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Massage – More than Just a Pampering Day at the Spa

Massage – More than Just a Pampering Day at the Spa

May 15 2019
Everyone loves a great massage – there’s no better way to feel pampered than a day at the spa, and a great massage is the highlight of spa day. But massage does more than make you feel pampered. It has proven health benefits that can mean less pain, less anxiety, and fewer symptoms from today’s common ailments. Today, we’ve put together a list of some of the main benefits of massage for a healthier you.

Stress relief. Stress is the way your body reacts when it feels threatened. It’s an important natural survival instinct, but in today’s modern world, there are plenty of new experiences that your body can view as threats – work, traffic, politics, etc. Our fight-or-flight reaction is designed to get us out of immediate danger, but today we tend to experience prolonged stress that can actually cause physical disease. Symptoms include fatigue, headaches, digestive problems, insomnia, anxiety, and many more. Massage relaxes muscle tension and other physical reactions of stress to help you feel relaxed and calm down those symptoms caused by excessive stress.

Pain relief. Massage helps ease muscle spasms that can amplify pain. Massage also improves blood circulation, which brings more oxygen and nutrients to your cells and organs, helping them perform optimally. It also improves lymphatic system circulation, which helps remove waste from your body. The touch of massage has a calming effect through the relaxation response, which is the opposite of the stress response. It slows down breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure and reduces stress hormones. Bringing your body to a state of relaxation reduces muscle contractions that cause pain. The same response helps chronic headache sufferers, because migraines and tension headaches are often worsened by stress. For athletes, massage can speed injury recovery by relaxing muscles, tendons, and ligaments. 

Help for depression and anxiety. That same relaxation response is very helpful for people suffering from depression and anxiety. It works by relaxing the body to relieve stress symptoms that so often accompany anxiety, and by providing safe, nurturing touch that helps strengthen that mind-body connection and produces more happiness.
Along with other treatments prescribed by a physician, massage therapy is a beneficial secondary treatment for depression that helps keep the body and mind relaxed. Massage also helps promote better sleep, which is important to everyone, including people suffering from depression or anxiety. 

Massage is much more than just a pampering treatment, helping to relieve many symptoms of pain, stress, and related disorders. The pampering is a plus – and a great massage at the spa is certainly a wonderful way to take time for yourself! 

At Helen’s Haven, our professional massage therapists provide full-body massages, quick stress-relieving massages for your neck and shoulders, and even special massages for expectant moms to relieve discomfort caused by pregnancy. Make an appointment today by visiting us at 4819 Ave., #6 in Honolulu or calling 808-739-0400. You can even book right from your mobile device with our free app, available on iTunes, Google Play, or Amazon.

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