Massage Therapy Benefits

Relaxation is the most well-known benefit of massage and it's also the most important. In order to understand why, let's first look at how massage causes relaxation in the body.

Massage and the Nervous System

• The nervous system is divided into four branches:
  The central nervous system--brain and spinal cord
  The peripheral nervous system--which connects the brain and spinal cord to the rest of the body
  The somatic nervous system -- which controls the external sense organs and reflexes
  The autonomic nervous system -- which controls motor neurons and internal organs.
  The autonomic system is part of the peripheral nervous system and is split into two parts sympathetic and parasympathetic.
  The sympathetic branch controls the stress response (or fight or flight response). During the stress response, blood vessels constrict, breathing becomes faster and more shallow, blood pressure rises, pupils constrict, the digesting system shuts down and muscles tighten, all in preparation for sudden bursts of movement.
  The parasympathetic branch controls in the exact opposite of the sympathetic branch and controls the relaxation response. During the relaxation response blood vessels expand, breathing slows and deepens, blood pressure lowers, pupils dilate, the digestive system activates and muscles relax.
  Now that we know how massage initiates the relaxation response, let's examine how activating the parasympathetic response paves the way for other benefits such as lowered blood pressure, improved oxygen transfer and improved muscle nutrition and waste removal.

Lower Blood Pressure

• Blood pressure is the amount of force needed to push blood through the arteries and veins. A blood pressure reading has two numbers, the systolic--which is the pressure in the arteries when the heart contracts, and the diastolic--which is the pressure in the veins when the heart relaxes. Normal blood pressure is between 100 and 120 for the systolic number and 70 to 80 for the diastolic. And a reading over 140 (systolic) or 90 (diastolic) is consider high blood pressure.
  The main cause of high blood pressure is constriction or blockage in the blood vessels, which causes the blood to flow through at a higher pressure. Think of a garden hose; if you constrict the opening at the end of the hose, the stream becomes stronger and more concentrated. In the case of blood vessels, most constriction is caused by collections of plaque on the vessel walls.
  Massage does not remove this plaque but it does relax the vessel walls, which creates more space, allowing blood to flow more freely and lowering blood pressure.

Improved Oxygen Transfer

• Under stress, breathing becomes fast and shallow. When this happens the vessels in the lungs (alveoli) don't have the opportunity to fully exchange CO2 and oxygen which then means less oxygen gets into the blood with each breath.
  By activating the parasympathetic response, massage slows and deepens the breath, which allows more oxygen to be absorbed into the blood and encourages the release of more CO2 . Slower, deeper breathing also slows heart rate because the same volume of blood has more oxygen so the heart doesn't have to work as hard to meet the body's oxygen demands.

Improved Muscle Nutrition and Waste Removal

• Blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the organs and muscles. It also carries away the waste products of metabolism to be filtered through the liver, kidneys and lungs. So slowing breathing, increasing the volume of oxygen and relaxing and expanding blood vessels all help increase the amount and rate at which nutrients feed muscles and organs.
  Activating the parasympathetic systems also relaxes the skeletal muscles, which further increases blood flow. Skeletal muscles have a rich blood supply, with millions of vessels. When under stress, the muscles contract which further constricts blood flow. Muscle is also very active tissue, and that uses a lot of oxygen and nutrients and produces a lot of waste products, even at rest. Relaxing the muscles allows blood to flow more freely within the muscle tissue which delivers more valuable nutrients and flushes out those waste products. This helps the muscles work more efficiently and is especially helpful when recovering from injury.

The Best Benefit of All

• The simple act of activating the parasympathetic nervous system has profound effects on other systems of the body. And by activating this system, massage provides a host of medical benefits. But, perhaps, the best benefit of massage is that it just feels good.
  Done properly massage renews the body and soul almost like hitting a reset button. Muscles are restored, as closely as possible, to their "factory state" and there is this profound feeling of calm, clarity and well being that can last for hours, or even days.
  And these effects are cumulative so the more regular your massage routine, the longer these benefits last.