Massage, I Love Thee….Let Me Count the Ways

By Q

The ancient way to ease all that ales you is as simple as touch.

Massage helps with many conditions such as premature infants weight gain to lowering high blood pressure.  Here are 5 things that massage can help you overcome.

1)      You don’t have to massage the most aching part of your body first. Maybe simple shoulder rub will do. Your body creates a chemical change that reduces pain and stress throughout the body during a massage.

2)      The immune system is a sensitive part of the human body; just a little thing can cause it to be altered. When the body is stressed or over worked it creates a chemical called cortisol that kills off cells that are important to immune health making it easier for you to get sick. Which just makes you even more stressed? It is an ugly cycle that a simple massage can prevent. Massage makes you feel relaxed which everyone knows is the opposite of stress.

3)      Massage relaxes the body which is a key factor in lowering high blood pressure.

4)       The pressure is what relaxes the muscles and tendons in your body and allows you to feel more at peace.  Many people thing that one technique or type of massage is better than another. I feel it’s the technique that is important as much as it is the pressure that goes into the massage.

5)      Sometimes people say “oh I can’t go get a massage.  I don’t like other people touching me.” Well, that’s fine you can massage yourself and get a similar result.  Sometimes you’ll hear “oh it hurts too much when other people touch this area; so, I can’t get a massage.” Well again yes you can. Massaging yourself is a great alternative and you can learn how:  http://tinyurl.com/o7xtpde

6)     Another thing that helps people is a quick 10 minute massage after working out. Almost everyone has experienced soreness after a long workout. A massage after a workout reduces the amount of inflammation in your muscles and allows for a less painful workout.

7)     Massage has been proven to help reduce depression, back and muscle pain, and general muscle stiffness. Sometimes it is even better than medication, acupuncture, exercise, and yoga. In cancer patients massage has been prescribed as a way to treat fatigue, pain, anxiety, depression, and nausea. Massage has also been proven to help ease the symptoms of PMS.

8)     Massage is also a great way to stay young. The increase of blood flow to the face and scalp pumps up the slack in skin and allows for the metabolic wastes that settle in sagged skin over time to be released and good proteins to replace them. The extra blood flow also allows for a healthy complexion and makes your hair appear healthier.

9)     Massage also boosts brain power. A 15 minute chair massage can increase accuracy and completion time when given to a group before a math quiz. So we should exchange massages 10 minutes before every single test we take for the rest of the year. I bet the test scores will increase!

Questions:

What do YOU feel is the best benefit of massage?

References:

www.huffingtonpost.com

www.thedailybeast.com

Q’sbrain.com