Health and Massage

There is proliferation of massage parlors and spa nowadays. This is a phenomenon brought about by stress in today's life. Stress, both mental and physical, brings about changes in our capacity to perform. It can make us less productive, or can make us feel uncomfortable ans sometimes manifests as symptoms of disease like hypertension, insomnia, body aches, headaches and several other manifestations. One common effect of stress is tense muscles. It will manifest as ache to a particular body part but the common denominator is contracted muscle. Muscles are every where in the body and the ache it causes is referable to the particular are where is is located. It can be a large muscle like the thigh muscle or it can be a small muscle like the muscles inside the eye.

Pain in contracted muscle is brought about fatigue of muscle cells which will be followed by retention of carbon dioxide. The retention is brought about by inadequate blood circulation of that particular muscle. If a small group of muscle is affected we may not notice that the ache is emanating from the muscle. A good example is eye strain. It is due to overworked muscle inside the eye but will manifest as frontal headache sometimes associated with dizziness. Another good example is headache from fatigued muscles of the head.
Massage is pressing the muscles basically. This will press the muscle and squeeze the blood literally in the pressed area. Once the pressure is released there will be flow of fresh blood into the area since the body circulation is a one way affair. Carbon dioxide will then be carried out by the squeezed blood into lungs which will be exchanged for oxygen. The amount of pressure during massage varies. It can be light as a soft breeze or can be tight as a pound of a hammer. The best massage for tight muscles is a gentle massage. Enough pressure to squeeze the blood out of the muscle is needed to relax the tight muscle. Too much pressure will damage the muscle and too light will cause further muscle contraction hence additional carbon dioxide to the burden. Pressure of massage will also vary with the location of the contracted muscles as well as size of the muscle mass. Muscles located deeper will need more pressure and muscle located nearer the surface or has smaller size will need gentler pressure. The best massage will make you feel relaxed and relieved with the aches gone. Have a nice massage. Keep stress out. Live a relaxed life. Happy Living!