Massage for Stress Relief and Emotional Wellness

Stress has a way of creeping into our lives, impacting not just our mental state but also our physical health. From tight shoulders to sleepless nights, stress manifests in ways that can leave us feeling drained and overwhelmed. Massage therapy offers a powerful, natural way to combat stress, restore balance, and promote emotional wellness. For many women, it’s a much-needed escape and a proven tool for long-term mental health.

The Science of Stress Reduction
When you’re stressed, your body releases cortisol, a hormone that prepares you to handle immediate challenges but can cause harm when levels remain elevated over time. Chronic stress can lead to anxiety, insomnia, fatigue, and even physical symptoms like headaches and muscle tension. Massage therapy helps break this cycle by lowering cortisol levels and increasing the production of serotonin and dopamine, the “feel-good” chemicals that enhance mood and relaxation.

During a massag...

 Massage therapy isn’t just a luxury—it’s a scientifically-backed way to support your body’s natural healing processes. Whether you’re dealing with muscle tension, chronic pain, or simply looking to unwind, massage therapy offers tangible physiological and neurological benefits. By understanding how massage works on your body, you can appreciate why it’s a cornerstone of wellness for so many women.

The Physiological Effects of Massage Therapy
Massage therapy works by stimulating blood flow and encouraging the release of endorphins, the body’s natural painkillers. Improved circulation delivers oxygen and nutrients to your muscles and tissues, speeding up recovery from physical activity or injury. Massage also helps flush out metabolic waste, reducing soreness and stiffness. For women managing conditions like fibromyalgia or chronic tension, these effects can provide much-needed relief.

Additionally, massage activates the parasympathetic nervous system, often referred to as the “rest a...

 The holiday season is a time for giving, connection, and celebration. Gifting thoughtfully selected wellness products can have a lasting impact on our loved ones’ health and happiness. If you’re looking to inspire those around you with gifts that enhance their well-being, you’re in the right place. In 2024, the wellness industry has brought us an impressive range of products—from innovative supplements to mindfulness tools and eco-friendly lifestyle essentials. Here’s a guide to the top trending, health-focused holiday gift ideas that will be making waves in 2025.

1. Personalized Supplement Packs

Personalized supplements have become one of the hottest trends in wellness, and for good reason. Companies like Persona, and Rootine now use at-home testing kits to tailor vitamin and nutrient packs specifically to an individual’s needs. This personalized approach ensures that your loved one gets exactly what their body needs, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.

Why It’s Great: Perso...

When people want to start exercising more, one of the first muscles they want to work on is their chest. Most people have heard of large muscle pectoralis major but seem to forget about pectoralis minor. Both need to work together in order to function at their highest capacity.

The pectoralis major muscle is a large muscle in the upper chest, fanning across the chest from the shoulder to the breastbone. The two pectoralis major muscles, commonly referred to as the “pecs,” are the muscles that create the bulk of the chest. The pectorals are predominantly used to control the movement of the arm and also play a part in deep inhalation, pulling the ribcage to create room for the lungs to expand. Six separate sets of muscle fibers are identified within the pectoralis major muscle. This enables each portion of the pectoralis major muscle to be moved separately by the nervous system.

The pectoralis minor is a thin, flat muscle found immediately underneath the pectoralis major. This is the s...

By: Leah Quinn

Massage therapy is one of the oldest health care practices known. References to massage are found in Chinese medical texts dating back more than 4,000 years. Massage therapy has a number of documented clinical benefits such as reducing symptoms associated with

• allergies
• anxiety, depression and stress
• arthritis
• asthma and bronchitis
• carpal tunnel syndrome and other repetitive motion injuries
• chronic and temporary pain
• circulatory problems
• digestive disorders
• tension headaches
• insomnia
• temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMJ)

No pain, No gain….a vicious rumor!

While problem areas can be tender during a massage the discomfort should not be unbearable. Using too much pressure may cause the body to tense up, while using too little may not have enough effect.  Varying levels of pressure allow the massage therapist to receive useful information via his or her hands, such as locating areas of muscle tension and other soft tissue problems. In practice, many mas...

Massage therapy is therapeutic in many ways. Massage increases blood and lymph flow which aids in healing and decreases the stress hormone called cortisol. In most circumstances massage can help to improve your health. However, there are times that massage is not recommended.  Below is a list of reasons massage may be contraindicated. If anything on this list pertains to you, please talk to your massage therapist before booking a massage.

• Fever
• Contagious illness or disease (including a cold or flu)
• If you are taking any pain medication
• Recent operations or acute injuries
• Skin diseases
• First trimester of pregnancy

Only when cleared by your physician:

• High blood pressure or cardio-vascular conditions
• Edema
• Osteoporosis
• Cancer
• Epilepsy
• Diabetes
• Bell’s palsy

For more questions on anything on or not on this list, please contact our office and we will be happy to assist if scheduling a massage is appropriate for you.

Why Should You Use a Foam Roller?

This is one of the many questions we get asked during our rehab time with patients. Many people do not know what a foam roller is and how it will even help them. They think it is just another one of our torture devices we use on people.

Self-myofascial release is a fancy term for self-massage to release muscle tightness or trigger points. This is something you can do at home without having to come into the office. This method can be performed with a foam roller, lacrosse ball, Theracane, or your own hands. By applying pressure to specific points on your body you are able to aid in the recovery of muscles and assist in returning them to normal function. Normal function means your muscles are elastic, healthy, and ready to perform at a moment’s notice.

This can have a wide range of benefits for the everyday gym-goer or someone who who works out at home. Benefits of using the foam roller will be increased blood flow throughout the body, better movement...

What are these knots in my back and neck?? Are these normal? How do I get rid of them? This is a very popular question that we get asked here in the office at North Shore Pro-Active Health. Before we answer the question above let us talk about how muscle fibers work. Within skeletal muscle there are three types of fiber. Type one (I), type two A (IIa) and type two B (IIb). Each fiber types has different qualities in the way they perform and how quickly they fatigue.

Types of Trigger Points

Type I fibers are also known as slow twitch fibers. They are red in color due to the presence of large volumes of myoglobin (iron-oxygen binding protein) and high numbers of Mitochondria (power house of the cell). They are very resistant to fatigue and are capable of producing repeated low-level contractions by producing large amounts of ATP (Adenosine triphosphate) through an aerobic metabolic cycle. The muscles containing mainly type I fibers are often postural muscles such as those in the neck a...