Massage after Quarantine

Vina Magdalena, Unravel Therapeutics in Seattle

 

This past year has been quite eventful for us. We went through so many changes in our lives in such a short period of time.

When remote working became the norm, we had to set up an office in our limited space at home, and those with children also had to accommodate for their remote learning.

With most things happening inside our homes, many of us struggled to keep our stress levels at bay, while trying to accomplish a million other things.

Moreover, with such limited space at home, businesses and parks closed, our physical activity levels dropped significantly.

Without realizing it, those two things can affect our well-being, mentally and physically.

Fast forward to today, we are now seeing the light at the end of the tunnel to this stressful year. Around us we are starting to notice businesses reopening and people outside enjoying the weather.

Although it was especially important to maintain the wellness of your mind and body during the quarantine, it is no less important to keep regular maintenance now for many reasons.

Work From Home

Not having to wake up a couple hours early to get to the office is a huge convenience of working from home. Having your own fridge only steps away from your office is another plus.

However, not all of us are blessed with a proper WFH setup as we are in the office.

Our living spaces became our office, the kitchen counter became our desk, and we sat for a whole day on improper office chairs.

A lot of us probably have complained about pain in our back, neck, sometimes wrist, and a few other areas. All of these WFH-related pains are due to poor ergonomics from our home working equipment.

Even though some of us found solutions to these problems by setting up a standing desk and correcting our posture, a massage can still be beneficial to prevent further damage and to keep things manageable.

A massage is a natural treatment for muscle pain and stiffness and it’s especially helpful for these types of pain.

A good massage that targets deeply into specific areas in the muscles such as a deep tissue massage can help relieve tension, chronic pain, even help you gain a better range of motion.

Furthermore, pain that has been lingering around for a while can become more serious if not treated well. At Unravel Therapeutics we have helped many people with back pain and know that massage can be very effective. A professional massage therapist understands which part to treat to give you the best relief.

Improving blood circulation is also one of the biggest benefits of massage therapy which is key in circulating oxygen throughout your body for better recovery.

Lack of Exercise and Movement

Limited space at home and lack of equipment makes it hard to do the exercise routine we normally would do at the gym.

As gyms closed, most of our physical activities also took a long pause.

Working at home also affected our daily physical activity.

When working in an office, at least our daily activity goals can be partially fulfilled by doing numerous tasks that include walking to different rooms or meetings, visiting other office buildings, and even walking during our lunch break.

At home, those activities are almost gone as lunch, bathroom, and desk are now only a few steps away.

You might have also noticed pain in your lower back after sitting down for too long. All that coupled with long periods of inactivity can put your body at risk.

Sitting and extended inactivity weaken your leg and gluteal muscles that are important to help you walk and stabilize movement. Sitting down also shortens your hip flexor muscles and puts a huge pressure on your spine, too much can cause problems for your hip joints and discs.

There are things you could do at home to manage related pain you might be experiencing, such as standing up and doing stretches, and even walking just around the house can do a lot to help.

But a regular massage therapy might be a better answer to these problems if you have been experiencing it for a while. It can help to rework your muscles and relieve inflammation in your body.

Stress and Anxiety

Massage is a great way to ease stress and anxiety symptoms naturally. Even now, people get massages as a short escape to soothe their stress.

It’s more important now than ever that we take care of our mental well-being since WFH and remote studying blurred the lines between work and personal life.

Isolation also makes it worse as we humans are social creatures. So when that aspect is taken away from us, it only adds to the stress.

Even now, we are faced with another issue as some of us are nervous and anxious about having to re-adapt to life after extended isolation. Others are also anxious in a good way as we’re excited to go out, travel, and meet our friends and family again.

While all these things are normal and most of us probably have felt similarly, it’s still important to relax and unwind. After all, we did kind of see the world in chaos this past year.

Stress and anxiety is a popular reason people get a massage. It’s not hard to wonder why.  During a massage, you’re able to truly escape for a while, with your eyes closed, without technology, and a calming ambiance to really help you focus on yourself.

A massage has been shown to lower cortisol levels, which is responsible for our stress. It also increases serotonin levels significantly which improves your mood naturally and improves sleep quality.

Conclusion

Quarantine can have a prolonged adverse impact on our physical and mental health if we don’t take care of ourselves.

Especially with poor ergonomics, prolonged isolation, and lowered activity levels in quarantine. Stress and anxiety levels are also elevated.

As we are now preparing ourselves to go back to normal life and recuperate from the stress gained in the past year, destressing is highly necessary.

Massage is an effective way to treat quarantine-related pain without invasive treatments, it also provides you with an appropriate environment to regain focus and promote a total relaxation that you can enjoy even after your massage session.

All of us at Unravel Therapeutics, a massage and complementary medicine clinic in Seattle are looking forward to getting back to normal. Getting a massage is a solid step towards making that a reality, not only to treat chronic back pain, but to improve your life with all of the health and wellness benefits it can provide.

It’s a great investment for your long-term health.