Just 4U: How Massage Works

Joanie is 8 weeks postpartum, and overwhelmed with all of the responsibility of baby care. Her lower back, hips, wrists, lower arms, and shoulders are either tense or numb from bending over to nurse, and constantly holding her baby. She is happy to be a mother, and adores her baby, but at the same time, needs muscular tension relief and revived circulation.

Mike used to work as a football coach, but after an injury, switched to sports reporting and now spends hours sitting in front of his computer on a daily basis. His new sedentary routine, coupled with exhaustive typing, means that his shoulders and back are tense, his legs weak, and his wrists suffer from carpal tunnel. He enjoys writing, but is desperate to feel physically good again.

Susan goes jogging a few times a week. While she gains stress relief, and feels energized, after every workout, she has piercing shin splints, and her leg muscles feel pulled. She enjoys the benefits of jogging, and at the same time wishes she could find relief from the aches it causes her.

The people in the above scenarios share one thing in common: Massage can help them. Massage relieves, rejuvenates, and heals. But how exactly does it work? Here is how massage is effective.

1. Relaxation. Within seconds, a person receiving a massage will almost certainly relax. Here’s what’s happening on the hormonal level: 1) Touch onto soft muscle tissues triggers a decrease in cortisol, a hormone associated with stress. 2) Manipulating muscle tissue reduces the blood-pressure raising, blood-vessel-restricting hormone arginine vasopressin. Massage, therefore, is associated with the so-called “relaxation response,” lowering blood pressure and increasing oxygen delivery. No wonder people feel better.  
2. Blood Circulation. By stroking the skin, whether lightly or deeply, blood gets moving. Before a massage, blood may have been more static. But with massage techniques, blood is deliberately transferred around the body, and in doing so, “enhances the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to muscle cells,” says University of Minnesota‘s Health and Wellness reporter, Beth Burgan. 
3. Lymph Circulation. The lymphatic system works in tandem with the circulatory system to carry immune cells throughout the body, defending against infection. Lymph relies mostly on our efforts to really make it flow though. Gravitational pull (moving upright, running, jumping, etc.,) exercise, and warmth all stimulate lymph. By contrast, if lymphatic circulation stagnates, toxins accumulate and immune cells aren’t delivered where they are needed. Massage in general will trigger lymph circulation, and there are specific lymphatic massage techniques as well.
4. Recovery Enhancement. “Massage therapy improves recovery time after exercise and injury,” writes physical therapy magazine Athletico’s Candice Reimholz. She cites research which equates post-workout massages with regenerated and re-energized cells, as well as inflammation prevention. As such, if you regularly have aches and pains after exercise, even if you are exercising safely, then massage might provide just the type of recovery you need.   

In the examples given above for Joanie, Mike and Susan, massage was of benefit for each of them with their lifestyle. After just a few treatments, they reasoned that regular massage was essential to their lives – they witnessed how massage works. They sometimes go weekly, and sometimes monthly or bi-monthly. It keeps them relieved, rejuvenated, and healed. To be sure, health maintenance through massage is one pillar – the other pillars are routine exercise and eating nutritionally.  By addressing all your needs, you’ll enable the massage to work more preventatively instead of combating existing ill-conditions. All in all, consider massage as a natural medicine with no side effects.