Massage Therapy and Hypertension: An Intriguing Connection

Disclaimer: While massage therapy presents several beneficial effects, especially to patients with hypertension, first make sure to get professional clearance and medical advice regarding your condition. Get regular checkups and find out if there is an underlying disease that may be causing your hypertension.

So, you just had your regular check-up and you’ve recently had your blood pressure taken. The healthcare professional tells you that it reads somewhere above the average (120/80 mm Hg). In other words, you’ve been advised that you are pre-hypertensive and that you should observe the necessary lifestyle modifications and precautions. Suddenly, you think about the massage session you recently booked. And you’ve heard stories about people not wanting to get a massage because they are hypertensive. Should you cancel it?

Now, before you go ahead and completely remove massage therapy from your vocabulary, let’s first look at the relevant facts. Where should you start? How about getting to know the disease.

What is hypertension?

Hypertension is a term to describe the condition in your body where the pressure in your blood vessel walls is higher than normal. The higher the blood pressure, the harder your heart has to work to pump blood throughout your body. Too much of this hard work causes damage to your heart, leading to heart problems as well as affecting the delivery of oxygen and other nutrients in your body.

See also: 4 Benefits of Massage for the Elderly

How does your blood pressure rise?

For some, it is caused by kidneys retaining more fluid than usual. Say, for example, you have a high salt diet. Salt contains the mineral sodium, which attracts water. The more salt you have in your system, the more fluid you get in your bloodstream, which in turn increases your blood pressure.

Another reason is when your arteries become narrow in diameter. Several factors can cause this, such as aging or when you have fatty deposits or plaque build-up around the walls of your arteries. Risk factors also make you prone to becoming hypertensive. Among others, this includes obesity, smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, or if it runs in your family (genetic).

Can massage help?

Here comes the intriguing connection. Contrary to popular belief, a study suggests that massage therapy may be a reliable intervention that can help you safely manage your hypertension. Interested in knowing the benefits of massage to those with hypertension? Read on.

First, the study indicates that massage therapy does have an effect on pre-hypertensive patients. That is, it significantly lowered the blood pressure among the patients who underwent Swedish massage therapy, with effects even lasting up to three days. Can you imagine lowering your blood pressure without the use of medication? Amazing, right?

And you know what else can massage therapy do? It can help lower your cortisol levels. Yes, cortisol, the infamous stress hormone responsible for many harmful physiological disruptions in your body. So, how are stress and hypertension connected? The presence of cortisol wreaks havoc to your body. This includes elevating your blood pressure. It also tells your nervous system to produce hormones that cause your blood vessels to further constrict (narrow down).

And you know what constricted blood vessels result in? You got that right. Higher blood pressure. It’s why vasodilators (medicine used to relax and dilate blood vessels) are popular prescriptions for hypertensives. In other words, whether you get that relaxing massage from a licensed therapist, or from your favorite massage chair, you benefit from its stress-relieving effect of massage therapy. And when you are not stressed this helps you keep your blood pressure at normal levels.

By the way, did you know that there are medical massage chairs in the market that can monitor your blood pressure and heart rate? Yes, that's right. Take the Luraco i7 Plus massage chair for example, which is proudly made in USA and dubbed as the world's #1 medical massage chair. Massage chairs have evolved over the years and you can expect in the future more useful features to give you the best massage experience and to boost your overall health.

See also: 3 Benefits of Massage Therapy For People Suffering From Migraines

Want to hear about another intriguing connection? Here goes - depression and hypertension.

A study notes that these two share a common pathway, which makes the coexistence of these conditions in patients highly probable. In fact, a similar study suggests that depression is indeed a risk factor for hypertension, which means you are most likely to develop hypertension if you are depressed.

And the role of massage in this? Apparently, massage therapy also has the positive effect of increasing serotonin and dopamine in your system. These two are chemical messengers to the brain. Among other things, they help regulate your mood. And for patients with depression, elevating the levels of these neurotransmitters helps them cope with the condition.

Now, let’s go back to the connection. Depression, being a recognized risk factor for hypertension, needs to be addressed if you are to keep your blood pressure within the normal range. With massage therapy in play, you can manage depression symptoms and keep hypertension at bay.

Proceed with caution

Ready to get that much-awaited massage session? Just like anything related to health, it's always wise to consult a medical professional prior to it. If your doctor gives you the go-signal, then you can go ahead and add massage therapy to your list of alternative treatments that can help you manage hypertension.