Winter brings with it a lot of reasons that massage therapy is useful for us in the Calgary area. More and more studies are finding that massage therapy isn’t just relaxing; it also has demonstrable effects on our overall health. During a Calgary winter, there are a lot of factors that increase our general stress levels. In fact, just being in the cold as much as we are can contribute to our stress and tension. Not only can it be unpleasant to be out in the cold for extended periods of time, our muscles tend to be much tenser in cold weather. Similarly, we have a tendency to slouch and contort ourselves for protection from the wind. All of these factors can lead to lots of winter stress.
What is massage therapy, exactly?
If you’ve never had a massage before, you should know that it’s a specialized skill and that you should only get massages from fully qualified and certified professionals. Massage in general involves the manipulation of the soft tissues of the body to achieve some therapeutic effect. These tissues include the skin, muscles, ligaments, tendons, and connective tissue of our body. Specific types of massage therapy you can find in the NW Calgary area include:
Swedish massage: a gentle technique that involves kneading in circular motions to relax muscles.
Deep massage: a more intensive technique that helps deep muscles and tendons, which is often helpful when recovering from injuries.
Sports massage: a type of massage developed specifically for athletes, which helps prevent and recover from sports-related injuries.
Trigger point massage: massage that focuses specifically on tight muscle fibres that can occur after an injury. Massage therapy can be a benefit in itself but can also be a great benefit as a component of your overall health plan, developed in conjunction with your primary physician. When looking for massage therapy services in NW Calgary, always be sure to ask a therapist if he or she is willing to consult with your primary physician.
How can massage therapy help me?
It seems that we’re constantly finding more benefits to massage therapy. Just a few of the most generally useful include:
Stress reduction
Pain relief
Lower muscle tension
Improved circulation
At Vantage Integrative Health + Wellness, our multidisciplinary clinics can help you find the massage therapy services in NW Calgary or Chestermere that can help take the stress of winter away. Contact us today to find out how we can help you achieve wellness.