Physical Benefits of Therapeutic Massage

• Massage brings the client's awareness to the area being massaged, and awareness in itself can bring about healing.
• Massage acts to dilate the blood vessels and increase the efficiency of both supplying fresh nutrients to the tissues and eliminating metabolic wastes out of the body.
• Massage acts to promote the venous return of blood back toward the heart. This is particularly important for enhancing proper circulation within the extremities.
• Massage promotes deeper and easier breathing.
• Massage acts as a mechanical cleanser, helping to drain sluggish lymph material. Good lymphatic circulation is very important for ridding the body of toxic materials and strengthening the immune system
• Massage helps relieve stress and aid relaxation and can have a stimulating or sedative effect on the nervous system depending on: the type of massage given, the duration of actual massage time, and the present state of the nervous system.
• Massage can reduce blood pressure, relieve tension-related headaches and effects of eye-strain
• Massage improves muscle tone by mechanically stimulating inherent reflexes found within muscle fibres. This is particularly important to those who do not obtain adequate daily exercise due to a sedentary lifestyle or long periods of convalescence.
• Massage helps relieve muscle tension and stiffness thus reducing muscle spasms
• Through the use of transverse massage strokes massage can help to prevent adhesions from occurring in between the muscle fibers. When muscle fibers start to adhere together it can act to restrict their full range of motion.
• Massage stretches the connective tissues which surround and support the musculature. This promotes its health and prevents it from adhering to the muscle.
• Massage can therefore provide greater joint flexibility and range of motion
• Massage can alleviate discomfort during pregnancy
• Massage can enhance athletic performance by fostering faster healing of strained muscles and sprained ligaments, reducing stiffness, pain and swelling found within the joints due to injury and reducing the formation of excessive scar tissue
• Massage can therefore treat injuries caused during sport or work
• Massage enhances the health and nourishment of skin
• Massage improves posture by bringing awareness to imbalance in musculoskeletal structures
• Massage can help treat musculoskeletal problems and aid in rehabilitation post operative and after injury