Massage therapy is one of the best ways to keep your body in good shape, especially as you get older. In order to stay healthy as you age, it’s important to keep your muscles and joints smooth and relaxed. Beyond relaxed muscles, massage therapy has numerous health benefits. Today, we’ll focus on five particular benefits that help make you feel refreshed and renewed. Better yet, they also help improve your overall health.
It lowers Stress
There is a reason why stress is known as the silent killer for people. Worst of all, stress builds up over time. If you don’t release the tension from stress, it eventually leads to more serious health consequences over time. Thankfully, regular massage therapy is a great way to relieve stress. It helps get rid of ailments such as headaches and joint pains. In addition, massage therapy helps to lower your heart rate and blood pressure, which are common side effects of high stress. More importantly, with only 10 to 15 minutes of massage therapy, oxygen flows throughout your entire body and your brain. These benefits make it a positive activity for anyone dealing with stress.
Increases Immune Functions
Your immune system is one of the most important defenses you have against disease. It works hard to fend off colds, flus, viruses, and other ailments. It’s important to strengthen your immune system whenever possible, which is why having regular massage therapy increases one’s immune functions. Many medical research studies have shown that by receiving massage therapy, a person’s activity levels increase. This is especially important when it comes creating more of the body’s natural “Killer T cells.”These cells are vital for fighting off diseases and other ailments that try to invade your immune system.
Boost Mental Health
Besides just lowering your stress, receiving regular massage therapy also helps lower anxiety and depression. In addition to physical pain, medical research studies have shown that massage therapy helps improve mental health. This is due to the fact that relaxation and physical touch are involved. Experiencing physical touch of any kind, including a massage, positively correlates with lower levels of anxiety, stress, and depression.
Pain Management
While it’s true that receiving regular massages will never totally get rid of physical pain, it is a good way to manage the pain. If you’ve been through a physically traumatic experience or any kind of personal injury, it’s better alternative to taking prescription pain medication. Massage therapy helps you recover from past injuries or accidents, and it speeds up the path to physical well-being.
Improve Physical Fitness
Many professional and elite athletes of different sports use massage therapy to relax, get stronger, and recover from injuries. With massage therapy, muscle tension can be reduced. It also improves performance during exercise. Let’s face it, we could all use help there. Lastly, it also reduces the likelihood of future injuries.
Overall, there are a number of both physical and mental health benefits to undergoing regular massage therapy. While it may be pricey to take on, you may change your mind when you realize that the benefits of last for not just days and months but for years into the future. If it’s good enough for professional athletes, it’s good enough for you.
