Ahhh – a massage! It feels so good, is therapeutic, and just the thought of getting one puts many of us into total relaxation mode. Do you really need any other reason to book yours? Since it’s National Massage Therapy Awareness Week, we’ll give you five good ones.
Relieve Stress, Reduce Depression and Anxiety, and Get a Better Night’s Sleep
Massages affect the body’s biochemistry in a great way. Researchers have found that getting a massage can lower cortisol levels (the stress hormone that negatively impacts mood, lowers energy levels, causes weight gain and high blood pressure, and disrupts sleep) by up to 53%!
Massages have also been shown to boost serotonin levels (the mood stabilizing hormone that also plays a big role in sleep) up to about 28 percent.
Read more about how your mental health can benefit from a massage here.
Improve Cardiovascular Health
With heart disease being the leading cause of death for men and women, heart health has never been more important.
In one study researchers found that massage therapy could serve as an effective intervention in controlling blood pressure in pre-hypertensive women. The study showed that the immediate results of lowered blood pressure lasted up to 72 hours after the massage.
Enhance Exercise Performance
Want to up your sports game? Or increase your flexibility to get more out of your exercise routine? Studies have shown massages benefit those who are looking to enhance their performance, improve conditioning, prevent an injury, recover faster and help maintain their peak fitness.
Massages also feel great on sore muscles and help to reduce the pain after a tough workout.
Relieve Pain
Speaking of pain, living with chronic pain can be debilitating. Unfortunately there are a large number of Americans suffering from it (50 million according to the CDC). One way to help lessen chronic pain is with routine massage.
Studies have shown that massages help with low-back pain, fibromyalgia, post-operative pain, tension headaches, and arthritis. Therapeutic massage can help to lower overall pain and perceived pain, as well as lessen the stress associated with a chronic pain condition.
Boost Your Immunity
There’s just no time to catch a cold! But you can definitely make time for a 45 minute massage. That’s how long researchers said it took to see measurable changes in the study participants’ body immune and endocrine response. The study found that those who received massage experienced significant changes in lymphocytes (white blood cells that are also one of the body’s main types of immune cells).
Need even more reasons? Here are 25.
What are you waiting for? Book your appointment online today.