Having your honey rub your back is sweet, but it’s tough to compete with the hands of a pro. A good massage therapist can make you feel like a new person. Research suggests massage can ease insomnia, boost immunity, prevent PMS, and more. Maybe that’s why hospitals across the US are making it a standard therapy.
1. Hello, dreams
Fluctuations in several types of brain waves either relax you or wake you up. Massage increases delta waves — those linked with deep sleep — according to a study at the Touch Research Institute. That’s why it’s easy to drift off on the massage table, Field says.
2. Nice o have you back, brain power
The Touch Research Institute study that connected massage to sleep also found that a 15-minute chair massage boosted alertness. “Subjects reported that it felt like a runner’s high,” Field says.
Tests also show that brain-wave activity stimulated by massage is linked to improved attention.
3. Take that, colds
Massage helps ward off bugs by boosting your “natural killer cells,” the immune system’s first line of defense against invading illness. ‘We know that cortisol destroys natural killer cells,” Field explains. “Therefore, since massage decreases cortisol, your immune cells get a boost.” Massage even seems to boost immunity in those people with severely compromised immune systems, such as breast- cancer patients.
4. Blues, be gone
Less cortisol and more serotonin and dopamine in your system may also mean less stress, anxiety, and depression. ‘We know that the right side of the frontal lobe of the brain is more active when we’re sad, and the left side’s activated when we’re happy,’ Field says. “Our studies have observed that massage decreases activity in the right lobe and increases functioning in the left.” The well-being people feel after a massage is a big reason why some hospitals offer it to anxious patients preparing for surgery and cancer patients going through chemo.
5. Shove off, PMS
A small study of 24 women with severe PMS founc that massage reduced symptoms such as pain, water retention, and mood swings. Try it with proven remedies like exercise (and who-cares-if they-work solutions like a little dark chocolate.