Getting a massage can feel like the height of luxury. It’s relaxing, indulgent and feels great! But massages also have a lot of great health benefits that go far beyond relaxation.
Whether you book a massage with me, self-massage, or have an at-home mini-massage with a willing partner, it turns out that a weekly massage can do wonders for your health.
Routine and regular massages have been proven to be a powerful tool to help you take charge of your health and well being. In this blog post, you’re going to learn six scientific health benefits of weekly massage.
Benefits of Weekly Massage #1: Speeds Up Healing
Have you ever pulled a muscle during a workout or tweaked a muscle from overreaching? Maybe you’re just sore from an intense workout? Massage therapy relieves muscle strain faster and more effectively than other alternatives, like ice baths (which can be quite jarring).
Weekly massage can help you prevent injury, but can also speed the healing process of pulled muscles, or sore joints. Regular massages leads to less pain medication (your liver and kidneys will thank you).
Benefits of Weekly Massage #2: Helps Get Rid of a Stiff Neck
Next to back pain, neck pain is one of the most common reasons why clients schedule a massage.
Whether you have a pinched nerve or crick in the neck that makes you look like Star Wars’ droid C-3PO, getting regular massage focused on loosening those overly tight neck muscles can make a big difference.
Benefits of Weekly Massage #3: Boosts Your Immune System
It sounds unbelievable, but routine massages can actually help boost your immune system. Tiffany Fields, from the Touch Research Institute, says that massage decrease cortisol levels, which cause stress.
She also states that the benefits of massage help increase immune functioning. “We’ve found that whether we’re studying pain or psychiatric problems or attention problems, autoimmune problems such as diabetes, and immune-system problems like cancer, they all benefit from massage.”
Massage helps to release endorphins, which are compounds known to reduce pain and produce a sense of euphoria. Just after 15 minutes of massage, endorphins come into play and their “feel good” effects may last up to 48 hours.
Benefits of Weekly Massage #4: Improves Joint Flexibility & Range of Motion
Because of the increased blood flow, and encouraging elasticity in skin, muscles, and joints, massages also have a big impact on your flexibility and range of motion. That not only improves your workout, but it can leave you less susceptible to injury, and could even help you heal faster from a fall or other impact.
If you experience joint swelling due to poor circulation, or during spells of bad weather, a weekly massage can help. Massage can improve muscle elasticity and reduce and joint swelling, by improving blood flow to the swollen areas.
Benefits of Weekly Massage #5: Helps Get Rid of Headaches
Odds are you’ve experienced a tension headache at least once in your life. Constant stress, eye strain, exhaustion, and illness — whatever the cause, a massage can help. Neck or head massages can help alleviate headaches caused by pinched nerves, or countless hours sitting in front of your computer.
Weekly massages can also improve your quality of sleep by relieving night-time aches and pains and also relaxing the body to fall asleep faster. And ultimately helping with headaches caused by exhaustion or lack of sleep.
Benefits of Weekly Massage #6: Reduces Pain
Finally, here’s the most obvious one: regular massages can help reduce overall pain, especially back pain. You never know where you’re carrying your stress. For some people, it’s the jawline, for others, it might be the hands or legs. Or back. Or shoulders.
A weekly massage can help improve deep sleep, which can relieve pain and leads to better work productivity.
Massages help you manage stress, stay more relaxed, and benefit your health in more than one way. Whether you get a targeted massage from a licensed therapist or have one at home, incorporating massage therapy as part of your weekly schedule means making lasting changes to your health.
