10 Benefits of Relaxation Massage Therapy

Nowadays getting stressed over many things is easy.

Work, relationships, family, finances, studying – pretty much everything you do and face on a daily basis is a strong stress factor.

And although it’s natural, it also leaves your body tired, your muscles tense, and on a constant fight-or-flight regime.

These can result in chronic stress conditions, aggression, sleeplessness, headaches and more.

Same reactions can result from physical and other emotional traumas too.

But the better question here is not just “why” that happens to you, but rather, “how” you can overcome the negative effects of your body’s natural reactions.

The answer has long been known as relaxation massage therapy.

This type of massage therapy has numerous benefits and can improve both your physical and mental health.

Want to know how?

Keep on reading to see what the exact benefits are of a massage and how it can affect your health.

Relaxation Massage Improves Sleep

It’s no news that stress can cause insomnia – difficulty in falling asleep.

And after a long and tiring day at work, there’s nothing worse than not being able to just shut your brain and sleep.

The lack of sleep in its turn causes more problems in your daily activities.

Working becomes difficult.

You can have a hard time concentrating.

Aggression and anger management can become an issue as well.

All of this can be caused by simply not getting enough sleep for your body and brain.

Mind you; insomnia is not always a result of stress.

However, it’s common that stressed people have trouble sleeping.

So if your lack of sleep is, in fact, stress-driven, then alleviating stress factors will help you improve your sleeping habits and patterns, as claimed by the American Massage Therapy Association.(1)

And relaxation massage might be the best solution to reduce those stress factors.

Reduces Muscle Pain and Tension

Stress and constant pressure can be the reason you often have strong muscle soreness and tightness.

Apart from stress, sitting in the same posture for a long period of time is proved to cause back and neck muscle pains.

This mainly concerns office workers who spend the entire day sitting at their desks in the same position.

One way to alleviate said muscle pain and tension caused by stress, posture, or exercise is a relaxation massage.

These type of massage therapy helps loosen the tightness in your muscle tissues.

Massage activates the blood flow, which, in its turn, nourishes the muscles, reducing pain and making the muscles more flexible.

Needless to say, relaxing the muscles means also relaxing the nerves.

Evidently, massage is “strongly recommended” to treat pain.(2)

The therapy will leave you feeling calmer, lighter, and in an improved mood – without using painkillers.

Regulates Blood Pressure

By attending massage therapy sessions regularly you will start to notice many long-term health benefits as well. Among those is regulated blood pressure.

Therapeutic massage can lower the blood pressure levels in the body – both systolic and diastolic.

If you’re stressed out most of the time, massage therapy will also help reduce the level of cortisol hormones in the body.

The long-term benefit of regulated blood pressure with the help of relaxation massage session will not solely reflect on physical well-being.

It will also help balance your nervous system to regain your health and maintain your physical and mental well-being.

Don’t forget that regulated lower blood pressure will reduce the risk of ischemic heart disease caused by high blood pressure levels.

Not only does a massage therapy physically relax you during the session itself, but it can also cure and prevent many conditions that can risk your life.

Eases Physical Pain

If you’re having consistent headaches due to work pressure, anxiety, lack of sleep or any other reasons, relaxation massage therapy might just be the perfect solution for you.

Research conducted by Granada University in Spain states that massage therapy immediately eases the pain and tension for those who suffer from chronic headaches.

Relaxation massage therapies reduce stress and tension-related pains and their frequencies.

Research shows that people who regularly attend massage therapy have a proven improvement in their sleeping patterns as well, which gives our bodies time to regain their strength.

Overall, applying pressure to places that hurt always seems to help reduce the pain, right?

Same way, massage sessions help decrease headaches, pain in the chest area, shoulders, or other places.

You may as well forget about painkillers once you start attending regular massage sessions.

Consistent massage therapy also increase serotonin in the body, which strongly reflects on overall well-being, better mood, and improved appetite.

Restores Energy, Making You Feel Light and Full of Life

Treating ourselves to a good massage session is usually considered to be fancy.

As if we’re treating ourselves to some luxury services.

But massage therapy therapy are nothing short of a necessity when it comes to your health and overall well-being.

Massage is often claimed to have a rejuvenating and energizing effect on people.

And frankly, that’s exactly what massage therapy can do to your body instead of numerous cups of coffee.

As already mentioned, massage regulates blood circulation and delivers oxygen and nutrients to your body.

This improves your lymphatic system, which, in its turn, clears toxins from your body.

Considering the fact that toxins negatively affect the natural functions of our body and our energy levels, massaging can help regain those.

And of course, we already mentioned that a relaxation massage is a strong stress relief factor.

Less stress results in better sleep quality.

And nothing will make a person more energetic for the day than a good night’s sleep.

The obvious advantages of regular massage therapy can sometimes be neglected.

And yet they can play the biggest role in our physical and mental health, the prevention of many diseases and improved simple things like daily productivity and relationships.

Moreover, a study conducted in 2005 among women suffering from breast cancer showed that the group of women who went through regular massage therapies were in better moods, felt less depressed and less anxious.(3)

Helps Concentrate Better

Some people concentrate easier than others.

