Massage Reduces The Effects Of Stress

Up to 90% of all visits to primary care physicians are for stress related complaints such as headaches, backaches, neck pain, eyestrain, poor concentration, anxiety, depression, irritability, anger, high blood pressure, heart disease, ulcers, as well as physical and emotional exhaustion.

Massage therapy at Soothing Sensations in Vidalia has an amazing positive effect on your body’s nervous system. When massage therapy activates your body’s parasympathetic nervous system, it counteracts your body’s negative response to stress, relaxing muscle tension and allowing your heart rate, blood pressure and circulation to return to normal.

Massage therapy also helps you become more aware of your body and your unconsciously held tension. As you become more aware of your body, you will begin to recognize tension as it builds during the day so that you can consciously relax it before it can have a negative effect on your body.

Massage Relaxes Tense Muscles

Muscles can become tight and ineffective for many reasons.

Stress, injury, poor circulation, overuse, and misuse can all cause you pain and discomfort as well as restrict your normal range of motion. When left unattended, these conditions can become habitual and hamper the quality of your everyday life.

Massage therapy stretches and loosens tight muscles and connective tissue. This in turn breaks down and prevents further formation of adhesions, freeing your range of motion and reducing the danger of fibrosis.

Massage Therapy Increases Blood Circulation

Like a sponge that is squeezed, a tight muscle cannot hold much fluid nor can it allow much fluid to pass through it. This decreases your circulation of blood and increases strain placed on your heart. Among the obvious problems that this can cause, this can leave you feeling fatigued and sore, reducing your precious energy reserves.

Massage therapy at Soothing Sensations releases contracted muscles and pushes venous blood towards the heart, thus easing the strain on this vital organ. This increase in circulation brings energy producing nutrients and oxygen to your cells as well as carries away metabolic waste products that can make you feel listless and drained.

In addition, massage therapy increases your body’s oxygen carrying red blood cell count helping to bring even more oxygen to your body’s cells.

Massage Decreases Chronic Pain

Far too many of us face our daily lives with chronic pain due to injuries or illness.

Not only does massage therapy help to correct the conditions that cause chronic pain, but it also decreases chronic pain in two other ways.

The first is by the trained touch of a massage therapist activating nerve receptor signals along myelinated nerve fibers to temporarily block chronic pain signals from reaching the brain. The second is by the stimulated release of endorphins (the body’s natural pain killer) into the brain and nervous system to reduce your feeling of pain and discomfort without the use of unnatural drugs.

The lymphatic system is a major factor in your body’s battle to ward off infection and heal injuries. The lymphatic flow is usually very sluggish in most people and especially in those that have less active lifestyles.

Massage therapy not only improves the circulation of blood and its vital nutrients, but also increases the circulation of lymph in your lymphatic system, thus helping your body to fight off infection and speeding your recovery from injuries and illness.

“If you have a massage every week, you will have 2/3 less illness.” – H. Gruenn, M.D. Los Angeles, CA

Massage Can Improve Nerve Function

Contracted muscles can press on or pinch your nerves causing tingling, numbness, or pain.

Massage therapy relaxes these contracted muscles to relieve the compression on your nerves. Sensory receptors in the skin and muscles “wake up” bringing new awareness to areas that have felt “cut off ” by chronic tension patterns.

Massage Helps You To Sleep Better

Tension caused by everyday stress can emotionally drain you, robbing you of patience and stamina. This negatively affects your need to cope with day-to-day life as well as disrupting your sleep, leaving you tired and irritable.

Massage therapy relaxes your tense muscles and calms your nervous system, causing your body’s rhythm to slow down. As your body slows down, your blood pressure lowers, your heart rate settles, and your breath becomes deeper and more rhythmic, priming you for a perfect night’s sleep.

Massage Improves Skin Tone

The sun, smog, poor diet, and the unstoppable aging process all contribute to the drying, wrinkling, and the general loss of the youthful characteristics of your skin.

Massage therapy dilates the blood capillaries of the skin increasing the uptake of vital skin repairing nutrients and speeding the removal of harmful toxins. This improved circulation helps to moisturize your skin, improving skin texture and relieving dryness and itching.

Physical Benefits

• Relaxes the body

• Calms the nervous system

• Lowers blood pressure

• Reduces heart rate

• Slows respiration

• Loosens tight muscles

• Stretches connective tissue

• Reduces chronic pain

• Improves skin tone

• Increases blood and lymph circulation

• Speeds the removal of metabolic waste

• Increases red blood cell counts

• Relieves cramps and muscle spasms

• Increases flexibility

• Relieves tired and aching muscles

• Stimulates the release of endorphins

• Improves Muscle tone

• Strengthens the immune system

•  Reduces swelling

• Reduces scarring

• Improves posture

• Reduces tension headaches

• Increases tissue metabolism

• Decreases muscular deterioration

Mental Benefits

Reduces mental stress

Promotes better sleep

Calms a bad temper

Induces mental relaxation

Improves concentration