Athletes have long sought massages to relieve pain and promote recovery. Despite reports that long-term massage therapy reduces chronic pain such as back pain, the biological effects of massage on muscles weren’t known.
As it turns out, according to a recent Canadian study, we now know how recovery from muscle damage is aided by massage.
Massage helps relieve pain in damaged muscles by sending anti-inflammation messages to muscle cells.
Scientists at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario have found evidence at the cellular level that massage blunts muscle pain in a similar way to anti-inflammatory pills.
