Massage is a therapeutic treatment which is capable of easing all the types of body pain and relieves you from stress and tension. As a result, it helps you to get the best of your physical as well as mental health. There are medications for relieving your stress and tension and easing the pain in different parts of the body. Nowadays, people try to avoid medicines and surgeries as much as they can. They are now inclined towards the natural ways of healing because of their least side effects. Massaging is also a natural treatment for healing. A lot of people are there who consider massage therapy for killing their stress.
Treatment of Stress with Massage
Stress is the universal truth and everyone suffers from different intensities of stress. Higher intensity of stress poses a serious problem to your physical health and emotional well being. Thus, it is important to get it treated with a massage. There are different types of massage therapies which are helpful in reducing stress but Swedish massage is specially designed for relieving your mind and body from stress. The primary goal of Swedish massage is to relax your whole body. This massage technique includes rubbing the muscles with fingertips or palm in the soft and gentle or vigorous and bracing manner. The massage strokes are given in the direction of blood returning from the heart.
Techniques of Swedish Massage
Add the therapeutic treatment in your routine to get rid of all the types of physical and emotional stress. When you are relieved from the stress, you will find yourself in a better state of mind and physical health. Swedish massage promotes relaxation effect through different techniques to kill the stress. The most common techniques include:
- Petrissage: This method is like kneading the dough. It is the rhythmic movement while massaging. The masseuse uses his/her palm to knead your body to relax the muscles and improve blood circulation.
- Rubbing: The main purpose of rubbing is to create the friction. Back and forth rubbing is done to create the heating effect in the muscles.
- Effleurage: It is the slow movement of hands on the body during the massage. It feels gentle and sensual. It includes long and gliding strokes which are helpful in reducing the stress. The massage strokes in this technique are steady and consistent. Use of forearm and changing the speed of strokes helps in creating a variation in this massage technique.
- Tapotement: It includes the Percussion strokes.This method includes rapid and rhythmic movement of the hands on the body. It stimulates nerves, muscles and improves blood circulation.Patting, pounding, and tapping are done to create the percussion in the muscles.
In addition to these, bending, stretching, rolling, compressing and vibrating techniques are also used in Swedish massage to relieve you from different types of stress.
Benefits of Massage in Relieving Stress
Swedish massage is similar to the deep tissue massage because the impact of the massaging technique is high in this type of massage. The masseuse uses essential oils or aromatic oils to massage it all over the body to get more healing effect. During the application of oil or massaging the body with different techniques, the masseuse manipulates the muscles and soft tissues to enable the body to get relieved from stress. This type of massage breaks up the muscle knots and promotes the blood circulation to relieve stress.
Physiological Effects of Swedish Massage
When you count for the physiological effects some of the top effects include:
- Improved blood circulation: Various techniques of Swedish massage are helpful in triggering the smooth flow of blood in your body. Thus, overall it can be said that Swedish massage is capable of dilating the blood vessels when the tissues or muscles relieve the pressure during the massage. The nerve receptors relax the blood vessels and help in reducing your stress.
- Raise the temperature of your inner body: The temperature of soft tissues is increased due to the friction of the skin during massage. Increased temperature results in relaxing the muscle tension, adhesion and stress.
- The release of hormones to get rid of stress: Swedish massage works on the body tissues and muscles to release endorphins, serotonin, and dopamine. These are the hormones which are responsible for improving your mood and reducing stress level. During the massage, the release of these hormones makes you feel lower stress and relaxed.
- Increase tissue elasticity: Swedish massage techniques are helpful in improving the elasticity of the tissues.It allows the body to stretch without feeling the restriction. Stretching and bending technique of Swedish massage increases the elasticity of the tissues which decreases the tension.
Overall, you will be able to recognize a huge change in your physical and emotional health. Your physical endurance is improved and your stress is conquered. Whenever you feel stressed or low on energy levels, Swedish massage is the best solution.
ABOUT Stacey Connor
Stacey Connor is a freelance writer who loves to read and write articles on health and lifestyle. She divides her time between travel and lifestyle. She has recently completed her Bachelor’s in Art History from the University of Chicago. You can find her on twitter @iamstaceyconnor.
