The Five Surprising Benefits Of Foot Massage

We all know how enjoyable it is to receive a foot massage. Foot massage feels amazing not only because your muscles relax, but the massage helps to release hormones in your body to make you calm and help you release tension and stress. 

 

But what other benefits are there? Let’s take a closer look… 

Circulation in the muscles of the feet is often impaired by tight and uncomfortable shoes. Devoting part of your massage session to your feet can greatly improve circulation in the lower extremities, which is particularly important for people suffering from diabetes. 

Massaging the feet can help with joint pain and aid recovery after an injury, as well as reducing muscle soreness. Combining massage with foot and ankle strengthening exercises and stretching can prevent future injuries, as well as speed up recovery of existing injuries. 

High blood pressure has become fairly common in modern men and women. It can be caused by a number of things such as stress and an unhealthy diet, but in a lot of cases it has no particular cause and is believed to be a result of environmental factors and genetics. A study conducted on healthcare staff working with elderly people suffering from dementia – a job that is highly stressful and both physically and mentally taxing – showed that a 10-minute foot massage session up to three times a week resulted in improved mood, lower anxiety and lower blood pressure. 

People with flat feet have ligament laxity, which causes the arch to collapse. Some people with flat feet experience foot pain after even mild physical activity. Chronic heel pain can be caused by inflammation or deterioration of the plantar fascia (the connective tissue that supports the arch of the foot). Regular foot exercise coupled with deep massage, where you apply strong pressure on the arch, can help significantly lessen the pain and even cure these conditions. 

A foot massage every now and then can really help us relax, particularly after a long day of standing up and walking around, when our feet tend to swell up. A foot massage will put you in a relaxed state and can serve as an effective way of dealing with depression and anxiety. Frequent foot massage sessions have been shown to significantly reduce anxiety in cancer patients.