9/04/2009

Other Physiological Benefits

Massage effects a number of other body systems besides the muscular.

Nervous System - Specific massage techniques can either stimulate or relax the nervous system. So if you need to come down from a hectic day, there are ways to provide a sedative effect and calm your body's reflexes down.

Circulatory System - I provided some examples last blog, but there are other quite interesting results from massage. It can stimulate blood flow through the deeper veins and arteries, increases the amount of blood stored in one's muscles, and overall improves the system which means less work for your heart. With massage, the whole blood-making process improves resulting in increased red and white blood cells.

Digestive System - Massage definitely gets "things" moving along. If you have ever expelled gas during a massage, fear not. You were not the first and will not be the last. Massage assists peristalsis in your intestines and helps speed up the elimination process. Having issues in this department? Let me know; some gentle abdominal techniques can be applied to assist peristalsis even more and having you moving your bowels in no time!

Immune System - Massage has been clinically studied to prove that it does assist in the healing process. it is well documented to aid in arthritis, recover from surgeries, lesson effects of chemotherapy, eliminate toxins and germs from the body etc. There are so many diseases that massage can assuage the side effects of the medication and/or the actual illness itself. i will be more specific when I do my list. A huge way this works is by massage relaxing people. When people are stressed, there is a whole chain reaction of hormones and change sin the body to cope with this fight or flight instinctual feeling. When we can get relaxed the effects of those changes are reduced. Also, we all know massage helps us sleep. Whether it is catching some z's during the session or finally achieving that good night's rest the following evening. When we sleep, our bodies are hard at work recovering from the day and repairing our body. So more sleep= feeling better.