Feb 10

Feb 10 10 reasons why massage is so surprisingly good for you

About 100 years ago (exaggeration for dramatic purposes) when I was editing the Marks & Spencer magazine, the publishing company I worked for offered a subsidised massage therapist as one of their employee benefits (ah, those were the days).

I’d never had a massage before, so thought I’d give it a try. I quickly came to look forward to my sessions with the brilliant Sandra as what I then regarded as my once-a-fortnight treat to myself. That was before I realised…..but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Becoming editor of Woman’s Weekly, I was lucky enough to move to another company with the same welcome perk. This time it was Diane (no I didn’t massage myself, that was her name too. So at least I wasn’t at any risk of forgetting it!) who gave my always-far-too-tight muscles a welcome fortnightly pummelling.

Then I left full-time work for the freelance/blogging world, leaving behind my massage ‘treats’ at the same time. And that was when I discovered that rather than being an indulgent bonus, massage was actually something that was far more integral to my overall health and wellbeing than I had appreciated.

Which, when I did a bit more research into the benefits of massage, it turns out is hardly surprising. Because along with the obvious pay-offs of soothing, relaxing and relieving sore, tight muscles, massage has a host of other benefits some of which you might be as surprised to learn about as I was.

(Clearly I’m not a medical, or massage, professional but this information is from trusted sources. You are, of course, free to explore each, very briefly described, benefit in more detail.)

It reduces anxiety and stress

Massage relaxes stress hormones like cortisol in your body and increases the feel-good ones, like endorphins, so as well as soothing your muscles, it also makes you feel calmer.

It boosts your breathing

The relaxation of muscles, including those in your ribs, chest and neck, that results from a massage, also helps to release restrictions on your breathing, meaning you’re able to take deeper and more effective breaths. Which is, of course, another great mechanism for relieving stress.

It helps you sleep better

The knock-on effect of the slow-down in the activity of your nervous system, and the increase in serotonin and dopamine (hormones which help to stabilise mood) promoted by massage, can help improve your sleep.

But it also makes you more alert

Sleeping better will naturally make you feel more on the ball during the day. But the stimulation of serotonin boosts your alertness generally as well. So when you’re feeling weary, a massage can be a great pick-me-up. And that’s thanks to the way..

It improves circulation

Massage increases both blood and lymph flow (the lymph system is responsible for moving blood around your body). The boosted blood flow helps injured muscles and organs and promotes faster healing. Applying pressure to certain points in the body encourages lymph flow and helps to eliminate lactic acid build up.

It’s good for your bones….

Because your bones also have a blood supply, the increased blood flow provides them with more calcium and minerals, both of which support their strength and function. So massage is good for your skeletal system as well.

…and your heart

Thanks to the he way massage increases blood flow around the body by relaxing the muscular walls of blood vessels, your entire cardiovascular system benefits, which has knock-on benefits for your blood pressure and heart rate.

It can help relieve digestive problems

Abdominal massage acts directly on your large intestine which is responsible for the final stages of digestion, so helping food move more smoothly through the digestive system. And that, in turn, promotes maximum nutrient absorption, which supports your overall well-being.

Massage to the abdomen isn’t a feature of most regular massages, so it’s worth mentioning and asking if it could help if digestion is something that’s an issue for you.

It improves your skin

The mere action - and friction - of the massage therapist’s hands over your skin causes a gentle exfoliation which allows fresh skin cells to emerge. And you to emerge looking that bit more glowing as a result.

It can be good for cancer patients

Because it has been found to help reduce symptoms like nausea, pain, insomnia and fatigue (for all the reasons explained above), massage is increasingly being offered as a complementary therapy for patients having cancer treatment.

Without the fortnightly attention they were used to, and it turns out very much needed, I don’t suppose I should have been surprised, bearing in mind all the above, that my neglected muscles didn’t take very long to start complaining. Or that having an increasingly achey body meant my overall well-being also took something of a dive as a result.

Finding a good masseur (ie not one that would just give me a perfectly pleasant but not wildly effectual, spa-style massage), somewhere reasonably local, was rather harder than one just appearing at my desk. Who knew.

So I was intrigued when I was approached by The Massage Company, whose ethos is to make it easier for people to access high quality, reasonably priced massage, so that it can become part of their health and wellbeing management, rather than a once in a blue moon treat.

With that aim in mind, they have opened, 5 centres, with more planned, in town centre locations. The one I went to was in a shopping centre on busy Putney High Street, in south west London.

I can report that the spotlessly clean centre had just the right balance of simple spa comfort and reassuringly medical approach. There’s a detailed form to fill in when you arrive, which combined with a friendly, but deliberately gently probing, chat with the reception manager, make sure that when you’re introduced to your therapist he or she is well armed with what they need to know to give you the best choice from the four different massages on offer (they’ve chosen to limit the range to deep tissue, sports, Swedish or maternity, in order to keep the standards of each as high as possible. All the masseurs are rigorously selected and have to do a thorough Massage Centre training programme as well).

Once we were in the sparse but not unwelcoming treatment room, my therapist, Jenny, went through the form and asked several follow up questions before inviting me to lie down on the divinely heated, comfortably padded bed, covering me with both a sheet and a blanket and then beginning the excellent massage.

After the treatment - I had the Swedish massage with a relaxing blend of aromatherapy oils - Jenny gave me a form with the information about what she’d done and her recommendations for future treatments.

The Massage Company work on a membership model, so although you can buy massages on a one-off basis (there was someone waiting to go in after me who had been given hers by her mother as a Christmas present), it’s better value if you become a member, for which you get one well-priced massage a month. All the details of the packages and treatments on offer and the locations of their centres are on their website.

Sadly, the Putney centre, which is currently the closest one to my home, really isn’t. Close, that is. So I’ve gone back to the drawing board with finding someone whose good work won’t be undone by having to travel across London for an hour and a half afterwards. Sigh…..