Benefits of Massage

What are some of the benefits of massages?

For over 3,000 years massage has been used to help relieve peoples aches and pains. In fact, the art of massage has been a well-documented therapy dating all the way back to ancient India and China.

Though there are various types of massage, they all apply moderate pressure to the body in an effort to map area of muscle tension and tightness. Throughout the process various changes occur in the body tissues and they begin to relax.

While muscles are being used hard, they are under what is called energy stress. During periods of energy stress the level of blood and oxygen going to the muscles is increased. The body also sends an abundance of fats, sugars and nutrients to the cells in that area to help repair the microtears that occur throughout the process.

Once we stop the strenuous activity, our bodies inflammatory cells begin to eat up the micro-tears in the muscles and proteins quickly work to rebuild the tissue.

Many times, our bodies form knots where the muscles have experienced a chronic or acute injury. These knots are caused by contracting muscle fibers and often lead to increased tension and pain in the area.

Applying moderate pressure to loosen these knots can be extremely helpful. Massage not only alleviates muscle tightness, it also decreases tension and pain in the affected area. It helps release pressure around an injury and can nearly triple the amount of blood flow going to the area. Studies have found that massage also helps decrease levels of inflammation which has a direct effect on the amount of pain one experiences.

In short, massages have a wide variety of benefits:

• Decreases muscle tension and tightness

• Relaxing effect caused by slowing heart rate and nervous system receptors

• Increases levels of serotonin which help reduce stress and improve mood

• Increases quality of sleep

• Alleviates pain and pressure

Typically, the benefits of a massage last for a few days which is why routine massages are always encouraged. In-between massages or for at home massages, we suggest trying our pain relief cream to help ease your pain and muscle tightness.

While you are on the path to recovery, we recommend using Pure Personal Care’s All Natural Pain Relief Cream. After the initial application, most people experience relief in 5 minutes or less. Give it a try today so you can Feel Your Best, Naturally.

Resources: What are the health benefits of massage? - CrowdScience, BBC World Service podcast - Bing video