stress affects you emotionally, but the good news is countless research studies have demonstrated how massage therapy helps alleviate depression, stress and anxiety. Studies confirm that massage aids your body’s natural stress management system, aka the parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS).

Massage combats depression/anxiety - Massage alters the body’s biochemistry. Studies show it rebalances your hormones, increasing endorphins, serotonin and dopamine production while lowering cortisol levels, a hormone that can make it hard to lose weight. Endorphins relieve anxiety, optimal serotonin levels combat depression, and dopamine keeps you feeling motivated.

Massage alleviates stress - Various forms of massage work to release stress-induced tension by stretching and spreading muscle fibers. The most common techniques used include deep tissue, trigger point therapy, and lymphatic drainage. Deep tissue promotes relaxation, working trigger points engages what’s called the ischemic reaction (blood flow is temporarily restricted until pressure is released), and aiding lymphatic drainage allows your body to dump metabolic waste, instead of hoard it.

Metabolic waste makes muscles weak and tired while causing pain and swelling. Removing it promotes optimal blood oxygenation and nutrient delivery.

Get a Healthy Massage in Lakeview

Massage is utilized as both a standalone service and a compliment to other forms of care, like chiropractic and physical therapy. We customize all our massages to what you specifically need in that moment so your body can recover and you can relax.