Whether it’s relaxing your muscles and joints or relieving stress, massages for chronic pain can help your body in more ways than one — but how can massage therapy actually help reduce pain? Massages are capable of relieving muscle pain and other problems by taking advantage of the body’s natural functions. Let’s review three of the most significant reasons why massage techniques are effective at pain management and recovery.
Promoting Healing
During massage therapy for pain relief, the patient’s blood circulation is greatly enhanced. This occurs because the pressure from their massage helps blood flow through congested regions of the body while allowing fresh blood to replace it. As a result, the nutrients carried by blood flow reach and repair the damaged areas easier. In a sense, massages help promote the body’s natural healing process.
Massage therapy for pain relief helps the body recover in other ways as well. Improved blood circulation can also help reduce the effects of inflammation which can worsen chronic pain, making massages a very beneficial technique. Additionally, massages can help drain out the lymphatic fluids, which play an essential role in the body’s immune system, allowing the patient to better stave off illness.
Relieving Tension
When muscles are stuck in a contracted state and are unable to be relaxed, an individual is experiencing muscle tension. This tension can lead to the formation of muscular knots, worsening chronic pain as a result. In an almost cyclical effect, chronic pain causes muscle movement to restrict in an attempt to prevent further pain, worsening tension as a result.
However, massage therapy for pain relief can help resolve this problem by allowing the muscles to relax. The increased blood flow that occurs during the massage will raise the temperature of the muscles, causing the tissues to become more elastic in response. This allows patients to move and stretch better, helping them relieve muscle tension.
Controlling Pain
Receiving a massage for chronic pain can help control your pain in several ways. For example, massages are able to interfere with the body’s nervous system and prevent other pain messages from reaching the brain. By stimulating bigger nerve fibers near the surface of the skin and making them obstruct the nervous system pathway, massages can compete with other pain signals and mitigate the feelings of chronic pain.
Additionally, massage therapy for pain relief can help reduce the presence of substance P, which plays a part in controlling pain levels. This neurotransmitter passes messages along the nervous system and pain pathways and is also found in inflamed areas. It has been found that those who receive massages have reduced levels of substance P, lowering their pain and inflammation as a result.
Call Today To Schedule Massage Therapy for Pain Relief
If you’re searching for professional massages to relieve your pain, then you can always trust Dr. David W. Nadler. He offers soft tissue massages, focused shockwave therapy for neck pain, and many other services. For more information and to schedule your important, reach out today.