Why opt for hands on treatment?
For many people, getting a massage is all about pampering and relaxation. But it turns out there’s more going on than just unwinding. There is a great deal of science behind the reasons why massage is beneficial, from promoting healing to preventing pain and injury.
Whether you are in pain from an accident, slip-and-fall injury, or spend too much time sat behind a desk, massage is a great way to start feeling better. Massage helps to keep soft tissues rested, relaxed, and better able to cope the wrongs we do to our bodies.
Lots of people come into the clinic with lower back pain, neck pain, and headaches. We spend a lot of time dealing with muscular aches and pains. But where does it all stem from?
Muscular Tension and Dysfunction
Dysfunction often stems from muscular knots, when individual muscle fibres cluster together. This creates shortness in the muscle that leads to a reduction in muscular function. With the use of hands on treatment we are placing compression on the muscle knot educating the muscle to untie itself. Mechanical pressure from a massage is thought to increase muscle compliance.
Post massage people generally start to feel better, this can be due to an increase of blood flow to restricted muscles and improvement to the circulation of the lymph system. Massage also relaxes the muscles, which helps to reduce nerve compression. The overall relaxation we feel after a massage is due to the massage lowering your heart rate and blood pressure.
As a preventative therapy, massage promotes a relaxed state in muscles. Which helps people maintain a good posture, with their joints in better alignment. Many studies reported that massage may promote relaxation by enhancing psychophysiological response. Good posture goes a long way toward preventing musculoskeletal aches and pains.
The Science behind it all
A review of literature conducted by Gasibat and Suwehli (2017), was carried out to examine mechanisms of massage and its benefits in performance, muscle recovery, and injury prevention.
Massage is believed to benefit sportsmen through its biomechanical, physical, neurological, and psychological devices. Research has reported the effects of massage on physiological (investigated by simply blood flow and blood-borne substance), neurological (investigated by H-reflex), and psychological (investigated simply by questionnaire and psychophysiological recommendations such as heart rate, blood pressure) mechanisms. There is limited information on the possible mechanisms of massage. Especially mechanical aspects of pressure and movement of massage on muscle mass houses, such as passive or perhaps energetic muscle stiffness. Therefore, there is no evidence to support the claim that some massage techniques (e.g. Tapotement, vibration) can increase neuromuscular excitability.
Furthermore, a study conducted by Best and Crawford (2017), assessed the scientific literature of post exercise massage, and how it has accelerated in the last decade. These investigations suggest that the reduction in inflammatory cells and proinflammatory cytokines (cells that act to make a disease worse) by massage can moderate secondary injury associated with intense exercise. Thereby reducing tissue damage and accelerating recovery.
However, a study carried out by Bervoets, et al., (2015), to determine the short term effects of massage therapy with common musculoskeletal disorders. Concluded, that massage therapy, as a stand-alone treatment, reduces pain and improves function compared to no treatment in some musculoskeletal conditions.
The literature mentioned above displays the vast depth of science behind massage. But all expose the benefits and importance of regular hands on treatment.
Here at Comfort Health
If you’re interested in feeling the benefits of a massage for yourself, Click Here to get booked in today to see one of our practitioners. At Comfort Health we offer a variety of Massage treatments – Sports Massage, Deep Tissue Massage and Cupping Therapy.