What Massage Can Do For Stress

Nadine Pickard

Owner/RMT

Back In Motion Therapeutic Massage

Stress: the body’s response to demands made upon it. Not a disease, but can contribute to poor health. The way we choose to cope with stress is important to our health.

Stress can be brought on by a number of situations; financial, health and relationship issues are the worst triggers. (ex: bills are out of hand, yourself or a loved one being diagnosed with an illness, divorce)

The body reacts and recovers quite well when a stressor occurs briefly, such as jumping out of the way of an oncoming vehicle= quick effective response, followed by the body recovering.

If the body continually has to respond to chronic stress- if you are experiencing repeated stressful events over a lengthy period of time- the stress response becomes overused, tired and less effective. This is when different symptoms of stress in the body may begin to show…

When the brain senses stress, the nervous system kicks in to activate different parts of the body. This is called the “fight or flight” response. Your body at this point is focused on pumping blood to the heart, vital organs, major muscle groups… because you may need those to tackle the horrible situation at hand, or to run from it.

Emotions That Cause Stress

• Any intense emotion can trigger reactions throughout the body. This includes:

• Anger• Anxiety• Fear• Agitation

When these emotions are processed in the brain, the musculoskeletal system is activated. • Muscle tone is increased= tension• Trigger points may result• Neck pain, low back pain, jaw pain

Emotional Stress

Ex: Anxiety/ Panic Attacks/ Fear/Depression/PTSD.

The brain recognizes these feeling/emotions as ‘bad’ Signals are sent from the brain, to muscles initiating “fight or flight”. Increased tension leads to pain.

Postures with these emotions also play a role..

How would you describe someone’s physical appearance when suffering from anxiety/fear?

These postures encourage tension in the jaw, neck, arm, chest and back. If the muscles aren’t relaxed, they will continue to hold this posture, even when you are not feeling stressed. This leads to chronic pain in many cases.

Postures associated with depression usually involve the fetal position. This is hard on the neck, shoulders, chest and low back from always being rounded/rolled forward.

• Long term physical or emotional stress (anxiety since childhood, or low back pain from an accident 15 years ago) can cause problems for other areas of the body besides just muscles. o The weakest link in the body will begin showing symptoms first.o Heart, GI tract, brain, immune troubles are common

Cold sores pop up (weak immunity). Relaxation massage can help the body to rest, recoop, and resume proper function.

Constipation/diarrhea/IBS (aggravated GI tract- you lose the “rest and digest” actions of saliva, mucous, peristalsis). Abdominal massage following a stressful situation may help to regulate the bowels via colon manipulations or TP tx. Stomach growls are often heard in the treatment room.

Chest pain or heart palpitations (muscle stimulation). BP is reduced with massage relaxing for the heart, lessen tension on vessels.

Insomnia (the brain cannot rest/relax). Massage can interrupt this cycle and help the body to accept R&R once again by decreasing tension in muscles. Sometimes the body forgets how to shut down.

Just as stress leads to muscle tension, being able to decrease muscle tension in affected areas will in turn relieve the stress (muscle will send calming signals to the brain once they start feeling relaxed). Enter relaxation massage! Timely treatments are important to intercept the pain cycle.

Massage for Physical Impairment:

Decrease tension in affected areas using massage techniques so muscles can relax/rest/recoverRid the muscles of trigger points to decrease painEducate the client- give ideas for stretching shortened, tight muscles and strengthening the weak, overstretched ones to prevent knots from forming in the future. It’s all about the balance! Tense muscles are prone to injury due to decreased flexibility, and compensation makes other areas vulnerable as well.

Massage for Emotional Stress:

Full body relaxation massage, preferably at least one hour in length so the client can really take the time to unwindSome areas with increased tone may be addressed, but not too manyAlways more relaxing components than therapeutic to avoid overworking the body, which can in turn lead to stressAlways finish with relaxation techniques so the client leaves feeling de-stressed

Benefits of Massage

At a cellular level, massage decreases Cortisol secretion- a hormone released in stressful situations. By decreasing Cortisol levels, the brain receives signals that it is OK to relax, and then relays that information to other organs and tissues that are reacting to stress (muscles, gut)

Massage greatly increases the client’s awareness of tension in the body. The client is more likely to work on their posture when they realize that a large portion of the pain they may have been feeling is due this muscle imbalance.

“I didn’t realize I was sore there until you started working on that muscle!”

Once clients feel and recognize tense areas in the body, they remember past emotions and the relation becomes clear.

Another good reason to try massage: How will you know what feeling ‘good’ feels like if you never get ‘reset’?

Beware that long term pain can become your new ‘normal’- muscles are very adaptive, they will hold these painful postures forever unless they are re-educated. “Teach those muscles a lesson”!

When muscle imbalances are addressed, pain and stiffness will decrease. Aches and pains will be reduced. Range of motion will improve. **Quality of life will improve**

Massage can help you maintain appropriate stress levels before or after stressful events.

Once able to recognize your stressors, you can be proactive and book massages prior to these events to help keep stress at a minimum. Massages immediately following stressful events will also help your body to relax so you can feel great again.

The relaxing, calm, quiet atmosphere of a treatment room is a very safe, soothing place. Great ideas and solutions often come to mind while on the table during a massage. We all need that ‘time out’ once in a while to just relax…

You will be surprised at how many tense areas you have, whether you are feeling tight or not!