Massage Therapy

Minneapolis, MN

Massage Therapy Minneapolis, MN

Massage Therapy in Minneapolis, MN. Do you have nagging neck or back pain you just can't get rid of? Did you suffer soft tissue damage in a recent injury? Or or is there simply too much stress in your life right now that's keeping you from feeling your best? Many people in Minneapolis, MN are finding massage therapy to be an effective treatment option for numerous conditions or disorders. Total Spine Health & Injury Center is devoted to helping those in Minneapolis, MN return to an active, pain-free lifestyle that many thought had passed them by. If feeling great every day is something you want to get back to, get in touch with Total Spine at your earliest convenience at (763) 568-7869 or contact us online.


Massage therapy is becoming increasingly popular in Minneapolis, MN and across the country. In 2021, a quarter of men and one out of five women received a massage. Through a variety of types of massage, it increases blood flow to a region, and loosens up muscles that have contracted, allowing them to move as they're supposed to. It also sends "feel-good" signals to our brains, which results in that euphoric after-massage feeling. While massage therapy can help anyone feel better, it's also been shown to be effective at treating specific conditions.


A Brief History of Massage Therapy

Massage therapy dates back to, at the latest, 3000 BCE. It was developed by India, China, and Egypt and eventually spread throughout the rest of the world.


Massage in Ancient Times

In India, massage was used in Ayurveda, a holistic healing system, about 5,000 years ago, at the very latest. Chinese texts documenting the benefits of massage therapy appeared. In Egypt, tomb paintings from a similar period depict people kneading others, and the Egyptians are credited with inventing reflexology around 2500 BCE. Around 3,000 years ago, Japanese monks who had studied Buddhism in China brought the practice back to their homeland, which eventually became amna, or traditional Japanese massage. In all of these regions, people who practice massage believed that massage was essential to restoring and maintaining balance, whether spiritual, physical, or with their outside world.


Massage Makes Its Way West

Around 800 BCE, massage therapy became popular in Greece, where Greek athletes used it to recover and stay at peak performance. In the 5th century BCE, Hippocrates began incorporating it into his healthy living combination of proper diet, exercise, and fresh air. He prescribed "friction" or "rubbing", and created the rational and scientific basis for massage therapy in Western medicine by noting the positive effect massage has on muscles. The Roman physician Galen, who practiced with Hippocrates' philosophies, began using massage therapy between 100 and 200 BCE, and the treatment became popular in public baths.


Decline and Introduction in the United States

While massage therapy would decline in popularity in the West for many centuries, it started to be used somewhat in Europe again in the 1600s. It was introduced in the United States to treat World War I soldiers for nerve injuries and PTSD, and eventually massage boomed in the latter decades of the 1900s.

Now massage therapy is used around the globe to help patients find relief for countless conditions and disorders, from Kathmandu, to Timbuktu, to Minneapolis, MN. While practitioners of massage may have different ideological backgrounds, anyone who's gotten a massage can attest that it brought them relaxation and eased their pain.


Massage Therapy Minneapolis, MN | Pain Relief | Injury Center | Chiropractor Near Minneapolis

Benefits of Massage Therapy in Minneapolis, MN

Whether you're making one appointment for some general soreness, a series of them to help you heal from an injury, or choose to get massages often, massage therapy has countless benefits that accompany you not just for a handful of days, but for the weeks to come:

  • Less stress and more relaxation
  • Lowered blood pressure
  • Increased movement
  • Improved circulation
  • Less muscle spasms and cramping
  • Lowered reliance on medication
  • A better immune system through increased lymphatic circulation
  • Improved skin condition
  • Peak performance in athletics

You'll only see more of these benefits as massage therapy becomes a consistent part of your wellness routine.




Is Minneapolis, MN Massage Therapy Right For Me?

Massage therapy can be beneficial to anyone in the Minneapolis area and beyond. There are essentially no safety concerns; when a session is carried out by a certified massage therapist, it can do wonders for anyone who is looking to relieve stress, gain more range of motion, get rid of minor aches and pains, and generally feel better in their everyday life. Many people who participate in athletic events choose to have frequent massage appointments to help them stay at the top of their game. There are also many specific conditions that studies show massage therapy may be capable of alleviating or curing:


Acute Injuries

Massage therapy can significantly aid the recovery of a variety of soft tissue injuries, including sports injuries and car accident injuries. Any sudden injury causes a variety of complications and symptoms, including pain, inflammation, lack of movement, and scar tissue building up over your soft tissue. Minneapolis, MN massage therapy can help ease nagging symptoms and encourage the body's natural healing process by smoothing over tissue and stimulating blood flow.


