Why We Love Massage
Aug ’07: San Francisco Magazine’s Best of the Bay | Berry Up! Mask
Free ‘Green’ Home Assessment
I can still remember my first massage. Fresh from the frenzied fray of office battles, and ringing phones full of demanding clients, a friend suggested we go to a spa for a massage. Thinking it might be entertaining, I agreed. The experience I found there was unexpected and cathartic… the high level hum of work stress that was always with me (how could I not have noticed that it was always there?) …just slipped away. My mind quieted and for the first time in years, I felt relaxed and free to just ‘be’.
Massage is one of the few cases where something that feels good is truly good for us. Massage works with the body’s own healing mechanisms to effect change. There are some seriously good benefits!
Massage gets the blood flowing. In our increasingly sedentary lifestyles, we may not get an opportunity to get good circulation to nearly every area of our body at one time. Good blood flow means that all the waste products we store in our muscles from the times we are stressed out, get picked up and carried out of the body. (Goodbye and good riddance!) The body exchanges these waste products for oxygen and healing nutrients, which heal imperfections and improve the condition of our largest organ, our skin. This is why, after a massage, our faces often glow!
Massage also stimulates the lymph system, our body’s natural defense system. Increased lymph flow allows the body to fight toxic invaders. For example, in cancer patients, massage is proven to increase the number of cells that fight cancer. Massage also releases endorphins in the brain, just like eating chocolate.
Say that you are hunched over an desk for 8 hours a day. Massage softens overused and injured neck and shoulders muscles, allowing them a much-needed break. And in patients with low back pain, massage has been shown to increase range of motion and to decrease discomfort.
When pregnant, regular massage is shown to reduce labor time, reduce depression and anxiety, and decrease the amount of time women were in the hospital after delivering.
In athletes, massage increases joint flexibility, reduces spasms and cramping, helps prepare for strenuous workouts, and eliminiates pains for athletes at nearly every level of training. After an injury, massage reduces recovery time, reduces post-surgery adhesions and swelling, and can be used to reduce scar tissue. It can also stretch and stimulate atrophied muscles, like those that have been recently removed from a cast.
Humans are social animals. We, like other mammals, crave touch as a means of strengthening social bonds. Many hospitals treating premature infants now regularly include human contact and touch in with their treatment regime of antibiotics and oxygen tents, finding that the infants who experience touch on a regular basis develop faster, are more alert and social, and cry less.
Experts disagree on exactly how often people ought to seek out massage for maximum benefit. Monthly? Every 2 weeks? Weekly? The answer is likely to be settled by the time and finances that you can invest in your health and mental well-being. However, you’ll be glad to know that studies show that as little as 15 minutes of massage can produce a sustained relaxed state, benefitting your metal state just as much as a lengthy massage.
And any length of massage just feels good.
About Andrea
Andrea Turner is a massage therapist based in Oakland, CA, and co-owner of Spa Dee Dah. She tries her darnedest to receive a massage every two weeks. Should you find yourself in need of a massage before your next spa party, feel free to schedule an individual session with her at www.andreacmt.com.