Can a massage be therapeutic?

Massage therapy is safe and effective for people of all ages. It's not just a feel-good way to treat yourself or pamper yourself. It's a powerful tool to help you take control of your health and well-being, whether you have a specific health condition or are looking for a medication to relieve stress. Turns out those benefits aren't just anecdotal.

No, the power of massage therapy is backed by decades of scientific research, and some of the most innovative studies are less than 10 years old (in the world of science, that's not much). A hard workout, whatever is hard for you, makes you feel like a normal flight of stairs is a backpacking trip that costs 20 miles uphill.

Therapeutic massage

is one of the best recovery tools for sore muscles after workouts, especially in elite athletes. There is increasing research supporting the health benefits of massage therapy for conditions such as stress, fibromyalgia, low back pain, and more.

Find out how you can benefit from adding massage therapy to your health and wellness routine. Deep tissue massage is great for breaking down scar tissue and getting blood circulating, but it may not be what you need on a particular day. Research from the University of Granada in Spain found that a single session of massage therapy immediately affects perceived pain in patients with chronic tension headaches. And if the massage therapist isn't familiar with your problems, you may be referred to a colleague who can better serve your specific needs.

The massage therapist should perform a touch evaluation to locate painful or tense areas and determine how much pressure to apply. Medical or therapeutic massages can help with serious medical problems, from low back pain to migraines and whiplash. In addition, massages help babies sleep more, cry less and be less stressed, according to research from the University of Warwick. Scientists have found that therapeutic massage can help you fall asleep faster, stay asleep longer, and get better quality sleep.

No matter what type of massage you choose, you should feel calm and relaxed during and after the massage. That's a big question, and it varies from person to person and can even vary depending on what happens to your body on the day you get a massage. Science also shows that massage therapy can reduce disease markers, such as inflammation and cortisol. Therapeutic massage is a general term that describes any type of massage modality that helps relieve pain, reduce stress, and work on a specific problem, such as a frozen shoulder.