Are you an athlete suffering from aches and pains? Then a sports massage may be right for you. This type of massage employs deep tissue techniques with the goal of reducing muscular tension, pain, and discomfort.

If you’re not an athlete and don’t take part in sports, a sports massage can still be beneficial for you since the deep tissue techniques can be used to treat a wide range of issues. Some of these include headaches, whiplash, neck and back pain, and repetitive strain injuries, to name a few.

During a sports massage, in addition to deep tissue techniques, you can expect some compression movements and stretching mixed in with a few other techniques. Below are seven common benefits of sports massage therapy:

Benefit #1: Reduces Pain

When you regularly take part in sports, you’re putting your body through a lot of strain. With that in mind, it’s easy to see why you might need a sports massage. If different areas of your body are sore from playing your sport, a sports massage can help reduce some of that pain, especially if you get one frequently.

So how does a sports massage help reduce pain? Sports massage therapy helps by lowering your body’s overall stress level, working those muscles, relieving muscle tension, and getting your blood flowing. All of these can help you recover from the pain you’re experiencing and lead to a better recovery.

Benefit #2: Lowers Blood Pressure

Another benefit of sports massage therapy is it lowers blood pressure. Once your massage is complete, your blood pressure should significantly dip. This means a significant decrease in both diastolic and systolic blood pressure following your massage. That’s why a sports massage is also a great way to help treat hypertension.

If you experience stress regularly, frequently going for a sports massage is a non-invasive way to treat it. If you do decide to use sports massage to treat hypertension, you’ll see long term improvement in both stress levels and heart rate.

Benefit #3: Helps Heal Injuries

Chances are if you take part in sports, you’re going to get injured at some point or another. If this happens, a great way to treat it is by sports massage.

If you have deep injuries, damage to tendons, or damage to muscles and ligaments, your body movement gets restricted. A sports massage will help in making movement easier after an injury. This works by breaking down the scar tissue that develops after you experience an injury.

Not only does a sports massage have direct benefits to the injury itself, but you will feel like a new person after every massage! You will have more range of motion and you’ll feel more relaxed.

Benefit #4: Flushes Toxins from the Body

A sports massage, or deep tissue massage, is known to flush toxins from the body and help restore it to a healthy level. This works by pushing out lactic acid that is present deep in muscle fibres.

Suffice it to say that going for a sports massage regularly will help you destress and detox. This is especially important if you are putting your body through the stress of sport.

Benefit #5: Reduces Anxiety

Research shows that massage therapy in general reduces anxiety. This is true even when people are experiencing chronic pain, anxiety disorders, illness, and even psychoactive drug withdrawal.

So, how does massage therapy help treat anxiety? For one thing, it lowers the stress hormone called cortisol. It also reduces pain, relieves muscle tension and soreness (a common physical symptom of anxiety), and activates the part of the brain where feelings of happiness are experienced.

If anxiety is a problem for you, it’s worth giving massage a try.

Benefit #6: Improves Posture

You may experience a lot of back pain if you regularly take part in sports. One way to treat back pain is to improve your posture. Luckily, sports massage is known to help improve posture by helping to reset the body to its natural alignment and relax sore muscles.

Improving your posture is also helpful if you work in an office and sit for long periods throughout the day or if you suffer from chronic back pain.

You can also ask your massage therapist to show you some stretches that also help improve posture.

Benefit #7: Optimizes Joint Flexibility

If you play sports you know how important it is to have joint flexibility. If you find you are having trouble in this area, a sports massage may help.

Sports massage can help improve joint flexibility and range of motion by helping to stimulate the body’s natural lubricants.

By frequently going for a sports massage, you can have your joint flexibility back in no time at all!

Now that you know all of the benefits associated with sports massage, will you be taking the plunge and booking an appointment?