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Massage is essentially the manipulation of the muscles and soft tissues of the whole body. Massages are usually carried out using the hands and fingers but lately, several mechanical and manual devices have been developed and used for this purpose.
Historical writings have shown that massage had been widespread in ancient China, Japan, Arabic countries, India, Egypt, Greece, and Rome for therapeutic purposes. Today, massage therapy is widely popular in sports medicine and as a relaxation technique to promote overall well-being.
While most people are focused on how a good massage can relieve pain and soreness or tightness of muscles, the skin also greatly benefits from it. The gentle stroking, squeezing, light slaps, and application of pressure on the muscles can help your complexion in many ways.
If you want to attain a soft, smooth, radiant, and completely beautiful complexion it is not enough to simply use the right skincare products. Your skincare routine should also include other strategies that complement the effects of your skin products. One of these skin beautifying strategies is to receive a good massage!
Unhealthy skin is characterized by dullness, dryness, rough patches of skin, and an uneven skin tone. If you have been using several skincare products for a while now without experiencing significant results, then your solution should be beyond the surface. To revive your skin’s health, improved blood circulation is the key.
Better blood circulation means that all the essential nutrients are transported to all parts of your body, particularly your skin. Apart from keeping your skin well-nourished, healthy blood flow will also provide your skin with enough oxygen to keep it vibrant and healthy.
One of the best ways to bringing about healthy blood circulation is by getting a good massage. As the massage therapist or your loved one strokes and kneads your stiff muscles, it helps improve blood flow.
One study revealed that there is a significant improvement in the level of blood circulation when subjects received massages.
In addition to promoting healthy blood flow, getting a massage also maintains your skin’s health because it helps boost the immune system. The immune-enhancing effect of massage therapy is so effective that one study showed how it significantly improved the immune system of 29 subjects with HIV.
The immune system is your body’s natural defense against harmful germs and bacteria as well as your personal healing system. If your immune system is compromised, your skin may be prone to sickness and various infections.
Signs of skin aging include dryness, wrinkles, and sagging. While there are many reasons for premature skin aging, one of the main culprits is collagen degeneration. Collagen is an essential protein that keeps the skin firm, tight, and youthful-looking.
While there are many skincare products that can help stimulate collagen production, studies have shown that massage can also significantly help in this regard, particularly vacuum massage. Vacuum massage is one of the many mechanical massage techniques that make use of a suction to create and mobilize skin fold.
Vacuum massage was initially used in the late 1970s to address burn scars. Today, however, this type of massage is in demand for its beauty benefits as it has been proven to significantly influence collagen restructuring and reorientation. When your skin has enough collagen, it will be less prone to developing unsightly signs of premature skin aging.
Apart from collagen, another factor that is associated with aging is dermal-epidermal junction (DEJ) structural proteins. The fragility of the DEJ can lead to wrinkles and other signs of skin aging considering that it reduces the nutrient transfer between the dermal and epidermal layers of the skin. Fortunately, massaging the face can assist in this area.
One study showed how the use of a massaging device helped in the improvement of fine lines and in achieving healthier and smoother complexion. Apparently, the cyclic mechanical stimulation of the massaging device positively influenced the DEJ structural and dermal proteins. The researcher of the study concluded that skin massaging provides an effective anti-aging strategy.
The appearance of cellulite is one of the most common and most dreaded cosmetic problems among older women. What makes it worst is that it is practically unavoidable since the condition affects 90 percent of women.
Fortunately, you can reduce the appearance of “orange peel” or “dimpled” skin by including massage in your skincare routine. One study published in The Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venerology revealed that mechanical massage is effective in reducing fats in cellulite areas.
A similar study on the effects of electro-mechanical massage device also resulted in the significant smoothening of the dermis-hypodermis surface.
Further research on cellulite treatments shows that massage is effective in reducing tissue edema and stimulating fibroblast activity that decreases the appearance of cellulite. The same research also suggests that combining natural topical anti-cellulite treatment and massage can serve as the most effective in improving the signs and symptoms of cellulite.
In addition to the direct skin benefits of getting a massage discussed above, there are other positive effects of massage that can indirectly help improve your skin’s health and condition. These indirect advantages include the following:
The relaxing and stress-relieving effects of a good massage need no further explanation nor additional studies for those who have tried it. Nevertheless, there is enough scientific evidence to support how massage therapies bring about calmness and healing from worries and anxieties. And this stress-relieving and relaxing effects of a massage can greatly help in preventing unsightly skin disorders.
From ancient times to now, people have always recognized the intricate relationship between stress and skin conditions. You may not be aware of it, but you are actually mindful of this connection. Aren’t you more expectant of acne breakouts when you are overly concerned and stressed about something?
Studies have shown that emotional stress can significantly affect, reveal, or even worsen several skin conditions such as atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, and acne. The interaction between the mind and the skin had been too powerful that psychodermatology, a new discipline that focuses on the mind-skin connection, had recently emerged.
In addition to being a culprit in many skin disorders, chronic stress also causes skin aging. When you are stressed, your body undergoes a lot of physiological changes to help you cope with it. Unfortunately, these physiological changes start causing problems of their own if you are stressed for a long time.
One of these problems is skin aging. This is the reason why people who are constantly stressed and overly worried looked so much older than their biological age.
Since getting a good massage can eliminate stress, you now have a proven strategy to fight stress-related skin conditions and skin aging. When you start feeling overwhelmed, stress, and anxious, you should get a massage to help protect your skin from damaging consequences.
Considering the relaxing effects of a good massage, it has always been recognized to help promote quality sleep. Observational evidence and research studies have shown the value for your skin of getting at least 7 hours of sleep. This is the reason why many Hollywood celebrities always talk about getting their “beauty sleep.”
Just like stress, lack of sleep has been found to cause harmful skin effects. For one, it affects skin integrity as it disrupts the production of collagen. This happening would then result in wrinkles, fine lines, and sagging skin. Secondly, poor quality of sleep has also been found to be associated with chronic skin diseases.
Given all these findings, a simple massage can greatly impact your skin’s health. Aside from all of its direct benefits, you can also improve your sleep and consequently, your complexion.
So now you know the many ways a simple massage can help you attain a healthy and beautiful complexion. Whether you ask a loved one to give you one or you use a trendy jade roller to do the trick - one thing is certain, a massage offers invaluable skin advantages. Therefore, it would be a shame to not include it in your regular skincare routine.
