When you think of massage, you might imagine someone enjoying a getaway at a luxury resort or spa. While it’s true that massage is a fantastic way to relax, it can bring many more benefits to your physical and mental state.
When you have a specific problem, such as a sore lower-back or stiff joints, a therapeutic massage can pinpoint areas of tension to provide fast, non-invasive relief. Sometimes called a medical massage, therapeutic massage is a recognized treatment for stress, migraines, tendonitis, and more.
If you’re feeling stiff, stressed, or sore, a therapeutic massage can boost your quality of life in as little as one treatment. And, your insurance may cover your therapeutic massage treatment in California.
Below, we discuss the top 10 health benefits of therapeutic massage according to medical research. But first, let’s take a closer look at therapeutic massage and how it differs from other massage therapies.
- Reduces muscle pain and soreness
- Relieves stress
- Relieves anxiety
- Promotes sleep
- Eases muscle tension
- Promotes greater relaxation
- Provides muscle and joint pain relief
- Strengthens the lower back
- Increases flexibility and range of motion
- Improves your immune function
What is a Therapeutic Massage?
A therapeutic massage is a type of massage that addresses specific symptoms, such as a stiff neck, sore lower back, or chronic headaches. Because of this, therapeutic massages differ depending on the patient.
Unlike a relaxation massage, a therapeutic massage doesn’t involve any standard massage techniques. It’s customized for you. Therefore, differing massage treatments may be incorporated into your therapeutic massage, including:
- Sports massage
- Deep tissue massage
- Myofascial massage
- Neuromuscular massage
- And more
A Certified Massage Therapist (CMT) will ask you about your pain and lifestyle in order to develop a massage treatment plan to address your needs. During treatment, they will massage your soft tissues, (muscles, ligaments, and tendons) to relieve tension and bring your body back into balance.
A therapeutic massage can benefit your muscles, nerves, circulation, posture, stress levels, energy levels, sleep, and so much more. Let’s see what the science says about the benefits of therapeutic massage.
1. Reduces muscle pain and soreness
One of the most common reasons that patients seek therapeutic massage is for muscle pain relief. Whether it’s for a sore back or a sports injury, massage can provide fast relief without the need for drugs or invasive treatments.
Massage relieves muscle discomfort by improving blood flow. This brings fresh oxygen into the muscles and encourages healing while reducing inflammation. During a therapeutic massage, a CMT will address a specific issue to provide targeted relief.
Patients often feel a significant reduction in pain within 24 hours of treatment.
2. Relieves stress
Stress can cause a number of health conditions. It’s bad for heart health, inflammation, weight, and much more. Not to mention, it just feels terrible.
Therapeutic massage for stress and anxiety relief focuses on tension areas where patients tend to hold their stress, such as the shoulders and neck. A CMT may also incorporate oil and heat to soothe tightness and encourage deep breathing.
Studies have shown that massage is one of the best ways to bring the body back to a relaxed state. During a massage, your body releases more endorphins and serotonin (hormones for happiness, relaxation, and sleep) while decreasing cortisol (the stress hormone).
3. Relieves anxiety
Anxiety is a type of chronic stress that leaves you feeling constantly unable to relax. It’s common for people to take medication for anxiety, but therapeutic massage is an effective and non-pharmaceutical alternative.
Studies on anxiety and massage found that every participant experienced reduced anxiety after undergoing massage treatments. And, they were still feeling the positive effects six months later.
This means that, unlike medication, therapeutic massage may bring about lasting physiological changes that break the anxiety cycle.
4. Promotes sleep
Can’t sleep? Many of the causes of insomnia can be treated with therapeutic massage. We’ve already seen how massage can treat stiffness, pain, and anxiety—common causes of poor sleep. But it also has an effect on your hormonal cycles, which helps to restore a healthy circadian rhythm (aka body clock).
