Whether it is an aching back, recovery from an injury, a case of carpal tunnel syndrome, a particularly uncomfortable third trimester, or a host of other debilitating physiological conditions, there's no doubt massage and bodywork works to relieve pain.
But once your therapist has helped you tackle your pain, do you quit calling? When the pain is gone, are you gone, too?
Massage therapy is highly effective for pain relief, but it is an amazing preventive therapy as well. Massage helps build and maintain a healthy body (and mind), it combats stress, and it works to keep the immune system strong. In short, massage can keep on working for you, even after the pain is gone.
Noted researcher Tiffany Field and her colleagues from the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami School of Medicine report that massage causes positive biological changes when it comes to stress. Through the course of more than 20 studies, these scientists found that massage decreases cortisol (a stress-derived hormone that negatively affects immune function and kills our immune cells) and increases dopamine and serotonin (the neurotransmitters most associated with emotional well-being).
Add to this the research that shows massage can lower your heart rate and decrease your blood pressure, and you have a mighty effective, non-pharmacological, stress-fighting tool that's about as natural as natural can get.
While monthly massage may be beyond the time or resources you have available, I often tell clients to consider coming in every 3 months or so if they can to receive the cumulative benefits of regular massage therapy. Have questions? Send us an email and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.