Occasionally I meet people who, upon learning that I’m a massage therapist, tell me things like, “That must be nice. Sometimes I get one for my birthday!” While I do love doing birthday massages, what they are really telling me is that they think massage is just a special occasion treat. It’s not a priority. However, I think regular massage is essential for a number of health reasons. Here’s my top five benefits of massage.
Massage Recharges Your Internal Battery
Massage is an efficient way to regroup. Life can sometimes feel like a series of curve balls and challenging “growth events”, as we navigate personal and work relationships, thorny issues, and major life events. One of the immediate benefits of massage is a feeling of deep relaxation and calm. Massage releases endorphins - brain chemicals that create feelings of wellbeing. Stress hormone levels (adrenalin, cortisol and norepinephrine) drop during a massage. I think of it as “hitting the reset button” or a mini-vacation - and you can do it within just one hour. A new perspective allows you to face big challenges with a fresh take and renewed energy.
Massage Can Increase Range of Motion, Strength, Flexibility and Mobility
The most plentiful type of tissue in your body is connective tissue. As the name implies, it connects all the parts and major body systems together so they can work in harmony and balance.
When a person sustains an injury, either from an accident, overuse, or just repetitive movements, the connective tissue responds. It stabilizes weak areas, which is great - but commonly overcompensates. Think of it as a box with a small tear and very heavy packing tape reinforcing the area. In a human body, the over-stabilized area is very strong in one direction, but impedes flexibility, range of motion, and strength.
Massage can bring the system back into balance. Massage uses specific techniques to break down excess connective tissue, active weak muscles and deactivate overstimulated muscles. It gets you back to doing the things you love to do.
Massage Supports Mental Health
We are in the midst of a cultural revolution around the transparency of mental health issues. Anxiety and depression, and things like panic attacks and PTSD are all incredibly common parts of the human condition. It’s important for us to have this awareness so that support is available to people when they need it.
Massage supports mental health by regulating the nervous system. It temporarily shifts us from “fight or flight” to “rest and digest.” This decreases anxiety, and lowers both heart rate and blood pressure. The levels of stress hormones such as cortisol, drop, and “feel good” hormones like serotonin and dopamine, rise. For people who are always in fight or flight, it’s incredibly beneficial to experience an easier, different way of being, and to know that this state is achievable by their own body.
Many mental health studies suggest that human connection is a huge support in both management and recovery. Therapeutic touch is specifically called out, because it can provide this human connection, and is such a great adjunct to mental health treatment.
Massage Complements Other Self Care Practices
- Exercise. When you exercise, you push your muscles until they become strained and fatigued, stressing them so that they build more muscle. Chemical reactions occur that result in soreness (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness, or DOMS). Massage is an excellent tool to use for muscle recovery, and decreased soreness. and for the inevitable small strains and sprains that crop up during training, massage keeps tissues in balance, periodically restoring range of motion, flexibility, and strength.
- Complementary Medicine Practices. Massage is a natural companion to things like chiropractic care, acupuncture, physical therapy, and occupational therapy. Massage supports each modality physiologically, chemically, and energetically, making them more beneficial than if they had been performed alone. For example, after a surgery or injury, massage is often an integral part of treatment plans designed to help patients return to full function and daily activities.
Massage Therapy Provides Safe and Comfortable Touch, which is a Human Need
During the earliest stages of human development, the outer layer of the embryo gives rise to the entire nervous system, sensory organs, and skin. In other words, the nervous system and skin are inextricably linked. When a person is touched, this stimulates and communicates with their entire nervous system.
Studies have shown that babies require touch to survive. Prolonged touch deprivation is linked to a failure to thrive and the inability to create social attachments when it happens in infants and young children. In elders, it’s linked with shorter lifespans and more illness. In fact, touch is a human need, at all stages of life. But we happen to live in a society with few appropriate venues for physical contact.
Massage is one of the only modalities that provides touch, in a safe and nurturing environment. It offers support, comfort, and human connection.
Bonus: Massage Feels Good
When was the last time you felt amazing? Everyone wants to feel good.
Massage is a highly beneficial modality, and an integral part of wellness strategy in many situations. It’s not a luxury but a necessity. Don’t underestimate what it can do for you.