“Massage is one tool we use to help patients enjoy immediate back pain relief,” said Dr. Gengler. “This natural treatment helps patients by stimulating internal healing. Massaging the skin stimulates the flow of oxygenated blood, which flushes out these toxins and helps the body heal.”

“During a treatment session, important physiological changes occur inside a patient’s body,” said Dr. Gengler. “Blood pressure and heart rate decrease, helping patients to relax. At the same time, the level of cortisol — a stress hormone also associated with weight increase — drops. In its place, the levels of endorphins, a natural ‘feel-good’ hormone, increase. Patients leave our therapy sessions feeling relaxed, calm and centered. Whether a patient is coping with pain or stress, a treatment session helps the mind clear out clutter and refocus.”

According to Dr. Gengler, treatments like deep tissue massage are also important for releasing tightly-locked muscles. “After an accident injury, muscles may be strained, torn or pulled,” said Dr. Gengler. “The body may cope with this injury by shifting movement to other parts of the body. This can cause muscles to become rigid or stiff, losing flexibility. Deep muscle massage unlocks pain trapped deep inside the fascia, providing relief for chronic back pain and other injuries.”

No one has looked closely at what massage does to muscle at a cellular or molecular level, however. Researchers set out to do just that, and their findings are published in Science Translational Medicine.

The researchers exercised 11 young men to exhaustion over about 70 minutes, then massaged a single leg (determined randomly for each man) for ten minutes. The subjects received a muscle biopsy in both quad muscles to gather samples for massaged and non-massaged legs. The biopsy was repeated after a 2.5-hour rest period.

Researchers analyzed the samples from the different legs to see what was going on after the massage. They found two major changes: reduced signs of inflammation, and an increase in production of mitochondria, the cell’s energy factories.

Curbed production of inflammatory molecules “may reduce pain by the same mechanism as conventional anti-inflammatory drugs” like aspirin and ibuprofen, the authors write.

The authors say that an increase in the number of mitochondria can promote better recovery after a tough exercise session. That finding also means that massage after exercise could help enhance endurance, says Mark Tarnopolsky, an author of the study and a professor of pediatrics and medicine at McMaster University Medical Center in Hamilton, Ont. Nailing down that link would require further research, says Tarnopolsky.

A study published in 1998 in the Journal of Applied Gerontology found that elderly people who massaged infants experienced less stress, improved mood and fewer trips to the doctor.

Researchers believe massage, and touch generally, can strengthen the immune system by stimulating pressure receptors under the skin, which in turn reduces the stress hormone cortisol, the chief culprit in killing disease-fighting cells, said Tiffany Field of the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami School of Medicine.

But elderly people, who could use the immune-boosting benefits of touch the most, are getting it the least.

More than chatting, playing games or holding hands, giving focused, attentive touch establishes a nurturing bond that expresses caring, Nelson said. She has seen it ease symptoms of touch deprivation, such as irritability and a lack of interest in life. In people with dementia, she said, it helps ground them in reality.

Ok, so your neck hurts and rubbing increases the circulation, but so what, why does more blood in that area make it feel better?

The increase of blood flow delivers more nutrients to nerve and muscle cells and also aids in flushing away cellular toxins. As cellular health improves, the tissues function more efficiently. Body tissue that is starved of nutrients and oxygen heal slowly.

Just as if a garden hose has a kink in it, and then you undo that kink, the water has a burst of flow from the built up pressure, then the water flows easily through the hose again.

Ok, so back to that achy neck that you’ve been rubbing. Remember when you were little and you bumped your knee and just that little kiss from mom seemed to make it feel better? It really does! The sensation of pressure helps to block pain sensations from going to your brain. The idea of blocking pain with another sensation is commonly known as Gate Control Theory, even that shaking of your finger when you bang it with a hammer does the trick.

What else is going on when you get a massage?

When the muscles are tight or there has been an injury, the body develops adhesions, or bands of rigid tissue. These adhesions block circulation and limit movement. The tissue will “forget” that it can be looser and longer and muscles will stay contracted. Massage will physically break down these adhesions, softening them, stretching them or re-organizing them to go with the direction of the muscle fiber instead of against, to restore normal range of movement. Rubbing those muscles relaxes the tissue, reducing painful contractions and “reminding” the tissue that it can be looser.

And now our first big word of the day: Piezoelectricity. It actually means electricity resulting from pressure and parts of the body generate this electricity, including the repair material used after trauma or inflammation. The pressure from getting a massage stimulates, down to the molecule, that material to heal faster than it normally would.

It must be mentioned that massage doesn’t just feel pleasant and relax muscles, but also has a much more complex effect on your mental and emotional state. Massage therapy has been shown to reduce blood pressure, which is an indicator of stress.

