Life today gives people everything almost instantly. It gives them instant convenience, instant solutions and instant results, but, amidst all the advantages a modern lifestyle provides, it also brings a lot of stress that hinders sound sleep. Stress and a lack of deep sleep can be killers and reduce the overall quality of one’s life.
Studies show that the most common cause of health problems today is a lack of sleep that can be caused by too much stress. One such study, “The Effect of Psycho-social Stress on Sleep: A Review of Polysomnographic Evidence”, read at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4266573/ digs into these sleep issues. Aside from improper diet and an unhealthy lifestyle, prolonged periods of stress can subconsciously affect many systems of the human body. One’s lack of sleep may lead to possible health problems, such as heart disease, gastrointestinal disorders, memory loss, and decreased immune system functionality.
One popular and effective stress-reduction technique is massage therapy. Massage therapy is a hands-on manipulation of soft tissues that include muscle, skin, tendons, and associated fascia and ligaments. Massage therapy concentrates on treating joint capsules in the body. Apart from decreasing muscular tension and increasing the removal of metabolic waste caused by extended periods of stress, massage therapy also encourages and assists in nutrient delivery to healing tissue and will eventually help a person to get better sleep.
There is no doubt that massage therapy has become a significant part of general health care. A large number of medical professionals and healthcare systems across the world recognize the role massage therapy can play in treating chronic ailments. Massage can contribute to a general well-being through its complimenting effect of better sleep.
Massage therapy, often considered a remedy for stress, helps by reducing the tension built up in muscles. Besides elevating the immune system, massage therapy increases circulation and the eventual nutrient delivery to necessary bodily tissues. More medical professionals are advising their patients to include massage therapy as part of their healthcare treatment.
Those that lead high-stress lives and find getting a full-night’s sleep a challenge find massage therapy very helpful in many ways. Among the extensive benefits of massage is the therapeutic effect on the body. Massage therapy not only causes diverse physiological effects but its therapeutic affect is also proven to improve health by acting directly on the muscular, nervous, circulatory and immune systems.
Along with the goal to develop, maintain, rehabilitate, or augment physical function, massage therapy also relieves or prevents physical dysfunction and pain. The act of massage also relaxes tight and tense muscles while improving circulation, recovery time, and immune system function, which reduce overall stress. Massage has also been discovered to assist in controlling chronic or acute pain.
By enabling different movements that can physically stretch muscles, ligaments, tendons, and fascia, massage therapy also encourages the circulation of blood through soft tissue, inhibits muscular spasms, and sedates or stimulates the nervous system.
Even with all of the known studies and health effects massage therapy is still not being utilized by many. Massage therapist professionals have completed hours of education at certified massage schools and have extensive knowledge of anatomy, pathology, physiology as well as specific stress-relieving bodywork techniques. The provides them the expertise to know when massage therapy should be applied as part of a health regimen and which technique will yield the best results.
Not only should you engage a massage therapist today to talk through the health benefits getting a massage can provide, but should also give yourself a good night’s sleep through getting a massage today.
