Benefits of Massage on Nine Body Systems
Skin
- Stimulates sensory receptors
- Exfoliates skin (sloughs off outer layer of dead skin)
- Moisturizes
- Aids circulation
- Opens sweat/oil glands as body temperature is increased
- Enhances overall skin texture
Muscular System
- Relief of muscle pain/discomfort
- Releases metabolic and muscle tissue waste
- Relaxes muscle
- Improves muscle functioning
- Relieves muscle spasms
- Improves tone and elasticity
- Stimulates cell activity, nerve supply, and muscle circulation
- Relieves stiffness
- Improves muscle injury rehabilitation
- Improves athletic performance
- Prevents delayed muscle soreness
Nervous System
- Interrupts noxious stimulation of pain
- Relaxes through effleurage and petrissage strokes
- Stimulates parasympathetic activity
- (relaxation and endorphin release)
- Increases awareness through touch
Endocrine System
- Encourages release of endorphins (natural pain killers)
Cardiovascular System
- Increases arterial circulation
- Improves/assists lymphatic and venous circulation
- May lower blood pressure and heart rate
- Produces increased blood flow
- Improves flow of interstitial fluid
- Exercises blood vessels by manually constricting them and allowing them to return to normal size
Lymphatic System
- Increases the free flow of lymph
- Assists lymph into proper elimination channels
Respiratory System
- Decreases and deepens breathing
- Can help break up respiratory congestion
Digestive System
- Assists movement of food byproducts through colon
Excretory System
- Helps eliminate body toxins
The above information is from Barbara R. Rice, former director of education for Dahan Institution of Massage Therapy in Los Vegas. She currently operates a massage clinic in Lakeland, Fla. She received her BA in Biology from the State University of New York at Oswego and is a graduate of the Sarasota School of Massage Therapy in Sarasota , Florida.