When it feels good to be in your skin, you gain emotional and psychological benefits that are virtually impossible to measure. Massage can change your sense of self and be a catalyst for personal growth.

With all these benefits, you can see why regular massages (even once a month) are a good investment.[...]

Making time for massages is something persons from all walks of life should do because the benefits are numerous, says Orthopedic Sports Therapist Edwardo Thompson[...].

“You don’t have to lift something heavy to put your muscles under stress — it could be something as simple as a thought, so therefore that stress level that you’re now putting on your body needs to find its way out. I like to look at the body as a big chain of energy. Anytime you have a short circuit, it has to go somewhere. Electricians will tell you that the reason you have circuit boxes is because if you have a shortage somewhere it’s going to trip the breaker, so the same thing with stress. When your body becomes stressed then you start having boils and lumps and all these other things, and this is when diseases start to form. It has to go somewhere, and nine times out of 10, what massage does is help the body to relax. It helps the body to get rid of that load. Muscles are designed to move, so all the movement that you do over a period of time weighs you down and puts tension on you. It actually strains the muscle, so a good therapist will actually lengthen the muscle tissues and that’s where the results will come.”

Going for days, weeks and months on end without having your muscles relaxed to release the chemical reaction isn’t good says Thompson[...].

“The true benefit for me when I work on my clients is to really help them prevent stress … even disorders. Sometimes we [massage therapists] are the first ones to recognize a problem with a client. Sometimes the client doesn’t even know they have a problem. Because we’re working on them on a consistent basis, we’re able to identify things and sometimes we make suggestions,” he said.[...]

While the country is in an economic bind and most people are watching how they spend their “pennies,” he suggests that you start living from a preventative perspective instead of waiting for something to happen. Thompson says getting massages gives you the opportunity to maintain a perfect health, to recover it, and ensure that your body is performing at an optimum level at all times.

“Spend that quality time for yourself. To really look at it from the perspective that you not only want to live longer, but you want to live healthier. When you get a massage, it’s not that you’re getting a relaxation massage or feel-good massage, you’re actually helping your body to function.”

According to researcher Mark Hyman Rapaport and his colleagues at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, one session of massage may lead to immediate, significant positive biological changes.

The 29 adults who received 45-minute Swedish massages had small decreases in levels of cortisol, a stress hormone, and large decreases in levels of arginine vasopressin, a hormone that can increase cortisol levels.

The 24 adults who received light massages had greater increases in levels of oxytocin, a contentment hormone, than those who received Swedish massages. This may mean light massage is just as beneficial as a deeper Swedish massage, which involves therapists using “long strokes, kneading, deep circular movements, vibration, and tapping,” according to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

If you are having any memory issues or want to help boost brain activities, massage is a great way to achieve this. There are some companies that actually promote the use of a massage chair in therapy to help their employees get the brain booster massage. It takes only fifteen (15) minutes daily and help them boost their mental alertness and improve awareness.

Since Massage releases natural antibodies in our system, it can help with many physical and mental aliments. It helps to enhance our immune systems and can actually decrease the cortisol levels that are present with stress. Even common ailments like PMS, minor depression and even the well-known common cold can actually be prevented using massage therapy.

It can help you with minor depression and sadness since it is said that a massage stimulates the left portion of our brains that is stimulated when we are happy, pleased or excited. Thus, making us maintain a positive and happy attitude.

There are many positive sides to massage therapy which can include, but not limited to some of the following: it will reduce your stress levels and it’s harmful effects that it has on our bodies; it is good for blood circulation and our immune system; heals our minds and makes us feel a sense of well-being; it stimulates production of certain endorphins and helps with pain in injuries as well as in PMS; calms our central nervous system; help to improve sleep patterns; relaxes the muscles and reduces tension; aids in digestion; improves concentration by enhancing our brain activity; and it actually lowers our cortisol production and other known stress hormones.

It has also been shown that massage therapy on a regular basis can not only help prevent injury, but it also helps extend an athlete’s career by maintaining physical health. Ways regular massage sessions help prevent injuries include: improving mobility, joint flexibility and range of motion, increasing circulation, strengthening the immune system, and alleviating musculoskeletal problems which will improve posture.

“There has been an increase in the use and awareness of complementary and integrative therapies in the United States over the last 10 years,” the report noted. “Clinical nurse specialists are in an ideal place to influence this paradigm shift in medicine to provide holistic care.”

The top therapies requested most by patients were massage, spirituality/prayer, healing touch, acupuncture and music therapy. The top therapies the nurses personally used were humor, massage, spirituality/prayer, music therapy and relaxed breathing.

The results indicated most of the nurses thought complementary therapies were beneficial, the researchers noted.

The results of this study will help determine educational needs and clinical practice of complementary therapies at the medical center, the report stated.