Every single one of us has experienced physical pain at some point in our lives, but pain impacts some people more often than others. Pain accounts for a huge percentage of physician visits and other medical needs, and also may have an impact on several related health areas, including mental health.
At Body Balance Massage and Float, we’re proud to offer numerous services that help relieve pain both temporarily and permanently, including both massage and float therapy. Our massage services range from standard deep tissue or sports massages up through techniques like warm bamboo massage and many others, with pain relief a top benefit of several of the techniques we offer. What’s the connection between pain and overall wellness, including mental health, and how does massage therapy benefit many patients here? Let’s go over a quick primer.
It’s estimated that over 50 million Americans experience some kind of chronic pain in their lives. Some of the most common types of this pain include each of the following:
There are also many others here. In addition, it’s important to know that pain does not have to be chronic to have a negative impact, including on mental health areas.
Pain is a unique, subjective experience that each person deals with differently. For many of us, it has a direct and cyclical impact on our emotions and other parts of our mental wellness.
That is, pain can cause mental unrest – and vice versa. While we mostly think of pain itself leading to metal anxiety or related issues, and this indeed happens regularly, the opposite is also true: Mental health concerns themselves may also be causing pain or exacerbating it. This can lead to a harmful cycle where pain gets in the way of your overall health and daily tasks, but there are also many good methods for breaking this cycle.
One such method is massage therapy, which has shown significant evidence as a treatment format for pain and the related issues that may come with it. A 2016 analysis found that massage therapy is often beneficial for treating both pain and function-related outcomes, and numerous other studies have confirmed this in various formats.
In addition, massage therapy often has a large impact on the mental health side of things as well. It’s known to help with anxiety and depression, for instance, with anxiety reduction actually serving as one of the top uses of massage therapy today.
For more on the benefits of massage therapy for pain and its mental health impact, or to learn about any of our massage or float therapy services, speak to the staff at Body Balance Massage and Float today.