Massage Therapy
Massage produces benefits far beyond feeling great during and immediately after a session. While this is certainly an excellent reason to have massage, the real strength of massage is in preventing illness and conditions before they develop.
The greatest physiological change produced by massage therapy is the stimulation of the nervous system. Consequently, there are several benefits from this stimulation:
Massage helps to balance the autonomic nervous system and is known to affect the neurotransmitters of the brain. This in turn increases endorphin secretion (natural pain killers) and helps reduce stress.
Massage also stimulates the touch, pressure and proprioceptive receptors (the sense that provides feedback solely on the status of the body internally) of the skin and underlying tissues.
Massage can also help decrease nerve entrapment and reduce nerve root compression caused by muscle tension and therefore can be quite effective in treating and reducing pain.Massage is also known to reduce anxiety and depression due to the calming of the nervous system and can even help in treating restlessness and insomnia.
People with the following conditions have reported that massage therapy has lessened or relieved many of their symptoms:
- Arthritis
- Asthma
- Back pain
- Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
- Chronic and acute pain
- Fibromyalgia
- Gastrointestinal disorders
- Headaches
- Immune system disorders
- Insomnia
- Joint strains and sprains
- Motor vehicle accidents
- Myofascial pain
- Pregnancy associated problems
- Repetitive strain injuries
- Slow growth of premature infants
- Some circulatory problems
- Sports injuries
- Stress
- Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) Dysfunction and other jaw problems.
WHY MASSAGE THERAPY?
Adapted from “A Physician’s Guide to Therapeutic Massage” by Dr. John Yates
The effects produced by massage include mechanical, neural, chemical and physiological factors. The functions most commonly affected include:
- Skeletal Muscle: massage therapy improves the neurological and reflex responses to muscle contraction/relaxation, it helps maintain normal resting muscle tone by reducing sympathetic nervous system firing (fight or flight stress response) and improves overall tissue health.
- Smooth Muscle: massage therapy improves digestive muscle tone for better assimilation of nutrients and elimination of wastes.
- Skin: the skin is our first line of defense against disease. It has a role in temperature regulation, helps with vitamin D synthesis from the sun, acts as a blood reservoir, and eliminates toxic waste through sweating. Massage therapy can help restore any trophic skin changes (ex. colour, temperature, texture.)
- Fibrosis and Tissue Repair: the integrity of tissue can be damaged due to trauma, repetitive strain or inflammation. Massage therapy can enhance recovery time of traumatic injury or of post exercise/event overload.
- Control of Pain: pain is very subjective and has a large variety of causes. Whether due to overuse/postural dysfunctions, headaches, TMJ disorder, whiplash, myofascial trigger points (commonly called “knots”), inflammatory conditions (ex. Arthritis/fibromyaglia), spasms or cramps, massage therapy can help.
- Circulation of Blood and Lymph: massage therapy improves heart function and blood flow (ex. controllable hypertension), facilitates delivery of oxygen/nutrients to tissue cells and of waste products out of the body. Massage therapy (specifically Manual Lymph Drainage) has been shown to reduce swelling or inflammation due to systemic disorders or injury.
- Improved Respiratory Function: whether postural dysfunctions and tight muscles are limiting your breathing abilities, or if you suffer from asthma, chronic bronchitis, or other respiratory disorders, massage therapy can help. Treatments can restore muscle balance and function, as well as help eliminate any obstructions to breathing (ex. mucus.)
- Psycho-emotional: the relaxation benefits of massage therapy are immense. By reducing sympathetic nervous system firing, improving oxygen flow to the entire body, balancing hormonal levels, reducing the physical effects of stress, regulating sleep patterns, and by allowing yourself the much deserved downtime, you will begin to feel more in control.