Stress
Massage is one of the best known antidotes for stress.Reducing stress gives you more energy, improves your outlook on life, and in the process reduces your likelihood of injury and illness. Massage can also relieve symptoms of conditions that are aggravated by anxiety, such as asthma or insomnia.
Painful or Tight Muscles
Massage can relieve many types of muscle tightness, from a short-term muscle cramp to a habitually clenched jaw or tight shoulders. Some massage techniques release tension directly by stretching, kneading, and compressing your muscles. Others techniques work indirectly by affecting your nervous system to allow your muscles to relax.
Delayed Muscle Soreness
After vigorous exercise, a buildup of waste products in your muscles can leave you feeling tired and sore. Massage increases circulation, which removes waste products and brings in healing nutrients.
Pain or Tingling in Arms or Legs
Muscles can become so contracted that they press on nerves to the arms, hands and legs, causing pain or tingling. If this happens, a massage to release the contracted muscles can bring relief.
Injuries
Massage can help heal injuries that develop over time, such as tendonitis, as well as ligament sprains or muscle strains caused by an accident. Massage reduces inflammation by increasing circulation to the affected area, which removes waste products and brings nutrients to injured cells. Certain massage techniques can limit scar formation in new injuries and can reduce or make more pliable the scar tissue remaining around old injuries.
Prevention of New Injuries
By relieving chronic tension, massage can help prevent injuries that might result from putting stress on unbalanced muscle groups or from favoring or forcing a painful, restricted area.
Joint Pain or Restriction
Besides releasing tight muscles that can restrict joint movement, massage works directly on your joints by improving circulation around them and stimulating the production of natural lubrication within them, relieving pain from conditions such as osteoarthritis.
Posture
As massage releases restrictions in muscles, joints, and surrounding fascia, your body is freed to return to a more natural and healthy posture. Massage can also relieve the contracted muscles and pain caused by abnormal spinal curvatures such as scoliosis.