Experts have discovered you can lower blood pressure, prevent a cold, make your skin look younger and much more—all by getting a massage. It’s one therapy that is truly a treat to receive.
Massage therapists at a University of Alabama rehabilitation center say that massage delivers health benefits both immediately and over the long term. We all know that it feels great to get a massage, but there are clinical benefits involved. Right off the bat, you can experience reduced tightness in the muscles, improved blood flow and breathing, and have any anxiety and stress dissipate.
Then, in the long term, massage therapy can improve your range of motion, strengthen the immune system and lead to an improved sense of well being. It is also a superior way to combat stress, which is a major hidden cause of illness.
PLUS: The spa can deliver real health wonders.
When you seek massages, know that “Swedish” is great for stress relief and “deep-tissue” ones are ideal for any deeper aches and pains you might feel. The final two main massages are “neuromuscular” and “trigger point therapy,” although there are many others, including Thai massage, which stretches your body out in an unrivalled fashion.
If you decide that massage therapy is for you, when figuring out where to go, be sure to ask a few specific questions. How long has the style of the type of massage therapy existed? How long have the therapists practiced it? What is it based on? Does it focus more on physical or psychological/stress relief benefits?
Next comes the question of how often one needs massage therapy for health benefits. That varies, person to person. If you have no physical issues and are just looking to relax, you could go once every couple of months. Really, the sky is the limit. If you have particular health problems that massage helps, you can seek massage as often as needed. If you have a specific need, try once a week for a predetermined period of time to work through that health issue.
Sources for Today’s Articles:
The One Relaxing Thing to Help Many Health Problems
“The right massage can relax the body and improve health,” University of Alabama at Birmingham, January 29, 2013.