By in Sports Massage, Therapeutic Massage

The Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Massage

Multiple studies from around the world consistently find that massage techniques help reduce inflammation and therefore reduce pain and improve quality of life.

Whether we are talking about pathological tissue change and the associated pain of certain disease states, or sports-related muscle pain from intense training, studies have found that massage aids in pain reduction most likely because of a reduction in tissue inflammation.

Pain related to intense sports is often studied to better manage elite athletes, not just so they suffer less pain and discomfort but also to study how such improvements could have the potential to improve performance or the track or field of play.

When the findings of such studies prove that massage has a positive impact on individuals then we can translate the findings into the general population.

Muscle and joint pain, including lower back and neck pain, is most often due to inflammation. Higher levels of inflammation cause sensitivity in all our tissues, not just muscles, and will lead to more pain and discomfort in our body. 

I have talked in previous blogs about how higher stress levels and poor diet affect inflammation and is linked with more pain and suffering. Low or poor sleep patterns are increasingly being identified as linked to more chronic inflammatory conditions. Anecdotally, I regularly hear from my patients that they have one or two nights of better sleep after treatment, so if massage can have these effects, then it could help many people suffer less and live a better quality of life.

When it comes to more chronic inflammatory conditions such as diabetes, specific abdominal massage has been demonstrated to reduce insulin resistance by directly stimulating blood flow around the gut organs. This could have a beneficial impact on the management of chronic inflammatory conditions such as diabetes when used in combination with more traditional management strategies such as diet, exercise and medications.

So whether you are a sports person looking for less muscle pain and continuing to train as hard as possible, or suffering from a chronic inflammatory illness, massage could be a way for you to better manage your symptoms and improve many aspects of your quality of life. Or maybe, you would prefer just to feel less discomfort or improve poor sleep patterns caused by a sedentary and /or stressful job.

If you would like to try a session for yourself, we at The Body Matters Clinic can look specifically at your individual requirements and target those needs with the appropriate massage for you.

Matthew Oliver is an osteopath, musculoskeletal pain specialist and massage therapist. For further information or to book a treatment with Matthew, phone The Body Matters on 01702 714968 or contact us to book an appointment.

Louise
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