After hundreds of massages, I realized that the essence of massage is just paying to sleep!

Even if you've never been to a massage parlor, you've definitely experienced the feeling of being massaged in a barber shop.

Close your eyes and feel the scratching of your scalp. It feels numb and tingling, like an electric current crackling through your soul. You can't tell whether it hurts or itches.

Before I knew it, my fatigue was gone, my brows relaxed, and when it was time to rinse off the foam, I wished that Tony, who was very skilled at massage, could continue to press on me for a while longer.

In order to pursue this strange feeling, many people linger in massage parlors, but they have never thought about this question:

Why does just touching and rubbing the body bring such a comfortable feeling?

01

Where does the feeling of pleasure come from?

The comfortable experience brought by massage is related to hormones.

When a masseur applies pressure to the body with his fingers, the receptors on the skin transmit the received signals to the brain, which then increases the "happiness hormone" in the body and reduces the stress hormone that causes stress and pain.

Humans have four "happiness hormones," and massage is associated with three of them: dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin.

Dopamine makes people feel “good”; endorphins bring a sense of release after exercise, relieve stress and pain; serotonin brings a peaceful and positive mood; oxytocin makes people feel connected and love | Image source [1]

Regular massage can increase the levels of serotonin and dopamine, reduce the level of cortisol, and play a role in fighting stress and regulating emotions.

Researchers gathered a group of people with different emotional problems and arranged for them to have a 15-minute massage twice a week.

After five weeks, the researchers found that the dopamine or serotonin levels in the saliva of these people increased by more than 25%, and the cortisol levels in saliva and urine decreased to varying degrees (10%~50%).

The questionnaire survey also showed that the people who participated in the experiment were indeed calmer and felt less stressed and anxious.

In addition, manual massage can promote the secretion of oxytocin.

Copyright image, no permission to reprint

Comparative experiments between manual massage and machine massage show that compared with machine massage, manual massage brings a better experience, especially increasing the experience of "love and socialization".

Some researchers asked subjects to receive ten minutes of manual and machine foot massage in sequence, and recorded the plasma oxytocin levels before and after the massage, the subjective evaluation of the massage, and the neural responses of the brain and skin during the massage.

The results showed that although the instruments showed that the two massage methods had similar stimulation on the skin and activation of the senses, they could both promote the secretion of oxytocin.

However, the manual massage group secreted more oxytocin, and the subjects liked manual massage more.

Manual massage can also additionally awaken brain areas involved in socialization and reward.

Humans are born to like hugs and touch. From a baby being held in its mother's arms at birth to lovers holding hands, all of these can cause people to secrete oxytocin, making people feel safe, intimate and happy.

From this perspective, the real physical contact during manual massage can allow the brain to immerse itself in the sweetness of being patted on the back by one's mother as a child.

02

In addition to being refreshing, it is also so relaxing that it makes people want to sleep

If you have ever been to a massage parlor, you will find a very magical phenomenon:

Although massage may make people grimace in pain at first, once they get used to the stimulation, it is easy to fall asleep in the "pain".

Massage does help you sleep, which is related to the effect of hormones on the autonomic nervous system.

Massage promotes the secretion of oxytocin by the brain, which can act on the autonomic nervous system, switching the body's working mode from "movement" to "stillness" and from tension to relaxation.

If our body is a building, then the autonomic nervous system is the "housekeeper" of this building. It manages our breathing, heart rate, body temperature, muscle contraction and even digestion and defecation and other trivial matters.

The autonomic nervous system includes two systems, one static and one dynamic , namely the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, each of which plays a different role.

The sympathetic nervous system works when you are frightened, exercising vigorously, or need to fight, while the parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for activities during rest | Image source [2]

The autonomic nervous system's management of the body cannot be changed by human will. Just imagine, we cannot actively control the contraction of our pupils, nor can we stop our heartbeats by willpower.

But hormones can regulate the activity of the autonomic nervous system.

Physical contact during massage promotes the secretion of oxytocin in the brain, which can inhibit the activity of the sympathetic nerves and awaken the parasympathetic nerves, thereby slowing the heartbeat, lengthening the breathing, and gradually relaxing the tense spirit.

In addition, massage promotes the secretion of serotonin in the brain, which is also a good helper to improve sleep quality.

Serotonin is the raw material for synthesizing melatonin, which is responsible for the sleep-wake cycle, helping people fall asleep at night and wake up in the morning.

Therefore, massage not only soothes the mind, but also calms the body. So if you feel so comfortable during a massage that you start snoring, it is not your fault because of your lack of self-control.

03

Relieve pain, help answer questions, repair muscles

Massage effect is really good

The secretion of hormones makes people experience the "pleasure" of massage, and the "shift" of the autonomic nervous system makes people calm and sleep well. Massage also has certain benefits to physical health, especially in relieving physical pain.

For example, studies in non-athletes have shown that 15 minutes of therapeutic massage therapy after exercise can effectively relieve post-exercise muscle soreness:

The vertical axis shows the self-assessed muscle soreness score. The blue axis shows the vibration therapy group, the red axis shows the massage group, and the green axis shows the control group. S3-S5 show the results at 24, 48, and 72 hours after exercise, respectively.[13]

Similarly, massage during childbirth can also effectively relieve labor pain for mothers:

The number of people in the three groups was similar, and the pain in the massage group was significantly better than that in the control group.[14]

In addition, there is a lot of effective evidence that massage can relieve pain such as foot pain, joint pain, neck pain and back pain.

