Humans are not meant to work all day and night. We need sufficient amounts of sleep in order for our bodies to repair and restore themselves. Everything from muscle tissue repair and muscle growth to bodily rejuvenation and hormone synthesis requires sleep in order to occur. As such, getting enough sleep is integral to one’s well being, and insomnia can lead to serious health issues and even death in some cases if it is not treated in time.
With massage therapy, a patient can not only enjoy pain relief but may also enjoy anxiety relief as well. When a patient feels good about themselves and feels no physical pain then it stands to reason that they will sleep better as well. Both pain and worry can keep a person up at night, and the purpose of this article is to discuss insomnia as well as how relaxation muscle therapy can help relieve sleep insufficiency in some patients.
Insomnia: What Every Person Should Know
People can suffer from insomnia for a bevy of reasons. For some, it may be due to stress, anxiety, or depression. A job loss, divorce, or death in the family, for instance, can cause insomnia. Insomnia can make a person feel sluggish when they get up in the morning. They may have trouble concentrating, and many end up falling asleep at work: This can lead to them losing their jobs, or at the very least, lose many productive hours at work.
Insomnia, when left untreated, can also lead to depression, as well as cause serious memory problems. Insomnia has also been deemed a public health epidemic by some health groups, with millions of people suffering from insomnia in North America. In fact, sleep insufficiency has also been scientifically linked to occupational and medical errors, industrial disasters, and car accidents. As can be seen, insomnia is not a minor issue that should be swept under the rug. People need to sleep well in order to perform optimally at work, and lack of sleep can also significantly reduce a person’s life expectancy.
How Massage Can Help Relieve Insomnia
When you first meet with your physiotherapist they will ask you about your sleep patterns and your sleep issues. They may perform some physical tests or refer you to a specialist to ensure that your insomnia is not caused by a disease or some other physiological condition. Once chronic disease has been ruled out as the root cause, the therapist will perform specialized muscle techniques that are designed to relax both the mind and body in order to promote healthy and natural sleep. The massage techniques that they perform will not only relieve any anxiety or pain that you may have but will also relax you in order to restore your normal sleep patterns.
In fact, when a person is deprived of deep sleep certain pain chemicals in the body are actually released, which may lead to acute or chronic pain when the patient wakes up in the morning. However, getting a proper massage can prevent those pain chemicals from being released, and the muscle techniques will also promote flexibility in addition to improved relaxation and sleep. In fact, one of the ways in which relaxation muscle techniques help combat insomnia is that they help the body release serotonin. Serotonin serves as the body’s natural anti-pain chemical, so when serotonin is released, the body will feel good and will be able to enter deep sleep so that the body can restore and repair itself.
Additional Benefits to Relaxation Muscle Techniques
Relaxation muscle techniques will not only help improve mood, reduce anxiety, reduce pain, and help combat insomnia. These techniques can also improve a person’s range of motion and also help them improve their grip strength In fact, a study conducted by the Total Research Institute found that patients who suffered from arthritis noticed improvements in their range of motion as well as their grip strength after just 30 days of receiving massage therapy.
In fact, studies have found that patients who undergo physical therapy on a regular basis also notice improvements in their posture, as well as lower levels of stress. Many also report increased circulation, an enhanced immune system, lower blood pressure, more relaxed muscles, and fewer headaches.
Aromatherapy Massage
In some cases an aromatherapy massage can help further enhance sleep in some patients. In fact, clinical studies have found that when lavender oils, and other such essential oils were added to the massage therapy, that patients reported improvements in their sleep, as well as enhanced mental capacity and lower levels of anxiety: This was in contrast to the patients who did not receive any essential oils as part of their treatment, who, while also reported improvements, reported lower levels of it.
Natural Treatment For Sleep Deprivation
Many people who suffer from insomnia often stay up at night watching TV in order to reduce their stress. As such, many have probably stayed up late at night watching infomercials on sleeping pills that guarantee a good night’s rest. While some of these pills can help a person fall asleep, they often also include harmful side effects that can lead to death in some cases. Many can also being addictive, and patients may become dependant on them. The good news is massage therapy is 100% natural. There are no pills to take or side effects to worry about. Instead, massage therapy is clinically proven to help reduce stress, anxiety, and pain, as well as improve muscle strength, range of motion, and deep sleep as well.