If you have been living with chronic pain for a long time, finding relief cannot be easy. You may start to feel like the pain will never go away and that there’s no hope for recovery.
Fortunately, many people are turning to massage therapy as an alternative treatment option due to its effectiveness in providing non-surgical pain relief. In this blog post, we’ll explore some of the benefits of massage therapy and how it might be able to help you manage your chronic pain symptoms!
Why is it important to get a regular massage?
Massage is not just a recreational activity. It’s a form of therapy, which means it has the potential to impact your health and well-being in many different ways positively.
First, massage can help reduce stress levels by releasing endorphins into the body – these are brain chemicals that produce feelings of well-being as they activate areas throughout the nervous system.
These same endorphins can also act as natural painkillers – decreasing inflammation as they work alongside opioid receptors found in our central nervous system. Massage may be especially helpful for people who suffer from chronic conditions such as fibromyalgia or migraines.
Research has shown that increased stress hormones can cause oxidative damage to cells, tissues, and DNA, so it’s crucial to maintain a healthy immune system as well as mental health.
Beyond the physiological benefits, massage can also have a significant impact on someone’s emotional well-being. For example, many people report feeling an immediate sense of relaxation after their session that helps with pain relief and calming anxiety.
Another way that regular massages may enhance one’s mood includes boosting serotonin levels, which help regulate sleep cycles, appetite control, social bonding, and more – this means you’ll feel nicer (and healthier!) all-around.
What are some other ways massage therapy offers pain relief?
Massage is effective at reducing chronic neck or back pain by up to 75%. It does so primarily by promoting increased blood flow to these areas, which helps nerves heal.
Massage therapy may also be a helpful self-care option for those who suffer from chronic pain because it provides greater awareness of one’s own body and triggers physical changes such as increased muscle tone. This means that you’ll have more control over your condition.
Most people who suffer from chronic pain and discomfort visit chiropractic clinics to get help. This all-natural treatment helps stimulate the body’s ability to heal itself. Receiving chiropractic care is a great way to get rid of pain, improve your health and increase wellness in general!
What are the benefits of massage therapy?
People who experience chronic pain often find that massage therapy offers relief. There are many forms of massage, but the general benefits include:
- Calmness and deep relaxation
- Reduced stress hormones which promote well-being and healthy immune system functioning
- Release endorphins for reduced feelings of pain during or after a session
Massage is not just about feeling good; it can also be used as an adjunct to physical rehabilitation to speed recovery from sports injuries, whiplash injury, or acute backache.
It can help improve blood flow around tight muscles that have been injured – acting as a natural deep tissue heating pad by increasing circulation in the area being massaged. Other conditions that may benefit from massage therapy include chronic pain, headaches, and neck stiffness.
Massage therapy is also an option if you’re looking for relief from stress, anxiety, and depression – when done regularly, it can help regulate your moods by boosting serotonin levels.
For people suffering from conditions such as Parkinson’s, some studies have shown massage to help reduce pain associated with these illnesses. In addition, massage may enhance the quality of life for those living with chronic diseases such as arthritis through improved sleep patterns, increased energy levels, and decreased stiffness due to joint inflammation.
This could happen by the release of endorphins following a massage session, which naturally reduces feelings of pain during or after the treatment process. When you feel pain and discomfort, your body is sending signals that something is wrong. However, with the release of endorphins during a massage session, these signals are reduced and can lead to feeling better overall.
Massage therapy may reduce pain associated with chronic illnesses such as arthritis through improved sleep patterns, increased energy level, and decreased stiffness due to joint inflammation.
How often should you get a massage?
Some people may say that you should get a massage after every stressful event. Others may say that you need to be in the right state of mind and environment for it to work. A visit to a reputable wellness center like O’Dell Family Chiropractic located in Webster, NY or in Rochester, NY, can help you better understand how your body works, and its needs. Or you may book your schedule at their website www.odellfamilychiro.com.
The truth is, everyone’s body responds differently, so how often you need one will vary from person to person. For example, some people feel irritable if they don’t get at least one full-body session per week; others can go on for months or years without needing any form of touch therapy whatsoever.
The best thing to do would be to assess your needs as an individual case before jumping into anything too quickly (or not). Even when someone feels like their pain has subsided, other benefits such as relaxation and improved mood come with regular sessions, especially for those with chronic conditions.
