In our everyday life, we are bound to face some muscle-related problems, especially when we get older. Anything from lifting something unexpectedly substantial, to mild dehydration can cause muscle problems. These issues can be quite painful and irritating, and they can affect our lives in many ways.

However, there are numerous natural ways to treat problems like sore muscles, muscle spasms, cramps and inflammation, and one of the most common and effective methods to do so is massage. Massage can have numerous benefits for the human body, which is proven by multiple studies, but have you ever wondered how massage works.

Well, today, we are going to tell you in detail about Massage therapy and how it can be useful in relaxing our muscles and body.


Keep reading to learn more.


Massage triggers many physiological changes in us, and it affects us in two distinct ways. The first response of massage can be called the relaxation response, which is the involuntary response of our central and chemical nervous system to different massage techniques and human contact. The second response can be termed as a mechanical response, which refers to the actual physical changes that occur in our body due to various massage techniques.

In harmony, both these responses work to help us relax and improve our health in several ways.

Now, we are going to go into further detail of both of these responses and how they work on a biological level. 

The relaxation response:

relaxation response
The caring and assuring touch of a trained massage therapist is like an invitation to relax and unwind. It triggers the relaxation response, which is a state in which your heart rate slows down, you take deep breaths, your blood pressure decreases, and numerous hormones are released and controlled by the nervous system.

Most importantly, the stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline are decreased, and dopamine and serotonin are released in the body, which ensures relaxation. The increased serotonin levels also create positive thoughts and help us forget about our problems.

All of these changes in the body make for some positive impacts on it. Firstly, it can result in increased stress levels, and secondly, stress symptoms like hypertension, anxiety, digestive disorders, persistent fatigue and cardiac arrhythmias are also countered, check out massage edmonton south.

All of these effects also ease our nervous system, which can help decrease muscle spasms and relaxes our muscles. The relaxation of our muscles is also promoted by reduced stress. 


The mechanical response:

On a mechanical and physical level, massage works in two different ways. Firstly, it can increase the effectiveness of our lymphatic system by increasing blood flow and lymphatic flow in the body. Secondly, massage can result in the relaxation of sore tissues like muscles, tendons, ligaments and connective tissue.

Therefore, you should try to make a massage appointment at least once a week, or you can invest in a beneficial massage chair that can provide you with the benefits of massage therapy at home. If you are interested in getting one, you should check out OOTORI massage chairs


1. Improving the lymphatic system:

The lymphatic system is responsible for extracting fluids from our organs, remove the toxins from it and return them to the blood flow. The improper function of the lymphatic system can lead to loads of problems, a couple of which are fluid retention and muscle inflammation.

Both of these problems can be quite detrimental for our body, and they can lead to several muscle-related issues. However, as a result of massage therapy, the improved lymphatic system prevents these problems from occurring, and it promotes the relaxation of our muscles. 


2. Improving blood circulation:

Another significant impact of massage therapy is that it can increase the blood circulation in our body. This means that the blood can reach our organs more effectively and collect lymph fluid from them. Moreover, healing is also improved due to increased blood flow, which is beneficial in treating sore muscles.

Moreover, a study conducted by the experts at the Cedars-Sinai medical centre in Los Angeles showed that around forty to forty-five minutes of massage could result in an increased number of lymphocytes in our body, which are white blood cells that are instrumental in decreasing inflammation and pain.


3. Relaxing tissues:

Massage therapy can also relax our muscle tissues, which aids in the reduction of painful contractions and muscle spasms. Furthermore, massage therapy also reduces unwanted nerve compressions, which is another reason for painful muscle spasms.

To understand this concept in more detail, consider that contracted muscles can sometimes cause compression of the nerves around them. This can be very bad for our body, however, when you get a massage, contracted muscles are relaxed, and the nerves around them can come back to their proper and healthy state and function usually. The nerves can transmit messages from the brain to the muscles efficiently, which improves our muscle coordination and eliminates the chances of painful muscle spasms.

Apart from impacting muscles, ligaments and tendons, massage can also be beneficial in relaxing deeper tissues. Though deep spinal musculature can't be accessed easily by massage that is done on the surface, the relaxation of superficial muscles can also impact the deeper muscles positively. In this way, massage helps both surface and deep muscle tissues relax and heal.

Apart from our muscles, our organs can also gain a lot of benefits from massage. They benefit from the improvement of the lymphatic system, but the relaxation of muscles can also be useful for our organs. Most of our organs share neurological pain pathways with different muscles, nerves and bones. Moreover, if the muscles are in pain, specific organs can also deteriorate their performance. Therefore, massage is beneficial for both our muscles and organs.

To sum it all up, massage has numerous physical and psychological benefits for the human body, but some people don't believe in this form of treatment. Unawareness is one of the most prominent reasons behind this. Therefore, in today's post, we have discussed some details about how massage therapy works on the human body. We hope that you find this post informative.

Author Bio:
This article is written by Anthony. He believes words have the power to influence people and disseminate knowledge artistically. Even though, he writes for no particular niche, his passion for blogging has driven him to take up writing in his leisure time to accompany his studies.