Calms the nervous system and relaxes the muscles.

Many of us live demanding lives, stresses can manifest in the body increasing muscle tension and pain. Swedish massage helps to clear unwanted responses to stress. 

Increased endorphins, serotonin and dopamine hormones is a common benefit gained through Swedish massage. Endorphins, serotonin and dopamine are positive hormones that circulate around the body. Endorphins, serotonin and dopamine can give a person a sense of well-being and reduce anxiety. Various techniques can be used during a massage to increase endorphins, serotonin and dopamine. Our massage therapists at Physio.co.uk increase endorphins, serotonin and dopamine through massage to help increase relaxation.

Increased flexibility is a common benefit gained through Swedish massage. Flexibility of muscles can be reduced for a variety of reasons. The most common causes of reduced flexibility include muscle over use, muscle tightness and inflammation. When flexibility of a muscle is reduced, this can result in a restriction of movement and an increase in pain. Increased flexibility through massage to help increase range of movement and improve performance.

Swedish Massage is used to increase flexibility when muscles become tight. Massage helps by increasing temperature, increasing elasticity, breaking down adhesions, removing waste products, reducing swelling and decreasing pain.

Postural imbalances have many sources, from overworked muscles to prolonged sitting or injuries.

Your body has muscles (or groups of muscles) that are attached to either side of a joint and work against one another to control the movement of the joint. It’s a bit like the handlebars of your bike: you can ride with one hand, but two hands working against each other gives you much better control.

When one side of the opposing muscles is stronger than the other, you have a muscle imbalance. For instance, if you regularly use the muscles on one side a lot more than the other, they get stronger muscles – and shorter and tighter. On the other side, the muscles get weaker – and longer and looser. The shorter, stronger muscles pull that part of your body out of position, and your whole body will end up making adjustments to compensate.

In the bicycle analogy, if one of your arms was slightly shorter than the other you would have to adjust your riding position slightly to keep riding in a straight line.

Swedish massage helps to ease the Muscular Postural Imbalance.

Improve circulation is a benefit commonly gained through Swedish massage. There are two main types of circulation within the body, the circulation of lymph flow, and the circulation of blood flow. When circulation is poor conditions such as swelling, tightness, tension and pain can increase. During a massage, the stimulation of improved circulation occurs when friction is created between the skin and fingers. Improved circulation through massage helps to increase healing, decrease pain and reduce swelling.

Swedish massage can help support the body’s ability to excrete or reuse metabolic waste, often referred to as “detoxification”, by increasing lymph flow and blood circulation, thereby supporting your immune function. This can help your body fight off some of those harmful environmental and biological substances.

The lymphatic system – made up of vessels, ducts, and nodes – plays an important part in “detoxifying” our bodies by removing metabolic waste, and excess fluid. Specific massage modalities like Swedishl lymphatic drainage massage can help improve blood and lymph circulation and help make the immune system stronger by increasing the activity level of specialised white blood cells called lymphocytes. The lymphocytes kill pathogens that might be present.

1. Arterial dilation and vascular plasticity: Many isolate mobility as a muscle discrepancy. Muscles are not the only tissues limiting range of motion. Arteries and veins can also inhibit mobility, soft tissue massage improves this mobility
2. Positive result on plasma nitric oxide concentration: Nitric oxide can facilitate recovery and possibly improve muscular capacity. Swedish Massages provide a positive result on plasma nitric oxide concentrations.
3. Reduction of sense of fatigue: Massage has also been suggested to reduce sense of fatigue. When you feel fatigued, limited range of motion typically occurs. Massage can reduce this sense of fatigue and improve range of motion.
4. Increased neuromuscular efficiency: There are specific muscle firing patterns. These patterns become disorganised due to overuse, injury, soreness, etc. Massage can improve these areas.

People receiving Swedish massage experience significant changes in lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell that plays a large role defending the body from disease. White blood cells help fight off viruses. Swedish massage also causes a large decrease in Arginine Vasopressin, a hormone believed to play a role in aggressive behaviour. Massage decreases levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which can contribute to stress reduction and management.

The maintenance of healthy muscles is a benefit commonly gained through Swedish massage. When muscles are unhealthy, they can become weak, fatigued and more likely to become damaged. A Swedish massage will help to stimulate an increase in blood flow. Nutrients such as calcium and iron are carried within the blood which are essential to keep muscles healthy and strong. Oxygen is also carried within the blood. Oxygen provides muscles with energy within the working muscles. Swedish massage help to maintain healthy muscles and to help improve performance, speed up recovery and decrease pain.

It is well documented that Swedish massage therapy relieves depressive symptoms in general and relieves depression in people with fibromyalgia, ( a chronic disorder characterised by widespread pain and other symptoms such as fatigue, muscle stiffness, and insomnia ).

There is an significant association between massage therapy and improved perceived stress and depression levels.

Since general fatigue and pain – as well as a lack of energy – are all associated with stress and depression, relieving these symptoms through the use of massage therapy, in turn, increases your energy levels.

When you have someone manually manipulating your muscles  through Swedish Massage , two things tend to happen: one, your body automatically relaxes, which makes the nervous system stop moving so quickly. Two, there are physical responses within the body, including a decrease in pain, blood pressure and stress, and an increase in the production of serotonin, which helps you to relax.

Along with these responses to Swedish  massage, the body also reaps many other benefits that might aid in getting better shut eye at night time. Stress reduction is one of those benefits: a massage is relaxing, and when serotonin is produced during a massage, it then produces melatonin, which helps us to fall asleep.

Under the back of the skull must be the single most pleasing and popular target for massage in the human body. No other patch of muscle gets such rave reviews when massaged. It has everything, deeply relaxing and satisfying sensations, and a dramatic therapeutic relevance to one of the most common of all human pains, the common tension headache.
Along with lots of other neck muscles, the suboccipital group usually work overtime to keep your head balanced on top of your spine. In particular, they initiate and control fine movements. These muscles have to be workaholics. By long durations of sitting working these muscles can fatigue and also become tense, also this symptom can be amplified by stress.
Swedish massage can help relieve headaches by massaging the entire body and working the Suboccipital group.