According to Tiffany Field, Ph.D., Director of the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami School of Medicine, massage helps to ward off bugs by boosting your “natural killer cells”, the immune system’s first line of defense against invading illness.
"We know that cortisol—the stress hormone—destroys natural killer cells,” Field says. Cortisol has also been linked to increased blood pressure, blood sugar levels and fatigue as well as restless sleep patterns.
Brain activity stimulated by massage results in a direct increase in the feel-good neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin while blood levels of cortisol are simultaneously decreased. Less cortisol and more serotonin and dopamine in your system also means less stress, anxiety and depression. So not only do you feel better with regular massage therapy, but your immune system gets a boost as well.
The Touch Research Institute study found that a chair massage lasting for at least 15 minutes boosted alertness and attention. “Subjects reported that it felt like a runner’s high,” Field says.
Taking part in a massage therapy program can play a big part in how healthy you’ll be and how youthful you’ll remain. Budgeting time and money for regular massage therapy is an investment in your health. Though you may think of massage as being pampered, that doesn’t lessen its therapeutic effects.
Consider massage a necessary component of your individual health and wellness plan. Talk to your Human Resources Manager about getting started with the Massage Doctor On Call™ program today.
