The Perfect Excuse for a Massage: Its Cardiovascular Benefits!

I feel that there’s no other way to put this:

I simply love massages.

They’re the perfect natural way to relax. Sometimes, they’re perfect romantic way to bond with your spouse or significant other. More importantly, they offer a myriad of potential health benefits.

Which ones?

If you’re regularly having massages you’re very likely to enjoy manageable stress levels, healthy sleeping patterns (as in almost no insomnia), managing (to a certain degree) multiple sclerosis, handling postoperative pain, being able to cope with anxiety, and helping with a myriad of other medical conditions.

Oh, did I mention how revitalized and amazing you feel after one?

As you can probably imagine, I love discovering new reasons that will justify enjoying yet another relaxing massage or convincing my spouse to treat me with a DIY massage.

So if you’re looking for the perfect excuse to get a massage, you’ll want to memorize the results of some studies and research made during the last couple of years.

Massage Results in Controlled Environments

The current massage study cycle began in 2008. As scientists studied a group of patients who had just recently enjoyed a 45 to 60 minute massage (and more importantly, where can I sign up for these studies?).

The results were certainly impressive. Patients who’ve just enjoyed a massage showed that their blood pressure was naturally reduced by 10 mg Hg and that their heart beats were able to slow down by 10 beats per minute.

If you’re suffering from tachycardia, arrhythmias, or hypertension this almost sounds too good to be true, right?

But wait, there’s more!

In early 2013 a group of scientist conducted a study to gauge the effects of having ten fifteen-minute massage sessions over the span of three weeks. The results seemed to confirm the 2008 study, as blood pressure and heart rate remained healthily stable and low in participants over the course of the study.

Finally, in the latter half of 2013, yet another study was conducted regarding the health benefits of massages, specifically on women. Out of the eight women studied, all showed a healthy 12 mg HG reduction in their blood pressure.

Even more surprising was that the scientists noticed that their blood’s anti-inflammatory properties also increased. This in turn suggested that massages could be considered to have body-wide healing effects.

Best of all, these results did not require any drastic change to a participant’s medication.

Cortisol, or Why Your Body Needs Massages

Although current studies have not clearly demonstrated why massages are so effective in helping you keep a healthy cardiovascular system, there is one suspect: high cortisol levels.

Cortisol, the stress hormone, is also a potential cause of six other serious diseases.

And this is where massages come in, by being so amazing at reducing stress, studies shows that if you regularly enjoy massages, the cortisol levels in both your saliva and urine can drop.

If massages aren’t really your thing or you just simply don’t enjoy them, I’ve also developed other natural ways to help reduce your cortisol levels as you learn to handle your stress.

However, I must clarify that these studies by no means confirm that massages are the cure for heart disease.

If you’re coping with a serious cardiovascular complication, I suggest you see massages as a natural compliment to your medical treatment.