Reasons to Get a Massage #6 — Reduce Muscle Tension

This seems to go without saying.  Most people get a massage to do just this, reduce muscle tension.  But let’s go into a little more detail to find out how this helps.
Muscle Tension is caused by muscles that have been overused, without a break, muscles that have forgotten how to release when their person is in a relaxed state, muscles that have been used in ways they weren’t designed to be used, or just chronic use day in and day out.
Muscle tension causes all kinds of problems for a person who suffers with it.  Stiffness, pain, range of motion issues, aches, inflammation, spasms, to name a few.  Depending on where the muscle tension is, these issues can manifest in a variety of other ways, i.e., fatigue, headaches, migraines, stress, anxiety, depression, tingling, numbness.
So, if simple muscle tension can cause all these problems, it would make sense to get a massage and get that muscle tension relieved, so as to relieve, or prevent, further problems.

Your massage therapist can focus on the tense areas of your muscles to release knots, tightness, stiffness, chronic pain, spasms, the aches you’re feeling, even reduce inflammation and fluid retention.  This will help your muscles relax.
When the tension in your muscles are released, your muscles are then able to receive the circulation of the blood.  Your blood brings nutrients and oxygen, which are vital to the health of your muscles and thus, their function.
You will also gain additional benefits, besides reduced pain.  You will have increased flexibility, better mood, more energy and range of motion.
As muscle tension is released, your flexibility increases.  When muscles tense up, they shorten.  This causes a lot of pressure and pulling on their attachments, at the site of the joints.  When the muscles are released, they are then able to return to their natural resting length, thus releasing the strain on the joints, increasing your flexibility and range of motion.

When pain is relieved, mood is improved, ability to focus and function increases too. 
When muscles are tense, they are using energy to stay that way.  They either perceive that they need to work all the time, or have been overworked, so they think they'll be called on at any time, so are always ready.  Either way, they are using energy to stay contracted and tense.  This takes energy away from other areas of your body, whether it’s working out, thinking (brain function), walking, interacting with someone else, or anything really.  We get brain fog, exhausted faster than we should, don’t feel like exercising or doing anything really.  When muscle tension is released, we aren’t expending energy keeping them tight.
Massage is a very effective way to relieve muscle tension, thus relieving a host of many other physical and mental problems that could be easily avoided.
A good therapist will ask you what you would like done on the day of your massage, and you should tell them where you feel the most tension, aches or pains.  They will then focus their time on those areas.  Sometimes the therapist will work on other areas as well, since some muscle tension is located in a different area than where your  pain is located.  A good therapist will explain this to you, so you will understand why they don’t just work on the area you told them about, that working the other areas will receive the tension and pain in the painful areas.
When you aren’t thinking about, worrying about, or stressing over physical pain, you will be able to think about other important things, people and tasks or other events in your life.  You will be able to focus on work, your family, friends, things that need to be taken care of, you will be free to exercise, and do what you enjoy doing.  Relieving muscle tension and pain will improve your day to day experience of living.  
When you make massage a part of your regular health and fitness lifestyle, you can enjoy these benefits every day.  How often you need/want massage is a very personal matter.  Some people like getting massage every week, others every other week and others once a month.  Depending on how quickly your muscles tighten up to the point of aches and pains, will determine how often is a good time frame for you.  This is something that you can experiment with.  
Find a great therapist, who will listen to your needs, explain what she is doing for you and has a treatment plan to help you achieve the best health and wellness available to you.  Ask questions, find out what else you can do to help yourself between sessions.  She will be the best advocate for you, in helping you determine the number of sessions and how often you should be coming in for your most optimum health.