How Massage Heals Sore Muscles
Researchers are learning how massage soothes aching muscles.
A massage after vigorous exercise unquestionably feels good, and it seems to reduce pain and help muscles recover. Many people — both athletes and health professionals – have long contended it eases inflammation, improves blood flow and reduces muscle tightness. But until now no one has understood why massage has this apparently beneficial effect.
Now researchers have found what happens to muscles when a masseur goes to work on them.
Let’s start with what you need the massage for. Vigorous exercise causes tiny tears in muscle fibers, leading to an immune reaction — inflammation — as the body gets to work repairing the injured cells.
Scientists have found that massage reduced the production of compounds called cytokines, which play a critical role in inflammation. Massage also stimulated mitochondria, the tiny powerhouses inside cells that convert glucose into the energy essential for cell function and repair. The bottom line is that there appears to be a suppression of pathways in inflammation and an increase in mitochondrial biogenesis helping the muscle adapt to the demands of increased exercise.
Dr. Tarnopolsky, a professor of pediatrics and medicine at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, said that massage works quite differently from NSAIDs and other anti-inflammatory drugs, which reduce inflammation and pain but may actually retard healing. Many people, for instance, pop an aspirin or Aleve at the first sign of muscle soreness. There’s some theoretical concern that there is a maladaptive response in the long run if you’re constantly suppressing inflammation with drugs. With massage, you can suppress inflammation and actually enhance cell recovery.
Getting a massage from a professional masseur is obviously more expensive than taking an aspirin. Still, people within families can learn to massage each other. This can be cost effective.
Still, a professional massage may even be a better bargain than a pill. They know what to do, they are familiar with different techniques for different people and they want to make you a consistent patient so they will adapt to your liking.
via Blogger http://chiropractic-lane.blogspot.com/2013/08/how-massage-heals-sore-muscles.html
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