Some people lose focus pretty quickly and let their work suffer because of it.

But why does that happen?

Generally, there might be different explanations of disturbed concentration.

Among the many obvious ones are lack of sleep, stress, depression and anxiety, pain, muscle tension, hormonal issues, and so on.

A big portion of the causes we listed can be treated with a simple relaxation massage therapy without referring to any other method.

All the direct and indirect benefits of massage are inter-connected.

So when the improved circulation results in filtering the toxins from your body, it prevents chronic fatigue, which is among the reasons you may have a hard time concentrating on the task at hand.

Similarly, when people sleep well, they have more energy and better focus throughout the day because they feel relaxed and ready to work.

Additionally, pain can also be a strong focus-shifting factor.

By reducing the frequency of migraine headaches, muscle tension, and other pains through professional massage therapy, you make sure to increase productivity and better concentrate on your work.

Massage can have many side benefits, and research shows that the ability to focus easier is among the advantages people experience almost immediately.

When you feel good, you look good, work well, and nothing else can get in the way.

Boosts the Immune System and Body’s Resistance

There are a few ways that a relaxation massage therapy positively reflects on the immune system and your body’s resistance to diseases.

One of the more apparent reasons is the fact that massage reduces cortisol levels in your body.

Also commonly known as the stress hormones, too much cortisol can cause an abnormally rapid weight gain, muscle weakness, digestive issues, diabetes, and more.(4)

Which is why massage therapy is required and strongly recommended to keep the balance and boost your body’s immunity to many health conditions.

It’s common knowledge that stressed and depressed people are often prone to getting sick and are more vulnerable to infections.

Poor eating habits and lack of sleep make the body weak and turn it into a welcoming habitat for illnesses.

This results in lowering your body’s defensive cells against viruses and harmful bacteria.

Regular massage therapy encourages the body’s natural killer cells and improve the body’s ability to deliver oxygen and nutrients.

Relaxation massage is an excellent addition to health and wellness programs, too.

Along with healthy diets and physical exercises, massage therapy can ensure great results for your body’s overall health and muscle strength.

With its beneficial properties in regards to better sleeping, eating, and relaxation, massage can be an invaluable asset in keeping your body and health in shape.

Helps in Correcting Your Posture

Regardless of whether you work in an office from 9 to 5 or not, one of the most widespread problems of the 21st century is related to posture.

Everyone, including the young and the old, has dealt with posture issues at some point.

Long hours of playing video games or sitting at your desk in front of your computer, lounging on the couch watching TV – all of the above can cause back pains and incorrect posture.

There are many exercises and other ways to improve one’s posture while sitting or standing.

Starting from back days at the gym and wearing proper footwear, to getting professional muscle relaxation massage – you can prevent chronic back pains and hunchback posture.

After all, nothing is as attractive as a correct posture that screams of confidence and a healthy lifestyle.

And you can achieve that through a therapeutic massage course that relieves muscle tension and improves the way you carry your body.

With professionals that know exactly which massage methods you specifically need, you’ll start noticing a difference in your posture and say goodbye to tight muscles in your lower back, neck, or shoulders.

Makes the Recovery Process Easier for Pregnant Women

Everyone knows how many changes a woman goes through while being pregnant.

And as exciting as giving birth is, there are physical consequences that are hard on women.

Some of those consequences are a long recovery time after giving birth, muscle, nerve and joint pains, swellings, and more.

A relaxation massage can have a tremendous positive impact on a woman’s body during and after pregnancy.

Different massage techniques can help reduce swellings and muscle stiffness and cramps, relax the body and the nervous system.

After all, the last thing a pregnant woman needs is to feel stressed and depressed.(5)

And we have already covered how good massage therapy is for stress relief.

Massage therapy will also help regulate hormones during pregnancy by reducing norepinephrine and cortisol and increasing serotonin and dopamine levels.

Mood swings are common in pregnant women, which is why the increase of the positive mood hormones is an essential part in prenatal care.

And, last but not least, massage course during and after pregnancy can eliminate stretch marks and prevent scarring after giving birth.

So, relaxation massage is undoubtedly a necessary step in ensuring easy labor and stress-free pregnancy period.

Giving Massage is Equally Relaxing

It was only fair to make the last benefit of relaxation massage therapy about the people that actually give the massage.

A 2012 study shows that massaging others is equally therapeutic and stress relieving.(6)

It states that “massage therapists themselves may benefit from giving a therapeutic massage by experiencing less subjective anxiety following the giving of a massage.”

So if you’re interested in reducing your stress level and relaxing, maybe you should try and learn massage therapy yourself.

Relaxation massage therapy is growing more and more popular as people start to see their benefits on both physical and mental health levels.

And with school, work, relationships, and other factors being stressful as they are, giving your body a break will definitely pay off in the long run.

And that is exactly where professional massage sessions will come in handy to help relieve stress, improve your mood, get rid of chronic headaches and muscle pain, and of course, look and feel fresh – at all times.