described the stages of sleep and sleep cycles, stating, “During deep sleep, human growth hormone is released and restores your body and muscles from the stresses of the day. Your immune system restores itself. Much less is known about deep sleep than REM sleep. It may be during this stage that the brain also refreshes itself for new learning the following day” (Tuck, 2018). As we have seen previously in this course, massage therapy increases the available amounts of serotonin in the body, which is what makes it such a pleasant experience, but serotonin is also critical for inducing sleep. Serotonin is essential for the production of melatonin in the body. Melatonin is a hormone that regulates the sleep/wake cycles in the body, and a lack of it can cause an inability to sleep. Massage can help, especially in the long run, by consistently increasing serotonin levels and melatonin production, thereby potentially reducing the need for dietary melatonin supplementation or pharmaceutical sleep aids. Some would even say that massage should be considered as an alternative to, or replacement for, sleep medications. Massage is a smart, healthy, and drug-free option that has helped many people overcome insomnia. Because melatonin influences the sleep stage of an individual’s circadian rhythm, a natural way of boosting serotonin is a positive sleep-inducing option. … A growing number of health care professionals recognize the benefits of taking a multidisciplinary approach to patients in order to better identify the source of illness rather than simply treating the symptoms. At the same time, sleeping pills and painkillers should take a back seat to complementary and alternative forms of medicine, including massage therapy, for treating the whole person and improving outcomes . (Kibler, 2014) Massage therapy should, ideally, be higher on the list of physician recommended treatments for insomnia In addition to its ability to improve the duration and quality of sleep, massage therapy can improve the function of the digestive system. The first issue to address is what stress can do to our eating habits and the consequences of consistently making poor choices. We are all guilty of the occasional “stress eating,” which typically involves indulging in processed foods that are high in fat and sugar, when we are feeling particularly stressed. Eating food that we know is bad for us feels good when we are under stress. We know that diet plays a vital role in overall health, and even though it may not be as satisfying to make healthier choices in the moment, the payoff of a much healthier digestive system, healthier heart, lower blood pressure and cholesterol, and better maintained blood sugar levels is worth it. How can we help our clients make better choices because nutrition counseling is probably outside of our scope of practice for most of us? Simply by doing what we do. Regular massage can help curb those cravings by influencing the nervous system and the body’s chemistry to help the client feel better. When perceived stress levels get lower, the tendency to placate stress with junk food should come down with them. Although much of the gut health of our clients is influenced by their lifestyle choices, we still have the opportunity to improve digestive health by relaxing the body to allow for better function of the digestive tract. Even if we eat the right foods and live a healthy lifestyle, chronic stress can still give us digestive discomfort because of the digestive system’s reduced ability to function properly, either from lack of sleep or too much time spent in the fight-or-flight response. Remember that during a massage, the parasympathetic nervous system, Massage and medication dependence Can massage therapy reduce dependency on medication? The short answer is that we do not yet know because not enough research has been conducted to find out at this time. Most of the studies conducted so far have investigated the therapeutic benefits of massage for pain management, thereby
or the rest-and-digest response, is activated, which works in opposition to the sympathetic nervous system, or the fight- or-flight response. When the parasympathetic nervous system takes over, it stimulates the peristalsis reflex, which is a series of involuntary muscle contractions along the digestive tract that allows the body to process the food we eat. When the body is in a relaxed state, the digestive system can function normally and without compromise. And when the digestive system functions normally, the body can better absorb and utilize nutrients more efficiently making them readily available for cellular growth and replenishment. Over time, these effects can also aid and prevent digestive disorders like food intolerances, bloating, constipation, and diarrhea because the digestive system is healthier overall. Another digestive condition called leaky gut , which is characterized by chronic inflammation of the digestive system that makes it porous enough to leak substances into the bloodstream, can wreak havoc on the body. With leaky gut syndrome, the immune system responds by attacking the “leaked” substances, causing systemic inflammation. Medical professionals believe that leaky gut is also related to many allergy symptoms even if they seem unrelated like sinus congestion. The bottom line is that when the gut is not healthy, the rest of the body cannot be healthy. Massage therapy can help as part of a multidimensional approach. Digestive health also affects immune health. The immune system is closely linked to the digestive system, and immune health can also be greatly improved by regular massage therapy. The immune system relies on the good bacteria in the digestive tract to be the first line of defense against invading pathogens, which bombard us all the time from the food we eat and the water we drink. Because regular massage therapy can improve general digestive function, the immune system reaps secondary benefits because of the improved protection against the bad bacteria. But food and water are not the only way pathogens get into our bodies. The air we breathe carries dangers as well. Airborne bacteria are not the only invaders; we also need a strong defense against viruses, both airborne and bloodborne, and there is evidence that massage therapy may provide some benefits in that fight also. Research has suggested that massage therapy can alter the activity of white blood cells in the body, improving the body’s response against viral attacks: In a controlled study composed of HIV-positive adolescents, participants who received massage therapy showed enhanced immune function by the end of the 12-week study. The immune changes included increased white blood cells known as natural killer (NK) cells, which provide rapid responses to viral-infected cells. (AMTA, 2018) Increases in lymphocyte activity, another kind of white blood cell, also play a role in reducing cytokine levels, which are molecules that can cause inflammation. This is promising news. Dr. Michael Rapaport, author of a 2010 study at Cedars-Sinai’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences on the health benefits on massage therapy, said: Massage is popular in America, with almost 9 percent of adults receiving at least one massage within the past year. People often seek out massage as part of a healthy lifestyle but there hasn’t been much physiological proof of the body’s heightened immune response following massage until now. … Massage doesn’t only feel good, it also may be good for you. It appears that a single massage may deliver a measurable benefit. (Skuban, 2017)
potentially reducing the need for pain medication, which can be especially important in light of the current opioid crisis. But clear connections have yet to be drawn between massage therapy and reduction in medication usage.
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