Other studies have shown that symptoms of skin diseases, high blood pressure, and autoimmune diseases can be relieved through massage.

However, it should be noted that these studies are small in number and involve a small number of subjects, and have little reference value as medical evidence. Therefore, massage does not have to be used as a treatment for these diseases.

Why does massage have these effects? We can find some clues from the mouse experiment:

Massage can clear out the immune cells and inflammatory factors that cause inflammation in the muscle tissue of mice and help repair damaged muscles.

The researchers customized a leg massager for mice and divided it into three levels according to the intensity of the massage. They massaged the damaged muscle areas of the mice twice a day for 5 minutes each time for two weeks.

I, Shushu, was massaged by this thing | Image source [11]

The results showed that the damaged fibers of the mice that received massage were repaired, the muscle fibers became thicker, and the muscles became more elastic.

Not only that, the greater the intensity of the massage, the better the muscle condition of the mice.

The compression during massage promotes the discharge of neutrophils from damaged muscles.

Neutrophils secrete immune factors, which are not conducive to the differentiation of muscle fibers. Therefore, timely "squeezing out" neutrophils through massage is conducive to the recovery of damaged muscles.

In addition to physical health, massage also benefits mental health.

Although massage does not fall into the category of psychotherapy, it can be used as an auxiliary to psychotherapy, such as alleviating some symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and postpartum depression.

Even for students who struggle with math, massage can help.

An old study from 1996 found that massage can improve the accuracy of mathematical calculations and the speed of answering questions.

This may be related to the cortisol and parasympathetic nervous system mentioned above. Massage can relax people and help them think under stressful circumstances, making it easier to answer questions.

Massage has many benefits, but professional massage is indeed time-consuming and expensive, and is not a popular hobby.

As an alternative, couples and family members can pinch each other's shoulders, press hands, comb hair, pinch ears, etc., which can also have a similar effect.

What should single people do when they are wandering around? There is a solution.

Placing your hands on your heart, face, or abdomen can also reduce the level of cortisol in the body, having a stress-relieving effect similar to hugging and massage.

In short, it is human nature to desire contact and touch. I hope everyone can find someone to rub, touch, hug and lift up together~

References:

[1]https://www.wodongatafe.edu.au/whats-on/news/artmid/402/articleid/538/how-to-hack-your-happy-chemicals

[2]https://news.dayoo.com/gzrbrmt/202202/28/158551_54206688.htm

[3]Field, T.; Ironson, G.; Scafidi, F.; Nawrocki, T.; Goncalves, A.; Burman, I.; Pickens, J.; Fox, N.; Schanberg, S.; Kuhn, C., Massage therapy reduces anxiety and enhances EEG pattern of alertness and math computations. Int J Neurosci 1996, 86 (3-4), 197-205.

[4]Cady, SH; Jones, GE, Massage Therapy as a Workplace Intervention for Reduction of Stress. Perceptual and Motor Skills 1997, 84 (1), 157-158.

[5]Field, T.; Hernandez-Reif, M.; Diego, M.; Schanberg, S.; Kuhn, C., Cortisol decreases and serotonin and dopamine increase following massage therapy. Int J Neurosci 2005, 115 (10), 1397-413.

[6]Field, T.; Diego, M.; Hernandez-Reif, M., Massage therapy research. Developmental Review 2007, 27 (1), 75-89.

[7]Diego, MA; Field, T., Moderate Pressure Massage Elicits a Parasympathetic Nervous System Response. International Journal of Neuroscience 2009, 119 (5), 630-638.

[8]Field, T., Massage therapy research review. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice 2016, 24, 19-31.

[9]Li, Q.; Becker, B.; Wernicke, J.; Chen, Y.; Zhang, Y.; Li, R.; Le, J.; Kou, J.; Zhao, W.; Kendrick, KM, Foot massage evokes oxytocin release and activation of orbitofrontal cortex and superior temporal sulcus. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2019, 101, 193-203.

[10]Dreisoerner, A.; Junker, NM; Schlotz, W.; Heimrich, J.; Bloemeke, S.; Ditzen, B.; van Dick, R., Self-soothing touch and being hugged reduce cortisol responses to stress: A randomized controlled trial on stress, physical touch, and social identity. Comprehensive Psychoneuroendocrinology 2021, 8, 100091.

[11]Seo, BR; Payne, CJ; McNamara, SL; Freedman, BR; Kwee, BJ; Nam, S.; de Lázaro, I.; Darnell, M.; Alvarez, JT; Dellacherie, MO; Vandenburgh, HH; 2021, 13 (614), eabe8868.

[12]Mrljak, R.; Arnsteg Danielsson, A.; Hedov, G.; Garmy, P. Effects of Infant Massage: A Systematic Review International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health [Online], 2022.

[13] Imtiyaz, S., Veqar, Z., & Shareef, MY (2014). To compare the effect of vibration therapy and massage in prevention of delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). Journal of clinical and diagnostic research: JCDR, 8(1), 133.

[14] Mortazavi, SH, Khaki, S., Moradi, R., Heidari, K., & Vasegh Rahimparvar, SF (2012). Effects of massage therapy and presence of attendant on pain, anxiety and satisfaction during labor. Archives of gynecology and obstetrics, 286, 19-23.

Source: Guokr

The cover image of this article is from the copyright library

Reproduction of image content is not authorized