Therapeutic massage for sleep doesn’t just help you relax on the massage table. It encourages relaxation at the right time of day so you can ease into deep sleep. When your cortisol (stress hormone) levels are regulated, your melatonin levels follow suit. Melatonin is the hormone your body produces to help you relax and sleep at night.
By regulating your hormonal clock, you naturally experience more energy in the morning and feel ready to sleep at night.
5. Eases muscle tension
Tense muscles can reduce your mobility and cause pain. They increase the likelihood of injury. Not many people use all of their muscles every day, so some tension is inevitable in life. When this happens, it’s important to relieve it to avoid chronic muscle and tendon issues.
Therapeutic massage is an effective way to keep muscles loose and healthy. During a massage, muscles become more elastic and flexible—as they should be. This boosts your range of motion, allowing you to move naturally and experience less pain.
6. Promotes greater relaxation
Massage is one of the best ways to relax. In fact, just 10 minutes of massage therapy is enough to switch your body out of “stress mode” and into “relaxation mode,” melting tension and anxiety.
During therapeutic massage for relaxation, your CMT may incorporate hot stones or oils to encourage deeper relaxation that continues to benefit you for weeks or months to come. Nearly all studies of massage therapy find that relaxation is a universal benefit for participants.
7. Provides muscle and joint pain relief
When your muscles are tense or knotted up, your joints suffer too. After all, your muscles provide the support and structure of your joints. Without them, you can develop inflammation that severely limits your mobility.
Therapeutic massage targets tendons and ligaments that provide support for the joints. When your CMT focuses on these areas, it increases blood flow into the joints and reduces inflammation that causes pain and stiffness.
By revitalizing your joints’ support structure, massage allows you to move more easily and confidently. This is one reason that massage is recommended by the Arthritis Society.
8. Strengthens the lower back
Lower-back pain is one of the most common issues among people over 50. This pain often occurs due to a lack of core strength. When your muscles are not strong enough to support your weight, your spine is forced to bear the load.
Increasing the strength of your lower back allows your muscles to take on more of the work and your spine to relax. While going to the gym is one way to work out your core, therapeutic massage can also build strength. Low back massage stretches your core and back muscles, encouraging them to grow and become stronger.
9. Increases flexibility and range of motion
Becoming slow and stiff is not an inevitable part of aging. It means that your muscles and joints need care. Therapeutic massage pinpoints problem areas in the tendons, ligaments, and muscles that reduce your range of motion.
Therapeutic massage increases muscle elasticity and strengthens joints, making you feel years younger in as little as one treatment. The science behind this is conclusive. Studies have found that therapeutic massage results in a significant increase in range of motion, especially in elderly people.
10. Improves your immune function
Therapeutic massage doesn’t just make you feel healthier. It also improves the body’s ability to fight disease.
Massage has been found to stimulate the production of lymphocytes, which are special cells that the immune system uses to fight intruders. It also boosts circulation, helping your body deliver nutrients and flush out unhealthy toxins more effectively.
Massage also improves immunity by reducing stress, insomnia, and pain—all of which have a negative impact on the immune system.
Next time you’re thinking about getting a massage, don’t consider it a guilty pleasure. A therapeutic massage can make your body healthier and stronger.
Schedule Your Therapeutic Massage at Family Chiropractic
Therapeutic massage therapy delivers real health benefits without invasive procedures or pharmaceutical drugs. The benefits have been well documented in hundreds of studies, and millions of people reclaim their lives with massage therapies every year.
Scheduling your therapeutic massage is as easy as getting in touch with the CMT specialists at Family Chiropractic. We’ve offered therapeutic massage treatments to residents of Redwood City for over 40 years. Our therapists are certified to practice a diverse range of massage techniques, ensuring their ability to relieve your pain, stress, or tension however it manifests.
Our therapeutic massage techniques include:
- Deep Tissue Massage
- Sports Massage
- Prenatal Massage
- Swedish Massage
- Cupping
- Reflexology
- And others
Schedule your consultation at Family Chiropractic today and learn how we can improve your quality of life with therapeutic massage therapy.
