Many people consider massages as a luxury to be enjoyed, but not an essential. They’re only half right. Massages can be luxurious and relaxing, to be sure. Regular massages are also an essential part of a pro-active wellness routine that prioritizes preventative medicine.
Here are five benefits to receiving regular massages.
Regular massage therapy in SW Calgary will help you reduce stress
Stress contributes to or can worsen the symptoms of a wide range of medical conditions, including cancer, fibromyalgia, depression, heart disease, and even diabetes. Techniques to reduce stress should form a part of any treatment plan for those types of conditions. Massage is one of those techniques.
Massage therapy has been shown to dramatically decrease the levels of a hormone called cortisol. Cortisol is produced when you’re under stress and can kill cells in your body that are essential to your immune system. Massage therapy to reduce stress and those cortisol levels will support your immune system to help you avoid getting sick and recover faster.
Regular massage can provide relief from many symptoms of chronic illnesses
Massage can reduce the impact of symptoms of medical conditions like fibromyalgia, arthritis, and cancer. Symptoms that respond well to massage therapy include anxiety, pain, nausea, poor sleep, and depression.
Many people who experience acute anxiety before medical appointments or procedures such as chemotherapy infusions benefit from scheduling a massage before those procedures. A well-timed massage can help you approach those procedures with calm. People who experience chronic pain in SW Calgary have also reported that massage reduces pain related to muscle tension, generally, and also treatment-related pain.
Massages arranged with a chiropractor near you are available in a wide range of formats and styles to help with any particular illness you’re experiencing. For example, gentle-touch massage can reduce nausea that many patients who receive bone marrow transplants experience. Cancer patients have also found that massage can help relieve debilitating depression that can accompany their illness.
Good sleep is an essential element of your body’s resistance to disease, the ability to fight infections, and to recover from treatment. Anxiety and low energy levels that prevent people from exercising or living actively often also contribute to insomnia and poor sleep. Massage can help ease your fatigue and restore your energy levels to a point where you can live more actively, and sleep better.
Massage therapy near you will strengthen your immune system
Massage supports your immune system by reducing the production of the hormone cortisol, which kills cells essential to your body’s healthy immune responses. Even people with severely compromised immune systems due to illness benefit from boosted immunity thanks to regular massage therapy.
Massage therapy will help you recover from injuries faster
If you’ve suffered sports or work-related injury or are recovering from a medical procedure, finding a clinic for regular massage therapy near you can help you recover faster. Massage therapy improves blood circulation essential for the distribution of oxygen and other essential nutrients your body needs to bounce back.
Getting a regular massage will lower your blood pressure
In 2014, Statistics Canada reported that 17% of Canadians over the age of 12 — that was 5,300,000 Canadians — had been diagnosed with high blood pressure. Many of those people would benefit from receiving regular massage therapy. Massage therapy can stimulate the body’s parasympathetic nervous system, which can lead to better regulation of your heart rate and decreased blood pressure. As with any medical condition, massage is not a substitute for other medical treatment, but an essential component of a holistic wellness plan.
Just about everyone will benefit from regular massage therapy. If you suffer from any of these medical conditions, ask your doctor whether you’re a good candidate for massage. After getting medical clearance, get in touch with a massage therapist, chiropractor, or chronic pain clinic in SW Calgary and ask how their massage therapists can help you to get — and stay — healthy with regular massage therapy.