Everyone can benefit from a professional massage.
Massage therapy can:
- provide anything from soothing relaxation to deeper therapy for specific physical problems.
- relieve your stress and anxiety.
- increase the nourishing blood supply to your tissues.
- improve your energy and alertness.
- aid your recovery from pulled muscles or sprained ligaments.
- ease many of the uncomfortable stresses of child bearing, including edema, backaches, and exhaustion.
- relieve certain repetitive motion injuries related to on-the-job activities.
- greatly reduce your pain if you suffer from such problems as temporal mandibular joint dysfunction (TMJ) or carpal tunnel syndrome.
- compensate, at least in part, for lack of exercise and muscular contraction if you’re a person who, because of age, injury, or illness, is forced to remain inactive.
A healthy response
Once your massage is underway, a whole range of beneficial reactions is set in motion. The therapy can:
- hasten the elimination of waste and toxic debris that are stored in your muscles.
- increase the interchange of substances between the blood and tissue cells.
- heighten the oxygenation of the tissues.
- stimulate the relaxation response within your nervous system.
All of these responses can:
- help to strengthen your immune system.
- increase your joint flexibility and range of motion.
- lower your blood pressure.
There are some instances when the use of massage might not be appropriate. Be sure to consult your physician before initiating any massage program. An experienced massage therapist will also be able to tell you when massage is not indicated.
Information reproduced with permission from the American Massage Therapy Association.