A massage immediately induces calmness and deep relaxation. According to Dr. Norman O’Dell, this happens because massage increases endorphins release – your brain chemicals that provide feelings of well-being. Stress hormone levels, such as cortisol, adrenalin, and norepinephrine. This also reduced in these patients. Studies show that a high number of stress hormones affect the immune system.
Massage therapy involves the kneading/manipulation of one’s muscles for the purpose of improving well-being or health; manual therapy involves the pressing of tissues for therapeutic benefits, including relaxation of tense muscles. Massages may include stretching tight areas like back muscles and loosening close areas like neck muscles.
What does massage do to your body?
Your health should be your top priority this year. So if you haven’t taken the time to get a massage yet, it’s about time that you start.
Massage therapy is quickly becoming one of the best ways to relieve your pain and muscle stiffness while promoting overall well-being. The practice has been used for ages as a form of medicine in many cultures worldwide – but now there are also many scientific studies supporting its benefits.
Studies have shown that people who receive regular messages show reduced signs of depression and anxiety and take fewer days off from work due to illness or injury than those who do not receive these treatments regularly.
Furthermore, research indicates that patients with chronic conditions such as hypertension, cardiac disease (myocardial infarction), diabetes mellitus, and chronic pain experienced significant benefits from massage therapy.
So what does a massage do to your body?
Massage promotes blood flow which can help bring oxygen and nutrients to the cells in your muscles while clearing away lactic acid that has built up due to stress or exercise. This helps relieve soreness by reducing inflammation as well as enhancing the strength of joints & tendons.
It also makes you feel better mentally – because it releases endorphins. And we all know how good those make us feel. There are many other great things about massage, such as:
- Bringing down the heart rate.
- Lowering respiration rate.
- Relieving tension headaches through relaxing neck and shoulder muscles.
It is an excellent remedy for anxiety, too, since it reduces levels of cortisol, the stress hormone.
For the overall well-being and pain relief, studies have also shown that massage therapy helps to improve sleep quality by decreasing cortisol levels before bedtime, thus promoting a more restful night’s sleep.
It is even found beneficial for people trying to reduce weight because it decreases appetite through relaxation of hunger-inducing nerves in the gastrointestinal tract and reducing high blood sugar levels.
What you need to know after having a massage
Massage therapy is a manual therapy that involves soft tissue manipulation with the hands to improve your well-being and health. The pressure you experience during massage can stimulate muscles, circulation, digestion, and immune function. Massages are also known for releasing tension in tight or contracted areas, relieving pain throughout the body.
A good massage therapist will listen to your needs when they’re using their hands on you; ask them what kind of pressure feels best so that you have more control over how deep they go into your tissues.
Post-massage care is important! You should stretch out all major muscle groups after a session by taking time to do some light exercises for about five minutes before going about your day as usual (i.e., walking, sitting at a desk).
Whether you choose to have massage therapy as part of your preventive health routine or for relief from pain due to injury (such as an acute joint problem), it is always important that you find a massage therapist with the appropriate credentials and training to get the maximum benefit and avoid any potential harm.
In addition, massage therapists are not regulated by law, so ensure they’re licensed by their state beforehand.
Is it worth it to have a massage?
This is a question people often ask themselves. It’s natural to be skeptical when you don’t know the benefits or how massage works. Some may argue against having this experience because there isn’t any scientific evidence that shows it does anything for pain relief and healing.
Research has been done in regards to these claims but not enough research has been completed yet. So it’s hard to determine if they work or not until we get more information from future studies being conducted by scientists who specialize in human physiology and anatomy as well as biochemistry (study of chemical reactions).
In a study from 2014, it was found that massage therapy can relieve pain by relaxing muscles in as little as 20 minutes of treatment time which is why it’s often recommended for people with chronic pain or injuries.
Massage therapy reduces stress hormones like cortisol and norepinephrine (stress hormone). By minimizing these hormones, you’re less likely to experience sleeplessness, anxiety, depression, irritability, fatigue, or heart problems.
Final words
You’ll want to find out what’s best for you. Some people may be open to trying out a different type of pain relief, while others might not want anything at all to just deal with their chronic pain or injury.
It is important that if someone does decide they want to try massage therapy, it should never replace any other treatment the person may have, like medication or surgery but rather used as an additional form of care when needed.
It will depend on the individual and how they feel comfortable going through these treatments, so there isn’t one right answer we can give everyone because every case is different depending on how severe your injuries are and who you talk to.
