Nowadays, our routines consume most of our time, we rarely find the time to take care of ourselves. Stress, anxiety and pain appear as a consequence of the decisions we make to put our self-care last. While it is true that many of us feel we don’t have much time to take care of our mind and body, we should consider massage therapy for self-care. Here three ways that massage can help you:

Stress

In a study on the effect of trigger point therapy, there was a significant decrease in heart rate, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure. Measures of oxygen consumption, blood pressure, and salivary cortisol levels were all lower after a 10 to 15 minute chair massage in controlled studies. Changes in psychological states have been measured by physiological responses, the Perceived Stress Scale, the POMS Depression Scale, and the Anxiety State Scale.

Anxiety

Research continues to document the impact for relief of anxiety and depression for people in a wide range of health situations.

For example, one randomized study found women with stage 1 and stage 2 breast cancer benefited from regular massage therapy sessions. The immediate massage benefits included reduced anxiety, depressed mood and anger, while the long-term impact reduced depression and increased serotonin values.

Pain

Forty-one percent of American adults who had a massage in the past five years indicate they sought it for pain relief.

A meta-analysis of research on massage therapy for pain conducted by Samueli Institute in 2016 concluded that massage therapy should be strongly recommended for pain management. The analysis reviewed 67 published studies on the impact of massage therapy on pain.

If you are looking for a trusted Massage Therapist, we can help! Our team of qualified massage therapists are available to assist. Give us a call at 508-986-2330.

Source: American Massage Therapy Association