Benefits of Massage Therapy
Salutaris Centre offers many ways to make your massage therapy session the best it can possibly be. Not only do we have highly skilled registered therapists; they provide their services in the heart of the medical and Whyte Avenue University community at College Plaza.
Massage therapy provides a wide array of benefits, some specific to each particular condition, others of a more general nature. We can even point to research that verifies the benefits.
General Massage Benefits
General massage benefits fall into a number of categories as massage has been shown to act on several systems in the body. The following is a list of the general benefits found in the research literature:
Cardiovascular:
- Decreases blood pressure
- Decreases blood sugar level
- Decreases heart rate
- Increases pulmonary function in asthmatic children
Hormonal:
- Decreases cortisol levels (to regulate blood pressure and blood sugar)
- Decreases norepinephrine (this stress hormone increases blood flow to heart, muscles, and brain)
- Increases dopamine levels (which cause feeling of pleasure)
- Increases serotonin levels (which calm anxiety, relieves depression)
Muscular & Motor Function:
- Improves motor function
- Improves muscle tone
- Increases range of motion
- Decreases morning stiffness
- Decreases pain
- Decreases tremors
Mental Health:
- Decreases symptoms of depression
- Decreases anxiety
- Improves sleep patterns
- Decreases fatigue
- Improves self-esteem
- Improves body image
Immune System:
- Increases general immune function
- Increases natural killer cell number and activity levels
- Enhances cytotoxic capacity (immune systems killing capacity)
Specific Benefits
Specific benefits found with massage are associated with the particular condition that the therapist is addressing. The following lists individual benefits associated with each particular condition. The list is does not address all therapeutic possibilities.
Soft Tissue:
- Decreases pain of soft tissue injuries
- Decreases hypertension of muscle fibers
- Increases range of motion
- Decreases fascia adhesions
- Decreases pain associated with fibromyalgia
Joint Injury, Strains, Sprains:
- Decreases edema within and around the joint
- Increases range of motion
- Decreases pain of joint injury, strains and sprains
- Decreases dental pain
- Decreases post-operative recovery time
Headaches:
- Decreases or eliminates generalized headaches
- Decreases frequency of migraine headaches
- Decreases occurrence of headaches
