What Happens To Your Body During a Massage?

If you’re wondering how even a single massage can give you unwinding and pain-relieving experiences, this article is for you!

“I need a massage!” is usually our first thought when we feel exhausted due to our stressful approaches, or suffer sleepless nights, or sense painful tensions in our muscles after exercise. Since massage therapy can bring us both physical and mental relaxation, and spiritual and emotional rejuvenation. So how does massage therapy unite us with these holistic benefits? In this article, let’s take a closer look at what happens in our bodies, and therefore in our minds, during a massage;

During our massage experience, our body undergoes a number of changes that are in general categorized as reflexive and mechanical responses. Reflexive responses are involuntary reactions of our nervous and hormonal system to massage techniques. Mechanical responses are the interactions that occur in our systems as a result of different pressure applications to the soft tissue layers. And in fact, each of these responses is almost inextricably linked to each other.

Let us note that, as there are many different types of massage and many different massage techniques within these massage types in spa centers, we hereby will focus on the common reactions our bodies give to massage therapies. 

Reflexive Responses

Even when your spa visit includes a treatment with stronger massage techniques, like a deep tissue massage, your therapist will first apply slow, calming effleurage strokes to your body or your targeted area. The aim of this gentle approach is to softly warm and invite your body into relaxation mode and prepare it for the rest of the massage.

So how does your body go into the relaxation mode? 

There are many involuntary actions unremittingly taking place in our body to sustain our vital functions. These actions, such as our heartbeat and breathing, are governed by a mechanism called the autonomic nervous system, which consists of sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.

The sympathetic nervous system is the system that stimulates our “Fight or flight!” response to protect our body when we encounter internal and external 'threats' that may induce fear, stress or anxiety. With this, the levels of our stress hormones like cortisol gradually escalate, our heart rate increases and our whole body becomes all tense. During the day, we are mostly under the control of the sympathetic nervous system.

The parasympathetic nervous system, on the contrary, stimulates our “Rest and digest” response. When our body feels safe, our happy hormones such as serotonin, endorphins and dopamine are stimulated. Our blood pressure and heart rate decrease, nervous tensions in our muscles and joints ease, and we enter a serene, meditative state of mind.

Our proprioceptive senses, known as the sixth sense, also support our parasympathetic nervous system. These senses provide our awareness in the present moment; hence bring out our sensorial confidence. The nurturing touches of a massage can accordingly increase our proprioceptive senses. 

Your parasympathetic nervous system is brought to the fore through the intentional gentle and soft massage techniques applied by your skilled therapist. Your body, perhaps pretty stiff from stress, warms up and unwinds by your therapist’s compassionate and reassuring touches and you feel your negative emotions gradually disperse. With the increase in your mindfulness and happiness hormone levels thanks to your massage, you begin to approach internal and external circumstances more confidently and positively, and face up the wicked aspects of stress more easily.

Mechanical Responses

During a massage, an array of interconnective reactions occur in all your systems.  

In the Cardiovascular System 

This system includes your blood and lymphatic circulation. By following your natural blood flow to your heart, your massage therapist uses techniques such as effleurage, kneading, rolling and long strokes to open and dilate your surface blood vessels. This way, your blood circulation speeds up, your pulse slows down and your capillaries, filled with oxygen, nourish your cells more efficiently. In that aspect, you can think of a massage as an external assistant to your heart in pumping and circulating your blood.

The lymphatic circulation circulates lymph fluid and white blood cells, the symbol of our immunity, through your body, flushing out toxins and supporting the return of blood to your heart (venous return). Because this circulation happens just beneath your skin, it’s pretty easy to speed it up with the therapist's extremely light and rhythmic strokes. Thereupon, also supported by the increased blood circulation, the lymph system opens up, allowing the removal of toxic waste and the alleviation of discomforts such as edema, cellulite and varicose veins.

In the Musculoskeletal System 

Depending on the type of massage, your trained therapist can manipulate the tonus of the muscles they are working on with different massage techniques like rolling, kneading, assisted stretching and brushing. They can increase or decrease the length and width of your muscles. That’s why massages are considered excellent companies to your exercise routines.

But usually all massage types are able to increase your blood and lymph circulation, so your muscle tissues naturally warm up and stretch with the increased nutrients and oxygen, facilitating your nourished muscles to direct toxins into the venous and lymphatic circulation. This reduces the production of proteins that cause inflammation in muscles (inflammatory cytokines) and increases the production of mitochondrial proteins that heal muscles.

As your circulation improves, your bones will be better nourished, allowing the bones to be cleansed of metabolic waste and the osteoblasts (the cells that produce new bones) to proliferate, especially in those of growing age.

Given your therapist’s prolonged kind and light pressure in the direction of your fascia, your myofascial tissue also begins to loosen and release adhesions. As the fascia relaxes, circulation of the spinal fluid accelerates, the resulting lubrication eases the compression in your skeletal system and realigns your bones.

In the end, your discomforts such as muscle stiffness, joint pain and posture disorders are reduced. As your central nervous system soothes along with your relaxed musculoskeletal system, your sleep quality improves and your sleep pattern improves.

In the Respiratory System 

When your heart rate calms with the light, slow and controlled percussion strokes as you might often experience in a Swedish massage, your blood pressure and breathing rate also decelerate. Upon the stimulation of your parasympathetic nervous system and the acceleration of your blood circulation, your lungs and diaphragm relax and your narrowed airways begin to open. As a result of the reduction of tensions and misalignments in your musculoskeletal system, your rib cage opens in the correct alignment and you regain optimum lung function. And you can take deep breaths, full of oxygen. 

Like we said, all effects and responses are closely connected…

In the Digestive System 

When your nervous system enters the “Rest and digest” mode with the tender touches of massage, your internal organs such as the stomach, liver, spleen, thyroid, intestines and pancreas, which couldn’t be nourished due to poor blood circulation under stress, begin to receive nutrients and oxygen through blood flow. Once your therapist applies light and soft clockwise pressure on your stomach or lumbar region, the removal of metabolic waste from your large intestine eases. The peristaltic muscle movements that send your food through the digestive and excretory system are also regulated by the calming pressures of the massage. Thus, your digestion relaxes and your stomach pains and cramps such as reflux and gastritis due to stress are alleviated.

As a result, even a single massage therapy can cause dozens of beneficial reactions in our bodies. But of course, this does not happen at a miraculous speed. Our body usually needs a minimum of 20 minutes of ‘compassion’ to completely soothe the sympathetic nervous system. Experts therefore recommend at least 30 minutes of massage with regular repetitions for visible results. 

Also, just like there are various types of massage, your reactions to a massage can vary depending on your health state and mood. Although many of us experience the foregoing responses, the level and extent of such experiences will therefore be completely unique to you. 

In addition, if you have any heart-related disease, prolonged muscle cramps, risk or past of stroke, pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis, please consult with a doctor before receiving a massage.  

If you’d like to learn more about massage types, you might move to our article “Popular Massage Techniques for an Efficient SPA Experience”.

May you always be with love and self-care...