Massage is helpful for Tension & Pain Release by removing tightness and stress from muscles and supporting skeletal tissue.

Rubbing aching muscles may interfere with pain signals' pathways to your brain, a process called the "gate control theory," according to experts. Pain impulses run toward the spinal cord and then up the cord and into the brain. It is only when they reach the brain that these impulses are perceived as pain. When you rub, it sends other impulses along the same nerves. When all these impulses try to reach the brain through nerves, the nerves get clogged like a highway during morning rush hour. The result? Most of them won't reach the brain. And if the pain signals does not reach the brain, you won't feel pain. Thus massage works by 'closing the gate' that pain impulses have to pass through.

Massage stimulates the release of endorphins, the morphine-like substances that the body manufactures, into the brain and nervous system.

Massage relieves muscle tension, spasm and stiffness, all of which contribute to pain. Experts suggest that tense muscles are usually deprived of oxygen, because the tightness reduces blood circulation to the area. Massage improves blood circulation, bringing with it what the muscle needs-oxygen and other forms of nourishment. The muscle then relaxes and pain decreases.

Massage provides benefit through the therapeutic value of touch that helps a person in pain. Research shows that even touch lasting for less than 1 second has the ability to make people feel better. Obviously, an hour-long touch provided by massage has to make you feel good!