Self-massage has many benefits, but don’t do it blindly!

Author: Ma Shuai Beijing Chaoyang Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University

Reviewer: Guo Shubin, Chief Physician, Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, Capital Medical University

With the improvement of living standards, people pay more and more attention to health, and they all hope to have a safe and effective health care method to make themselves healthier.

Self-massage is a good choice, simple and convenient. So, what is self-massage? What are the benefits of self-massage? What are the precautions for self-massage? Let's answer them one by one!

Figure 1 Copyright image, no permission to reprint

What is self-massage?

Self-massage is also known as self-health care therapy in medicine. It is a therapy that stimulates one's own acupuncture points and meridians through various techniques to dredge qi and blood, balance yin and yang, thereby adjusting the body and alleviating diseases.

Because self-massage can be done by oneself, is simple to learn, convenient and practical, it is very popular among people.

Self-massage can be combined with a variety of techniques to choose from for different physical conditions. We must first be familiar with our own meridians and acupoints, and then use appropriate strength and techniques to massage the corresponding positions to achieve the purpose of relieving physical discomfort. If you can persist for a long time, self-massage can also strengthen your body and prolong your life.

Self-massage can use auxiliary tools, but it is generally recommended to use hands because it is easier to feel and control the strength with hands.

What are the benefits of self-massage?

Effect 1: Eliminate fatigue and enhance physical strength

Many mental workers lack exercise. After exercising occasionally, they feel sore all over the body when they get up the next day. This is because after strenuous exercise, the muscles of the body will contract more due to excessive tension, and the metabolism will increase. The metabolic product of the muscles, lactic acid, will increase. If lactic acid accumulates too much, people will easily get tired and have muscle soreness. At this time, massaging the tight muscle parts to strengthen blood circulation and accelerate lactic acid metabolism can relax the muscles.

Therefore, everyone should do more muscle massage after exercise, which can not only effectively exercise but also reduce the discomfort after exercise.

Effect 2: Balance yin and yang, regulate qi and blood of internal organs

Massage has a significant regulating effect on the function of internal organs. For example, people with overactive bowel movements can have proper massage on the abdomen or back, which can reduce the activity of bowel movements and restore them to normal; conversely, people with slow bowel movements can also have their activities promoted through massage.

Effect three: relax the meridians and dredge the collaterals, activate blood circulation and remove blood stasis

After some people are injured, their Qi and blood do not flow smoothly, which causes various pains. At this time, certain massage techniques can be used to act on the injured area or its vicinity to re-open the Qi, blood and meridians, so that various parts of the body can become active again.

When massaging, you can choose to press distal acupoints. Through the connection of meridians, you can dredge the qi and blood of each meridian and relieve the problem of local blood stasis.

Effect 4: Acts on the digestive system

If you have symptoms such as indigestion, abdominal distension, loss of appetite, constipation and diarrhea, you can also stimulate the relevant meridians and acupoints through self-massage, reflexively regulate the autonomic nervous function, promote gastrointestinal motility, improve the digestion and absorption capacity of the stomach and intestines, and restore the function of the digestive system.

Effect 5: Stimulate the nervous system

Massage can have a benign stimulating effect on the subcutaneous nerves. Appropriate massage of some acupoints can provide timely treatment for nerve pain, nerve sensitivity or nerve paralysis, but the treatment effect will vary depending on the specific conditions of the disease.

Effect 6: Effect on skin

Massage can dilate the capillaries on the surface of the body, make the secretion of sebum smoother, improve the breathing and perspiration of the skin, and stimulate the capillaries under the skin to promote blood circulation. In this way, the skin can get more adequate nutrition, become more lubricated and elastic, and reduce sagging and wrinkles.

Different massage techniques and massaging different acupoints will have different effects, but there are also many news reports of cases where massage went wrong. Remember to go to a regular hospital for treatment if you have obvious physical discomfort, and do not massage blindly.

What are the precautions for self-massage?

There are also some things to pay attention to when doing self-massage. You need to keep in mind three massage principles.

First, proceed step by step

Regardless of the technique or treatment used, the intensity should be increased gradually, from small to large, step by step. Start with a lighter technique and gradually increase the strength to the maximum intensity that you can accept. Then gradually reduce the intensity from high to high until the end. This will give the body enough time to adapt.

Second, different techniques and strengths should be used for different parts

There are many massage techniques. When massaging different parts of the body, you need to choose the appropriate massage technique according to your own situation to achieve better treatment effects.

If you need to massage a larger area, a deeper part, or a part with fuller muscles, such as the thighs, calves, back, etc., then choose a technique with a larger and more powerful contact surface, such as palm pressure or fingertips pressure.

On the contrary, for areas with small range, shallow location or weak muscles, such as the abdomen or head and face, choose a technique with small contact area and relatively gentleness, such as the one-finger Zen pushing method, which is to press your fingers close to the area that needs massage, and press or rub in a single direction with appropriate pressure.

For joint dislocation, you can use the method of pulling, which is to pull the limbs to stretch the joints.

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Third, the massage time should be moderate

The length of massage time has a certain impact on the therapeutic effect. If it is too short, the effect will not be achieved. If it is too long, it will easily cause damage, which is not worth the cost. However, there is no clear time regulation at present, so we can only consider the following aspects:

If the problem is local, massage for 10 to 15 minutes will be enough. If it is for the whole body, it will take a little longer, about 20 to 30 minutes.

If the manipulation is strong, such as pressing, pressing, and tapping, about 1 minute is enough for each acupoint. If the manipulation is gentle, such as one-finger Zen pushing, rubbing, and kneading, the operation time can be longer, 5 to 10 minutes for each acupoint.

While self-massage is popular, we must be careful that it must be performed on the basis of a clear diagnosis. Massage only serves as an auxiliary health-care function. For patients with weak constitutions or unknown causes of illness, it is recommended to go to a regular hospital for treatment, find out the condition, and do not delay the best time for treatment.