Lingering Injuries

Some pain and discomfort does not originate in one single injury. Frequently, pain and discomfort are the result of not performing basic tasks with optimal posture, a nagging injury that gets worse when not allowed to properly heal, or just the general degradation our bodies fall under on the job or do household chores. Massage therapy in Minneapolis, MN can smooth over scar tissue and elongate muscles to bring your body back to a place where it can feel good every day.


Depression and Anxiety

Are physical and mental well-beings are intertwined. Depression and anxiety result in physical symptoms, and physical injuries can affect our mental health. The Mayo Clinic lists the following physical symptoms of depression and anxiety:

  • Increased heart rate
  • Chest pain
  • Frequently being tired
  • Muscle tension
  • Sleep disturbances
  • Gaining or losing excessive amount of weight
  • Headaches

Massage therapy in Minneapolis, MN can help eliminate the physical consequences of depressions by reducing muscle tension and migraines, stabilizing your heart rate, and sending out dopamine-raising endorphins and hormones such as neurotensin, oxytocin, and cortisol, which reduce pain caused by stress and encourage you to bond more with others.

Massage therapy, in combination with healthy life choices and other treatments, can do wonders for your mental and physical health at the same time.


Massage For Pregnant Women

An expecting mother's body goes under a huge array of changes to their musculoskeletal structure. Massage therapy can help alleviate much of the pain and discomfort that affect women during all three trimesters of a pregnancy. It will promote blood flow to areas that weren't receiving much blood, ease joint and sciatica pain, help you fall asleep quicker and stay asleep longer, and release endorphins. There is even some research that suggests that massage may make labor shorter and less painful.

While massage usually carries little risk for pregnant women, it's always important to speak with a physician before setting up an appointment in case the specifics of your pregnancy makes massage less than safe.


Massage Therapy Minneapolis, MN | Pain Relief | Injury Center | Chiropractor Near Minneapolis

Other conditions massage therapy can help treat in Minneapolis, MN include:

Chiropractic Care and Massage Therapy in Minneapolis, MN

While massage therapy offers great benefits for Minneapolis, MN residents looking to recover and feel better, we believe it's most effective when combined with chiropractic care. Chiropractic and massage can help treat many of the same injuries and conditions, but treat very different parts of the human musculoskeletal system.

Chiropractic care treats issues from a structural standpoint. Through chiropractic adjustments, chiropractors manipulate the joints and spine in order to improve how your body functions. By increasing the space between spinal joints and targeting specific areas, we help your bones move better and take stress off your nervous system.

Massage therapy targets issues with soft tissue. Soft tissue is a term for the tissue around your bones, such as the ligaments attaching bones to each other, muscles that we use to move our bones, and tendons that connect muscles to bones. In a general sense, our soft tissue is kind of a "pulley system" that allows us to move. Through micro-traumas, meaning inappropriate posture or degeneration over time, or acute injuries, we develop scar tissue that affects the integrity of our soft tissue, compromising our body's support structure. Massage smooths out scar tissue so the muscles, ligaments, and tendons can act as they should, which then helps the bones function correctly.

Combining massage therapy and chiropractic care prolongs the effects of both and ensure both treatments work optimally. Chiropractic adjustments make it easier for tight muscles to relax during and after a massage, and massage therapy relaxes the nervous system, enhancing the effects of chiropractic treatment.

There is no risk to either treatment when they are performed by licensed, trained professionals. Many have found them to be a better alternative to costly prescription medications for pain relief and swelling reduction. At Total Spine Health & Injury Center, we are licensed and experienced in both types of treatment, making us the ideal location for getting the relief you've been looking for.

Other services we offer in Minneapolis, MN include:


Call Total Spine Health & Injury Center for Massage Therapy in Minneapolis, MN Today

At Total Spine, we take a comprehensive view of your health and wellness; we want to partner with you so that you can feel the best you possibly can. We offer personalized care, aimed at creating a successful treatment plan to help ease whatever ailment you're seeking massage therapy for in Minneapolis, MN. Our licensed massage therapist is trained and skilled in deep tissue, Swedish, myofascial, and trigger point massage, as well as cupping. For effective and long-lasting massage therapy in Minneapolis, MN, call us today at (763) 568-7869 or contact us online.