What Is Massage Therapy?
Massage therapy is a treatment in which a certified professional manipulates the body's soft tissues or the skin, tissue, muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Massage Therapists use different techniques, pressure, and movements to accomplish the relaxation of the muscles and other soft tissues.
How Massage Therapy Helps With Overall Health
Massage therapy has been known to improve function of systemic organs. Here is a brief explanation on how massage therapy helps the circulatory system, nervous system, musckulo-skeletal system, digestive system, and respiratory system:
The Circulatory System:
Massage Therapy helps to improve the circulatory system by improving blood circulation to the venous, arterial, and lymphatic circulation by making the skeletal muscles contract and relax. Increasing blood flow will help clear metabolic wastes and by-products from tissue damage and inflammation.
The Nervous System:
Massage Therapy helps both the central nervous and peripheral nervous system that collects and processes information through nerves and the brain that cause muscles to contract during physical movements. Massage helps to reduce strain on the nervous system, reduce heart rate, and decrease nerve firing.
The Musculoskeletal System:
Massage Therapy helps to alleviate pain and relax out our body’s bones, muscle, tendons, cartilage, ligaments, connective tissue, and joint. Massage improves blood supply to the joints, which indirectly helps heal bones by lubricating the joints in the body.
The Digestive System:
Massage helps in the reflex stimulation in the series of muscle contractions that occur in the digestive tract. Decreasing muscle tension related to the lower thoracic and lumbar spine through massage also helps facilitate nerve feed to various digestive organs.
The Respiratory System:
Massage helps to relax the diaphragm tension and encourage deeper breathing that strengthens diaphragm function. Massage also helps lessen the hypertonicity and trigger points in the muscles between the ribs as well as back muscles to increase rib cage mobility.
Massage can also help you with additional health issues:
- improves mood, intellectual reasoning, and job performance
- positive effect on conditions such as fibromyalgia, arthritis, diabetes and migraine headaches.
Types of Massage:
- Swedish Massage
- Trigger Point Therapy
- Connective Tissue Release
- Myofascial Release
- Shiatsu
- Reflexology
Growing research continues to recognize the benefits of massage in the healthcare industry making it a key component of your wellness regiment.
Call West Hartford Chiropractic Today!
For more information about how massage therapy can help alleviate pain and improve your overall health, call West Hartford Chiropractic at (860) 232-5556 to schedule an appointment today!
