Hope in Times of Chronic Illness
This is a guest post by Stacey Connor from Foot Massager Advisor.
Massage therapy has long been seen as an effective means to assist people who were suffering from some kind of injury, no matter what kind of injury they have. Even those who have had broken bones find that massage therapy can be beneficial in assisting them so that they can have stronger more durable muscles that are able to assist in the strengthening of the bone.
It is clear that massage therapy can have tremendous benefits for those who have already suffered an injury. But you may be unaware of the fact that it can be as equally helpful in preventing injuries from occurring at all. In fact, even if you are a fitness geek, you may find that by visiting a massage therapist on a regular basis you may prevent injuries from ever having a chance to occur.
Here are seven tips you should know about using massage therapy as a source of injury prevention.
How to Use Massage Therapy to Prevent Injury
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Reducing Muscle Pain
Most are fully aware that visiting a massage therapist can do great many things in terms of reducing muscle pain, but what isn’t considered is that by reducing the pain that a person is feeling in their muscles you are actually preventing injuries from occurring. In most cases, surrounding muscles to those that are sore will compensate by taking on a more active role in relation to providing stability in force for the sore muscles. This can actually cause them to be injured as well, but providing relief to pained and fatigued muscles will increase their ability to stand on their own.
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Increasing Blood Flow
What has been found for thousands of years is that massage does wonders in terms of increasing circulation and blood flow. It is the blood that provides the nutrients that assists in relieving pain-and-suffering, and so increasing blood flow can have phenomenal results in preventing injuries in the future. During the exercise, a person is more likely to have an increase blood flow, which will actually support recuperation once the exercise program is completed.
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Making You Feel Better
The truth is that your emotional state can have a dramatic effect on your physical well-being. If you are depressed, angry or agitated in some way, you can actually increase the tension in your muscles, meaning that you are more likely to be injured during your workout. By seeing a massage therapist you can increase your mental and emotional health.
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Increasing Flexibility
One of the greatest benefits of seeing a massage therapist is that they’re able to relax muscles so that they increase flexibility. This can have fantastic benefits for both chronically ill people and fitness geeks, especially if you are involved in something like aerobics, boot camp training or some other kind of cardio activity. Also, if you are doing strength training using something like tension ropes you will find that you will have greater flexibility here is well which will decrease the chances of suffering an injury during your workout.
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Increasing Mental Acuity
When you are feeling more relaxed, you are more likely to be in tune with your surroundings. This can actually have significant benefits while you’re moving your body. It will not only make you more aware of potential problems that could arise, like bumping into something or knocking something over, but can also help you to be more aware of muscles and joints that seem a little bit out of whack that day.
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Protecting Potential Problem Areas
If you ask any serious fitness geek, what they will likely tell you is that at some point they were suffering some form of pain or ache and just decided that the way to fix it was to work is harder. This not only leads to prolonged agony from that injury, but can lead to serious problems as well. By going to a massage therapist, that person may identify potential issues that could easily arise and direct you in such a way as to prevent further or prolonged injuries.
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Fixing Problem Areas
It doesn’t matter what kind of pain you are suffering from, visiting a massage therapist will help you to have a more rapid recovery from the problems that are occurring. If you are suffering from some kind of injury, doing the kinds of things that can assist the progress of healing will prevent further injury down the road, primarily because it keeps you from pushing yourself harder than you should. It doesn’t matter whether you are looking for back pain relief, soreness in your neck or suffering in a joint, this can be a great remedy.
And of course… Relaxing
Something that is often forgotten is that relaxing is quite essential to your overall health. The more likely you are to be able to reach a state of relaxation, the easier it will be for your body to recuperate and for injuries to be greatly decreased.
Stacey Connor is a freelance writer who loves to read and write articles on health and lifestyle. She divides her time between travel and lifestyle. She has recently completed her Bachelor’s in art History from the University of Chicago. You can visit her website Foot Massager Advisor.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you might also like:
- 7 Lessons I Learned About Recovery From Illness
- How to Live with Chronic Back Pain
- 101 Small Things You Can Do Today to Boost Your Health and Happiness
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