When someone asks historians to describe 2020 I believe the description will go something like this, “Imagine being stuck in Geppetto’s workshop. After months of being ignored, he remembers that he put you at the bottom of a box after the Duke’s son decided to go with a different doll – because boys can play with dolls – and he aggressively puts you in his vice grip to work on a hinge that has rusted from all the tears you’ve shed, and, as if in dramatic slow motion, closes the vice squeezing the life out of you. That was 2020.”
Life is stressful. As a chiropractor in Springfield, Illinois, I see stress on the faces, hear it in the voices, and feel it in the bones of my patients. We’re overloaded by family, work, money, health, politics, and a constant barrage of people telling us how to cope.
Many of us have turned to prescription painkillers and antidepressants to battle the physical ravages of emotional stress. As chiropractors, there is nothing we hate more.
The whole idea behind chiropractic care is that the body can heal itself. Chiropractors simply remove the things that are interfering with the body’s ability to naturally heal. We know that healing is possible without drugs or surgery because we see it every day. Massage therapy is an incredible complement to our most powerful chiropractic treatment for natural pain relief, the chiropractic adjustment. Massage allows those adjustments to hold longer because it conditions the body to be able to support a healthy spinal structure.
Here are 8 other benefits of massage therapy. If these don’t motivate a person to sprint to their local chiropractor for a massage then I don’t know what to say.
1. Lower Back Pain Relief
Massage therapy may be a helpful option for many patients with chronic lower back pain. In a study of 13 clinical trials to investigate the effects of massage on lower back pain, it was concluded it can help reduce symptoms of both acute or chronic low-back pain, especially when combined with other holistic exercises…ahem like chiropractic care. Evidence suggests acupressure is as effective at reducing back pain as traditional Swedish massage because it puts more pressure on key points along the spine – relieving discomfort faster than a lazy back rub from our husbands while they round their 10th hour of watching golf in one weekend.
Low back pain is often caused by subluxations – misalignments in the spine – which chiropractors are the kings and queens of correcting thank you very much. But when our spine falls out of alignment or our posture is distorted that puts a lot of undue pressure on our muscles that they were not designed to deal with. This creates tension and spasms which massage therapy works to relieve, allowing our muscles to relax and focus on the job they were meant to do: make us look good at the beach.
2. Relief From Arthritis, Fibromyalgia, Bursitis, and Joint Pain
Around 35% of people who get massages do so to ease pain and stiffness associated with chronic health conditions. Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition that is described as pain, joint rigidity, intense fatigue, sleep alterations, headaches, and muscle spasms – almost too much to bear. These terrible characteristics make it the perfect candidate for massage therapy. In a study of 74 fibromyalgia patients, results showed that after one month those who received massage therapy had reduced symptoms of anxiety, reduced pain, improved quality of sleep, and, best of all, improved quality of life.
3. Lowers Depression, Anxiety, and Fatigue
Depression, anxiety, and fatigue have become the necessary evils that accompany life. We’ve learned to live with them. What a terrible thing to learn! We need to cancel this idea that anxiety is a natural part of life and we will just always be tired.
What’s more, chronic pain often triggers depression and that depression leads to worse pain and more muscle tension.
Massage has been shown to lower these alien intruders into our lives as well as reverse the cycle of depression. Chronic pain and depression are attributed to changes in our cognitive functioning and various hormone-producing glands that get thrown off by muscle tension and subluxations or postural distortions. Massage helps to correct those structural imbalances and relieves muscle tension, pain, and depression while combating low energy levels and sleep issues.
4. Regulates Hormones and Controls Diabetes
Massage has been recommended to people with diabetes for over a century. Study after study after study, I can keep going but I won’t, has found that massage:
- Promotes relaxation
- Lowers nerve damage
- Encourages physical activity
- Reduces emotional eating
- Improves diet
- Improves quality of sleep
- Restores hormone balance
Chronic inflammation is one of the most overlooked causes of disease. Massage therapy helps to reduce inflammation by increasing blood flow to inflamed areas and decreasing levels of chronic inflammation substances known as cytokines. Plus, it banishes the cytokines in a way that avoids the nasty side effects of and other approaches for treating disease.
5. Raises Immunity
Our body has two nervous systems because everything has to be complicated. The parasympathetic or “rest and digest” system and the sympathetic or “fight or flight” system. When we are stressed our body diverts energy from essential functioning to protect us from a threat. That means our ability to breathe, digest, and heal are all impaired in order to fend off a bear or an annoying coworker or a nosy neighbor or bad job market or an overdrawn checking account or birds…I don’t like birds.
Massage therapy raises immunity by lowering the hormone that puts our body into a fight or flight response. By lowering these cortisol levels our body returns to processing nutrients for fuel, oxygenating blood, and producing white blood cells to fight off infections.
6. Helps to Lower High Blood Pressure
Lowering the fight or flight response and activating the rest-digest response dramatically lowers our blood pressure. This lowers the risk of heart disease and anxiety, are you picking up on the theme here? If a patient is looking for a safe, effective, cost-effective way of controlling blood pressure we direct them straight to our Massage Club.
7. Helps People Quit Smoking
Massage has been shown to:
- Reduce cravings and withdrawal symptoms
- Improve mood
- Reduce the number of cigarettes smoked
People who get massages are so relaxed and buoyant that the thought of smoking doesn’t even cross their minds. They’re too busy pursuing their dreams. If it seems like I’m coming across as dismissive of smokers, then my intention was effective.
8. Improves Athletic Performance and Prevents Sports Injuries
All this is made possible by massage. Massage increases range of motion and flexibility and relaxes tense muscles. All of this reduces the risk of injury which athletes love. A relaxed and focused mind plus a body that is free from inflammation and pain multiplied by a low risk for injury equals:
Massage has been used by people all over the world for thousands of years to naturally treat physical and mental issues. That’s why at the Springfield Wellness Center we believe it is the perfect complement to our chiropractic care. Massage is also the king of self-care. It’s the perfect way to tell your body, “you is kind, you is smart, you is important.” Call us or schedule a time to meet with one of our incredible doctors. Today! Do it right now!