Now that the weather is getting warmer and the sun is out it means everyone is getting more active and participating in outdoor activities.
Whether you’re in a football league, sea swimming or working in the garden, with an increase in activity comes the benefits of increased strength, better mental health and improved joint mobility but also the higher risk of injury. The last thing you want is to become injured restricting how much you can do during the summer months.
Massage therapy can help, it can be an effective piece of self-care to help recover from an acute or ongoing injury as well as help injury prevention.
Massage therapy can:
1. Decrease Swelling and Inflammation
In the summer months the increase in heat and humidity can lead to an increase in swelling and inflammation. Heat can change the amount of fluid in your joints, affecting people with arthritis or individuals who are prone to swelling. Massage therapy can help reduce swelling in joints and limbs. It can also decrease the pain and symptoms associated with inflammation.
2. Optimal Adaptation to Exercise
If you are a runner, an athlete or enjoy working in your garden, the summer is the time to maximize your strength and endurance gains. To prevent injury and optimize your body’s ability to increase its strength and endurance, a massage can improve blood circulation, reduce post-exercise soreness and decrease exercise recovery time.
3. Manage and Reduce Pain
Chronic pain is prevalent throughout the UK, more than two fifths of the UK population experiences chronic pain. Massage therapy is effective in reducing and managing chronic pain by decreasing pain responses, minimize the occurrence of tension headaches, it helps produce a relaxation response and improve sleep and aims to reduce muscle tension.
4. Increased Joint Range of Motion
Flexibility and range of motion are important to maintain throughout the year, but a lack of flexibility may become more apparent in the summer. You may notice that your body is stiffer than you realized or remember. Massage therapy has been shown to increase joint range of motion and improve the flexibility of muscles.
5. Decreased Injury Recovery Time
Getting back to activity post-injury is the ultimate goal and no one wants to spend their entire summer trying to recover. Massage Therapy can reduce injury recovery time and help you get back to regular summer activity. Pain management, improved blood flow to injured tissue (removal of metabolic waste and increase oxygen uptake), prevention or reduction in tissue adherence and contracture (good scar formation), restores range of motion and relaxation of compensating muscles and structures are just some of the benefits that massage therapy can offer.
The benefits above aren’t exclusively for the summer, getting a regular massage will promote year-round health and reduce the effects of stress and injuries. If you are unsure if massage therapy is right for you, call the clinic on 01202 473800 or visit http://www.bridgehw.com
Bridge HW are always happy to answer any questions you may have.