Whether it’s due to work, relationships, or health issues, we all deal with different degrees of stress throughout our life. Add a pandemic on top of all that and you might be feeling a little more pressure or anxiety these days than you would typically experience. What can you do about increased strain? First thing, don’t ignore it. Stress can lead to negative behaviors and increased health risks that can be avoided if you deal with the issues head-on.
Common Signs of Stress
- Headaches
- Dry mouth
- Gastrointestinal problems
- Heart palpitations
- Loss of libido
- Overeating or undereating
As a massage therapist, I work with many patients who experience a variety of health issues with stress being an underlying problem. I also work on patients who simply want to feel more relaxed. In either case, there are physiological effects of massage that reduce stress and lead you to healthier wellbeing.
Massage For Stress Reduction
Massage triggers your body in different ways to aid in stress relief. For example, a massage can trigger an increase in endorphins, serotonin, and dopamine. These neurotransmitters are responsible for anxiety reduction, preventing depression, and giving you an overall sends of well-being. In fact, dopamine increases motivation and helps to prevent self-doubt. When we are low in these hormones we become more stressed and anxious and even feel loneliness. Massage can boost your body to release the positive hormones and benefit your mood.
Decrease Negative Hormones
You may have heard of the hormone cortisol which is best known for producing the fight or flight response. When you have too much of it in your blood-stream, it increases stress, anxiety, and depression. While we don’t aim to eliminate cortisol; it is a hormone that helps us react to a threatening situation as well as helps control blood pressure increase the body’s metabolism of glucose, and reduces inflammation. What we do want is to balance it with the positive hormones and we can do that through massage.
Would you like more information on how massage can help you reclaim a less stressful life? Please contact our Merrimack, NH massage therapy practice at (603) 321-6387 and we will be happy to help answer any questions you may have.
