Massage Therapy: Possible Healthy Alternative to Prescription Drugs

Posted: January 14th, 2013

The use of prescription drugs has never been more prevalent in our history than it is right now. It seems that the first reaction by most doctors to any problem is to push a pill. This is truly unfortunate as many of these pills can be quite harmful. That is especially true of pain-relieving medications that have the potential for addiction and nasty withdrawal symptoms. Luckily, there are some great alternatives to prescription drugs for pain management. Massage therapy is perhaps the best alternative. Massage therapy can be used to treat a number of conditions that have pain associated with them. Massage offers great relief to pain sufferers. This is true across all types of pain. Whether someone is suffering from muscle pain, ligament pain, chronic pain or any other type of pain, they will find relief through massage therapy. Scientists are still not sure how massage relieves pain. They think that it has something to do with disrupting the pain signals that the nerves send to the brain. Though they are not positive on how massage therapy reduces pain levels, numerous studies have shown that massage does have a significant ability to reduce the pain patients are experiencing. As well as reducing pain in patients, massage reduces a number of other symptoms as well. It is great at reducing inflammation and swelling. It also does wonders at increasing the range of motion in patients that are immobilized in some manner. Massage has also been shown in studies to have positive effects on people suffering from mental health problems like depression and anxiety. Anyone who is suffering from a condition that requires prescription medication should look into whether massage therapy can be used as an alternative treatment. They may well be pleasantly surprised their conditions can be treated without the need for pills.