Improve Your Health with Deep Tissue Massage

lincoln nh massageThe first time you have a deep tissue massage, you may walk away swearing never to go back again because IT HURT! But a day or so past that first session, and you will begin to realize how much better you feel. Deep tissue massage reaches into the deepest layers of muscle tissue, fascia, and tendons, and brings a level of relief that Swedish massage cannot reach.

Before long, you will be dialing for another appointment with your favorite Lincoln NH massage therapist who gave you that deep tissue massage, willing to undergo more pain in order to achieve the level of relief you are feeling. You will walk away from the second session surprised that it did not hurt as much as it did the first time.

Benefits of deep tissue massage

  • According to a study that was reported in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, people receiving a 45 to 60 minute massage experienced a reduction in their blood pressure.
  • The University of Maryland found that when people had a deep tissue massage, their systolic pressure was lowered approximately 10.4 mm Hg, and their diastolic pressure was lowered approximately 5.3 mm Hg.
  • The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry reported that deep tissue massage reduced stress, hormone intensities, and lowered heart rate. At the same time, deep tissue massage caused an elevated mood and deep relaxation via its triggering of the release of naturally-produced oxytocin and serotonin.
  • Therapeutic benefits of deep tissue massage include the releasing of chronic patterns of tension. Deep tissue massage is used with people under chronic tension to teach their muscles to relax.
  • Deep tissue massage is also used to facilitate healing with muscle injuries such as a jammed shoulder and back sprains.
  • According to a report by the University of Maryland, deep tissue massage relieves chronic pain more effectively and affordably than drug therapy.
  • Deep tissue massage causes an increase in the flow of blood through the tissues in the body, helping to reduce inflammation, and thus alleviating pain. It also positively impacts the muscle tightness that evolves around an area of pain.

Possible negative aspects of deep tissue massage

With something that can bring such blessed relief to aching muscles, it is hard to believe there could be negative aspects, but the Mayo clinic reports that:

  • Deep tissue massage recipients may feel mild to severe pain after their massage for several days afterward
  • They may be bruised and tender for up to a week afterward.

Massage therapy experts believe these negative aspects arise from the technique being used inappropriately. They suggest that rather than jumping right into the most extreme levels of deep tissue massage, that massage therapists start clients off at a lesser level and in subsequent visits work up to the full level of deep tissue massage.

They also point out that pain is a very subjective feeling. Some people are more sensitive to pain than others, and it is all because of a difference in the brain’s grey matter. A Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center found that people who felt pain more intensely had less grey matter in certain regions of the brain.

Obviously deep tissue massage is not for everyone, but it is of real benefit to those who can tolerate it.  Can YOU!?  🙂

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