Massage Therapy Heals
Massages are excellent for relaxation, as anyone can tell you. Babies are soothed to sleep by massage with a couple of drops of lavender oil, pets are massaged professionally, and when we pet them on their heads and their little paws. What not everyone realizes, though, is that massage, while good for a relaxing escape, is also something that is immensely beneficial to your overall health. Massage therapy will help you to feel better while providing actual benefits to your bodily systems. While there can’t be any guarantee that regular massages will extend your life, it is understandable that some of the longest-living people are in places where food is simple and wholesome, and massages are prevalent.
Circulatory System
Almost every benefit of massage therapy begins with increased circulation of blood through the body. Massage therapy causes veins and capillaries to expand, allowing blood to flow more freely and quickly. Massage also helps blood get back to the heart and lungs more quickly, where it can be replenished with oxygen, and continue its journey. Because massage does increase blood flow, massage can also assist with the transportation of nutrients from the digestive system to the rest of the body. Blood flowing through your intestines picks up the valuable nutrients that you get from food, medicine, and vitamins, and takes it all over your body to heal and nourish you.
Muscles
Working out and strenuous jobs can take a toll on your muscles. Particularly when you exercise, your muscle fibers tear, heal, and rebuild stronger than they were before. As your muscle fibers tear, they produce lactic acid, which creates that feeling of discomfort or tiredness in muscles. Massage helps your muscles work the lactic acid out by increasing the blood flow. Massage can also help your muscles work off scar tissue from the tearing brought on by exercise. The work that massages do to help heal and repair muscles is another good reason to keep yourself hydrated – without enough water, it is harder for your blood to flow to places that you need it.
Skin
The benefits of massage on skin are beautiful. Massage boosts skin’s elasticity, and even the smoothest massaging hands are gentle exfoliants for dead skin cells. This is part of the reason that it is a good idea to bathe before and after getting a massage. Rubbing oil into skin, even oily skin, also helps to make skin bright and moisturized.
Respiratory System
While you’re receiving a massage, it is important to breathe deeply. Your blood needs to be able to carry all of the nutrients that it can to different parts of your body. Oxygenated blood is better able to hold nutrients that your body needs, and your massage will be part of the processes of nourishing your body. You may also find that, if you were congested before receiving a massage, that congestion has be alleviated.
Nervous System
The most-cited reason that people get massages is for relaxation. When massages make you feel relaxed and less stressed, this is your nervous system working its magic. Though this relaxation that you feel may come off as pure pleasure, this also helps manage stress. Stress, a reality that everyone deals with, can be very dangerous. Stress has caused heart disease, and contributes to obesity and insomnia. Effectively managing your stress can be done with massage therapy.