Massage Therapy Minnetonka, MN
Massage Therapy near Minnetonka, MN. Do you have nagging neck or back pain that won't go away? Did you suffer soft tissue damage in a recent injury? Or are you just under a lot of stress that you feel in your muscles and keeping you from being at your best? Many Minnetonka, MN individuals are turning to massage therapy for lasting relief. Total Spine Health & Injury Center is dedicated to helping those in Minnetonka, MN feel their best. 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 schedule an appointment through our website.
Massage therapy is becoming a preferred treatment option for many in Minnetonka, MN and nationwide. In 2021, one out of four men and over 20% of women had at least one massage appointment. Through numerous different types of massage, it brings much-needed nutrient-rich blood to a neglected area, and lengthens muscles that are tight, allowing them to move more freely. It also releases hormones which allows our bodies and minds to relax. While many people seek out an appointment simply because a massage helps them feel better, they've also been shown to be effective at treating specific conditions.
A Brief History of Massage Therapy
Massage therapy originated around 3000 BCE, if not before. It was developed by several different ancient civilizations and eventually spread throughout the rest of the world.
Massage in Ancient Times
In India, massage was used in Ayurveda, a healing system based on the idea that disease was caused by imbalance or stress, about 5,000 years ago, if not earlier. Chinese texts documenting the benefits of massage therapy appeared. In Egypt, tomb paintings from around the same time show people kneading others, and the Egyptians created reflexology 200 years or so afterward. Around 3,000 years ago, Japanese monks who had studied Buddhism in China brought message therapy back to Japan, which grew into amna, Japan's unique massage discipline. These ancient practitioners all believed that massage was essential to optimal balance, whether spiritual, physical, or with their surrounding environment.
Massage Makes Its Way West
In approximately 800 BCE, massage therapy began to be used in Greece, where Greek athletes used it to recover and stay at peak performance. Centuries later, Hippocrates began incorporating it into his healthy living combination of proper diet, exercise, and fresh air. He told other physicians to use "friction" or "rubbing", and created a foundation for its use in the West by noting its ability to loosen up stiff muscles. Roman physician and Hippocrates believer Galen 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 was not widely used after the fall of the Roman empire, it started to be used somewhat in Europe again in the 1600s. It found its way to the United States to help World War I soldiers who were suffering from nerve injuries and shell shock, and eventually massage boomed in the latter decades of the 1900s.
In contemporary society massage therapy is ubiquitous around the globe, from Kathmandu, to the Caribbean, to Minnetonka, MN. While people who espouse the benefits of massage may have different ideological backgrounds, anyone who's gotten a massage can attest that it brought them relaxation and eased their pain.
Benefits of Massage Therapy in Minnetonka, MN
Whether you're receiving one massage, multiple sessions to help treat an injury, or frequently attend massage sessions, massage therapy has countless benefits that accompany you not just for a handful of days, but for the weeks to come:
- Reduced stress and increased relaxation
- Decreased heart rate
- Increased range of motion
- Improved circulation
- Less muscle spasms and cramping
- Reduced need for and use of medications
- A better immune system through increased lymphatic circulation
- Improved skin condition
- Increased athletic performance
The more you use massage therapy, the more benefits you'll see, and the longer they'll last.
Is Minnetonka, MN Massage Therapy Right For Me?
Massage therapy can be beneficial to anyone in the Minnetonka area and beyond. There are essentially no safety concerns; when done by a certified massage therapist, it can do wonders for anyone who is looking to relieve stress, improve their movement health, get rid of minor aches and pains, and generally feel better in their everyday life. Many athletes have made massage a regular part of their routine to help ensure they stay at peak performance. There are also many specific conditions that studies show massage therapy may be capable of alleviating or curing:
Acute Injuries
Massage therapy can be an important part of the recovery process for a variety of soft tissue injuries, including sports injuries and injuries sutained in auto accidents. Any sudden injury causes a variety of complications and symptoms, including pain, swelling, limited range of motion, and the creation of scar tissue. Minnetonka, MN massage therapy can reduce the negative symptoms of your injuries and encourage the body's natural healing process by smoothing over tissue and stimulating blood flow.
