How Therapeutic Massage Can Help Improve Sleep Quality
Posted on: 6 November 2018
While most everyone has experienced bouts of insomnia, long-term insomnia may lead to medical and mental health consequences. While prescription sleep medications can help for short-term insomnia, they should not be taken on a long-term basis.
They can lead to significant side effects such as dizziness, confusion, daytime sleepiness, and gastrointestinal problems. Fortunately, there are safer alternatives such as chiropractic therapeutic massage. Here are some ways that getting a massage from your chiropractor can help improve the quality of your sleep.
Muscle Relaxation And Pain Relief
If you suffer from neck or back pain, a professional massage can help soothe sore muscles and strengthen the surrounding structures of painful joints. Therapeutic massage can also enhance circulation to painful areas while promoting the healing of sprains and strains.
Sore muscles and other types of pain can keep you awake at night, however, seeking chiropractic treatment can not only help establish an optimal pattern of sleep, but it may also reduce your need for pain medications.
It is important to note, however, that if you have a neck or spinal injury, only seek massage treatment by a professional such as a chiropractor. While massage therapists have training, they may not extensive experience treating people with existing medical problems of the cervical, lumbar, or sacral areas of the body.
Endorphin Release
Chiropractic massage can elicit a physiological response where special chemicals are released from the brain and into your bloodstream. Chemicals such as endorphins and perhaps dopamine have powerful "feel-good" properties that may help promote recuperative sleep, relieve pain, and eliminate insomnia-causing stress.
When you enjoy quality sleep, you are less likely to experience daytime sleepiness, and if you are affected by chronic pain, your perception of pain may be lower because of endorphin and dopamine release. Massage can also brighten your mood, enhance concentration, and even lower blood pressure in those with hypertension.
If you have insomnia or suffer from chronic pain, make an appointment with your chiropractor to discuss the benefits of therapeutic massage. Not only will you benefit from quick pain relief, but you will also enjoy an improved quality of sleep.
Recuperative sleep cycles may help reduce your risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, depression, and anxiety. It is thought that people who are affected by chronic insomnia have higher rates of mood disorders and mental health problems, especially if they also have a genetic predisposition for these disorders or if they have a family history of psychological problems.
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