Why massage is a miracle to the body?

Health benefits of massage

Most people think of massage as relaxation, something luxurious, during holidays or in a spa. But did you know that massage improves your health? Massage offers multiple benefits to the organs of the body. Massage works preventively and curatively. In Asia, massage has been used in hospitals for centuries to shorten waiting lists and massage is integrated into daily life. Parents massage their children and the children massage their parents to prevent diseases. In case of complaints, both health care services are integrated: people visit a professional massage therapist and only if they need it, are referred to what they call ‘doctors in Western medicine’.

Massage in hospitals

Recently, the number of people who are going to massage therapists in the west is increasing. Mostly because they were on holiday, for example, in Thailand and have benefited greatly from massage treatments. Also because nowadays many people want to live healthier and are more aware of their own health. Yet, our western culture is still more focused on cure than on prevention in many aspects.

Antidepressants or massage?

We might be taking good hygiene into account, take preventative vitamin D drops as a child and take the vaccinations we need. However, in the meanwhile we sit on a chair typing away on our computers for days until we have repetitive strain injury (RSI) and visit the doctor. We are taking ibuprofen or paracetamol for head- and back pain. And we have never known so many depressed and burn-out people. In the Netherlands more than 100 million medicines are prescribed annually. It is very worrying that the Netherlands is heavily on antidepressants and tranquilizers. It became even normal to say: I just take a “pammetje” – the medical term is benzodiazepines, but is commonly referred to as pam: temazepam, oxazepam etc. In 2016 alone, 1 out of 10 people in the Netherlands took psychoactive medication. In 2017, more than 1 million people in the Netherlands are using antidepressants. Stopping this medication is very difficult. Research shows that it is easier to get rid of heroin than antidepressant. So why do we use medication and try to cure ourselves instead of preventing complaints? Massage therapy works the same as ibuprofen or an antidepressant, but without the side effects. Weekly massage can cure complaints like head and back pain or repetitive strain injury (RSI).

Prevent illnesses instead of curing!

When receiving a traditional Thai massage, your level of cortisol (also called the stress hormone) decreases. So therefore a massage relaxes you immediately. Plus the massage increases your immune system. Because by massage the number of lymphocytes increases. This is a type of white blood cells that allows proper functioning of the immune system. Moreover, massage affects the activity of certain genes, immediately reducing inflammation in muscles — the same result you’d get by taking aspirin or ibuprofen — and boosting their ability to recover from exercise. So instead of using pain killers, you might try a massage next time. The Nobel Prize Winners recently discovered that disease is caused when cells cannot transport information to another cell in our body in the right moment at the right place. This is clearly seen by Alzheimer, diabetes, Parkinson and immunological diseases. To prevent these diseases, you should improve your blood circulation, by getting regular deep acupressure massages. A good blood circulation is the secret to good health. Hence, there are many health benefits of massage.

Sounds good? Read more below and choose what suits you best!