Manage Anxiety and Depression

Massage is relaxing and can also soothe anxiety and depression. It reduces levels of the stress hormone “Cortisol”, resulting in lifted spirits and often lower blood pressure. It can also boost the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine.

Ease Pain

Eight out of 10 Americans will experience debilitating back pain, according to Time.com, but a massage can help. According to a 2011 study, massage helped people in pain feel and function better. “We found the benefits of massage are about as strong as those reported for other effective treatments: medications, acupuncture, exercise and yoga,” Dan Cherkin, Ph.D., lead author of the study, said in a press release. Massage has also been linked to decreased stiffness and pain, as well as better range of motion in people with osteoarthritis.

Improve Sleep

If you’ve ever dozed off on a massage table, you don’t need to be convinced that a massage can promote healthy sleep. A number of studies have examined this link, and chalk it up to massage’s affect on delta waves, the kind of brain waves connected to deep sleep, according to Health magazine.

Boost Immunity

Multiple studies have linked massage to better functioning of the immune system. In one 2010 study, researchers found massage increased a person’s disease-fighting white blood cells.

Cupping therapy is an alternative therapeutic method that has been popular in China for thousands of years. Its health benefits can often outweigh modern medicine techniques, without unwanted side effects. Studies show that cupping can help boost immune function and speed up healing time without the use of any medications. Cupping works by expanding the capillaries and increasing the amount of fluid entering and leaving tissues, stimulating the lymphatic system and promoting the detoxification process. Commonly used along with massage therapy cupping has proven to reduce pain, promote relaxation, boost the skin health, treat respiratory issues and improve digestion.

Several studies funded by the National Cancer Institute and the National Institutes of Health indicate that reflexology may reduce pain and psychological symptoms, such as anxiety and depression, and enhance relaxation and sleep. Studies also show that reflexology is an effective way to alleviate stress and may have benefits in palliative care of people with cancer.

Reflexology is the application of pressure to areas on the feet, hands and ears in specific areas that correspond to organs and systems of the body. The pressure applied to these areas affects the organs and benefits the person’s health.

Reflexology also can treat a wide variety of medical conditions, such as asthma and diabetes.