Does Massage Therapy Help with Sleep?
Quality sleep is vital for your body and mind to perform at their absolute best. It helps you be more active, energetic, and productive. Your body also repairs and heals itself during sleep.
Did you know that massage therapy can help you improve the quality of your sleep and its benefits?
What happens to your body when you don’t sleep well?
Without proper sleep, you will notice you may not be able to function with full focus, your cognitive abilities decrease, your mental stability is impaired, and your risk of any accidents occurring in your place of work increases.
Chronic sleep deprivation can lead to a host of serious health issues like obesity, diabetes, and even cardiovascular diseases. Lack of sleep translates to increased cortisol levels (stress hormones), which in turn is connected to increased hunger and fatigue levels, depression, issues with blood sugar, and increased levels of belly fat.
There is a lot of research, clinical trials, and proof to show that massage therapy can help improve the duration and quality of your sleep. Massages are great for holistic well-being. You will feel relaxed and experience a boost in your mood after a good massage. Consequently, you will get a good night’s sleep too.
How Massage therapy helps with sleep
Massage therapy is when the soft tissues of your body are manipulated to promote healing and wellness.
Keeps cortisol levels in check
Regular massages help to regulate your hormones. This leads to a 30% decrease in the stress hormone called cortisol. Decreased cortisol means you experience lower levels of stress, which can make sleep that much easier.
There is evidence to show that massage therapy reduces stress hormone exposure. So, less stress will interfere with your sleep, enabling you to enjoy much better sleep.
[LEARN MORE]: Massage and mental health: How can one help the other?
Serotonin production
Massages influence the secretion of serotonin and, in turn, melatonin, which is nothing but a sleep-inducing substance. The former is a neurotransmitter that helps to stabilize the mood and induces a feeling of calmness and tranquillity.
Melatonin helps you get a better shut-eye by asking the brain to take it slow! The circadian rhythms are reset, and regular sleep follows.
Restless Leg Syndrome
For people with restless legs, massage therapy can definitely help. Restless legs are one of the contributing factors to insomnia.
To relax the muscles that cause Restless Leg Syndrome, a massage can help alleviate discomfort. When you don’t feel those unpleasant sensations and are less anxious, sound sleep is guaranteed!
Alleviates pain
Stress and anxiety prevent you from getting sound sleep. There is another thing that may rob you of quality sleep; it is pain.
The muscles of the neck and back are particularly prone to tension and stress. This can cause difficulty sleeping because our bodies tend to feel stiff and rigid. Can you imagine falling asleep if you have aches and pains everywhere? Stiff joints, swollen or inflamed muscles, sore back, pulsating neck pain, or sore back can all keep you up at night.
A good massage in these places can relax those muscles. Massages are a great option to help with even chronic pain.
Remember, pain and sleep make one another worse. If you are suffering from pain, it will disrupt your sleep. You would be tossing and turning to find a comfortable position in which to sleep. Lack of sleep will only exacerbate the pain.
Whether it’s pain after an injury or surgery, too much work, headache, neck, shoulder, and back pain, or arthritis, massage therapy can help tremendously.
What type of massage helps with sleep issues?
Forever Young Spa offers several massage modalities. Consult with your massage therapist to identify which may be most suitable for you.
Swedish Massage: Your massage therapist will perform various actions like kneading, rubbing, tapping, vibrating, etc., along with long gentle strokes to help the body relax and invigorate.
Deep Tissue Massage: This technique is ideal for relaxing the tension within the deep layers of the muscles and connective tissue. So, the strokes will be deeper and more forceful.
Hot Stones Massage: In this method, heated stones are placed on parts of the body like the back, stomach, hands, and feet to loosen tight muscles, promote relaxation, and get relief from pain.
Trigger Point Massage: There may be certain tight spots within the muscles, known as trigger points. Trigger point massage targets the tight parts to release tension and alleviate pain.
Final Wrap
With just a few minutes of massage, you will experience a sense of calmness and relaxation. This, in turn, leads to lower heart rate, decreased blood pressure, a relaxed central nervous system, and more healing benefits.
Massages are not just for pampering. There are so many physical benefits you can enjoy, including improved sleep. If you include regular massage therapy in your schedule, you will be rewarded with relief from pain, a break from the cycles of stress, and restful nights.
With massage therapy, you can sleep soundly, your pains and aches can be alleviated, your anxiety levels will be low, your mood will improve, your stress hormones will be under control, and you will be much more alert, focused, and energetic to take on the day! Massages help people having sleep issues like insomnia, Restless Leg Syndrome, sleep apnea, and narcolepsy.
If you suffer from sleep issues, book a massage therapy session with a reputable spa and enjoy some much-needed restful sleep!