Lingering Pain
Some pain and discomfort does not stem from one single injury. Frequently, pain and discomfort are the result of not performing daily tasks with the best posture, a lingering injury that starts to hurt more over time, or just the general degradation our bodies experience as we work or bring in the groceries. Massage therapy in Minnetonka, MN can correct these imbalances and help you finally move on from dealing with pain every day.
Depression and Anxiety
Our bodies and minds depend on each other. Depression and anxiety can display themselves physically, and physical injuries can affect our state of mind. The Mayo Clinic lists the following physical symptoms of depression and anxiety:
- Increased heart rate
- Tightness in the chest
- Frequently being tired
- Muscle tension
- Trouble falling or staying asleep
- Considerable weight fluctuations
- Headaches
Massage therapy in Minnetonka, MN can help eliminate the physical consequences of depressions by reducing sore muscles and migraines, stabilizing your heart rate, and sending out dopamine-raising endorphins and hormones such as neurotensin, oxytocin, and cortisol, which relieve stress-related pain and motivate social bonding.
Massage therapy, when used alongside exercise and a proper diet and other treatments, can help you rediscover your optimal mental and physical health at the same time.
Prenatal Massage
An expectant mother experiences an incredible amount of changes as her body undergoes hormone shifts and creates space for the growing baby. Massage therapy can help alleviate much of the pain and discomfort that affect women during all three trimesters of a pregnancy. It will increase blood flow to areas that have recently had poor circulation, ease joint and neck pain, help you fall asleep quicker and stay asleep longer, and release endorphins. There is even some research that suggests that pregnant women who get regular massages may have reduced labor time and labor pain.
While massage usually carries little risk for pregnant women, you should still consult with your doctor before setting up an appointment in case you have any conditions that may make massage risky.
Other conditions massage therapy can help treat in Minnetonka, MN include:
- Headaches and migraines
- Work injuries
- Digestive disorders
- Upper back and neck pain
- Temporomandibular disorders
Chiropractic Care and Massage Therapy in Minnetonka, MN
While massage therapy can do wonders for Minnetonka, MN residents suffering from a variety of ailments, its full benefits can be unlocked with chiropractic care. Chiropractic and massage offer much of the same benefits, but do so by treating the musculoskeletal system in different ways.
Chiropractic care treats issues from a structural standpoint. Through chiropractic adjustments, chiropractors improve the overall function of your body. By increasing the space between spinal joints and targeting specific areas, we allow your bones to move with greater ease and elasticity and reduce the strain they put on 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 power the movement of our bones, and tendons that fasten 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 poor posture or wear-and-tear, or acute injuries, we develop scar tissue that affects the integrity of our soft tissue, causing problems for our body's support structure. Massage smooths out scar tissue so the muscles, ligaments, and tendons can act as they should, which then supports the bony structures underneath.
Integrating chiropractic into your massage therapy prolongs the effects of both and ensure both treatments work as well as they can. Chiropractic adjustments help the muscles relax for a massage, and massage therapy relaxes the nervous system, which supplements chiropractic treatment.
There is no risk to either treatment when they are performed by licensed, trained professionals. In many cases, they are more cost-effective than prescription medications for pain relief and swelling reduction. At Total Spine Health & Injury Center, we can safely and effectively perform both massage and chiropractic, making us a one-stop-shop for your injury recovery, pain relief, or general wellness needs.
Other services we offer in Minnetonka, MN include:
- Herniated Disc Treatment
- Work Injury Treatment
- Family Chiropractic
- Headache Relief
- Auto Accident Chiropractors Near Me
- Chiropractor
- Chiropractic Adjustment
- Whiplash Treatment
- Migraine Treatment
Call Total Spine Health & Injury Center for Massage Therapy in Minnetonka, MN Today
At Total Spine, we're not just looking to make one muscle group feel better or help out with the headache you're experiencing today; we want to work alongside you so that you can feel the best you possibly can. We offer one-on-one attention, aimed at creating a successful treatment plan to help ease whatever ailment you're seeking massage therapy for in Minnetonka, 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 Minnetonka, MN, reach out to us today at (763) 568-7869 or schedule an appointment through our website.