Signs You Need a Massage

Most of the time, people only think about massage when their muscles hurt. While massage is great for muscle pain (and often the best treatment), it also helps with other systems and symptoms. 

Below is a list of signs that you may need a massage.

Chronic insomnia:

Several studies have shown that the relaxing effects of massage can help a person fall asleep faster and have better quality sleep, even when the insomnia is caused by an underlying condition like Fibromyalgia. There are two main components of the autonomic nervous system (the part of our bodies that control the things that we don't think about). One part is the sympathetic nervous system. This is in control of the "fight or flight" response that is great when we are in the midst of a dangerous situation. However, this system is also stimulated when the body is under stress of any kind whether it be pain, work stress, family/home stress, or any other kind of stress. Yes, pain is a stress on the body. When this system is dominating in the body, it cannot heal itself, digest food properly, or get true rest. The other part is the parasympathetic nervous system. The parasympathetic nervous system is known as the "rest and digest" system. As such, it is in control of our digestive system and the processes in the body that allow it to heal itself. Massage promotes the dominance of the parasympathetic nervous system, and therefore allows the body to rest and heal itself.

Constipation/digestive dysfunction:

Now, most people don't want to talk about number 2, but it's an important part of our lives, and digestive dysfunction is a sign that something is wrong. Again, this goes back (in part) to the difference between the sympathetic vs. parasympathetic nervous system. Massage stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system and therefore helps stimulate the digestive system too. In addition to the indirect stimulation of the entire system, abdominal massage is a comforting way to help "get things moving" when done properly. Now, if the constipation is a chronic symptom of something else, it's not a bad idea to talk to your doctor to make sure that it isn't more serious. In almost every case though, massage can help!

Chronic Neck/Headaches:

While these can sometimes be caused by something serious (and that should definitely be ruled out by a medical professional) often chronic headaches are caused by muscle tension which can really be helped with massage. Often, a headache will even go away or at least decrease in intensity while a client is on the table. For the people that think that they just have to live with it because it's "just a headache," remember, pain is stress on the body, and the body cannot heal itself when it's stressed.

Carpal tunnel symptoms/nerve pain:

Nerve pain generally feels like a tingling or burning sensation that usually comes and goes with certain activities. Carpal Tunnel is one of the most common forms of nerve pain these days because of the type of activities that most people do. True Carpal tunnel does exist, but usually the pain that most people think is carpal tunnel has nothing to do with the wrist. The large bundle of nerves that leaves the neck to innervate the arm and hand has to travel between two muscles in the neck and under two muscles in the upper chest before it gets to the arm. When these muscles are tights, that familiar tingling and pain is usually experienced in the elbow, wrist and hand. If tension in these muscles are the cause, massage is the best option for treatment since surgery will not help the cause of the pain anyway. Depending on the intensity and duration of the symptoms, the pain could be gone in as little as 1-3 appointments with your massage therapist.

Asthma/Breathing Problems: 

While massage cannot cure breathing problems like asthma, emphysema, COPD, or bronchitis, it can decrease the intensity of the effects of these conditions. When breathing is unobstructed, the diaphragm is the main muscle used, and the other muscles that assist only assist in breathing. When a person has trouble breathing, the muscles that assist in breathing have to work harder. This leads to those muscles being overworked and stressed, which leads to pain and further breathing dysfunction. Unwinding the tension in the muscles of the neck and around the rib cage (the muscles that help with breathing) can usually decrease the intensity, duration, and frequency of acute breathing disorder symptoms. 

Pregnancy:

This seems obvious, but pregnancy (while beautiful and a blessing) is a major stress for the expectant mother's body. Of course, all care should be done under the careful supervision of a woman's doctor if the pregnancy is high risk or if there are complications, but in a normal, healthy pregnancy massage can help with sleep, nausea, back pain, stress, headaches, etc. 

Massage has wide ranging benefits! If you have a condition or symptoms that you think could be helped with massage, ask your massage therapist or message me!