Benefits of Massage on the Skeletal System
Benefits
- Increases blood circulation which nourishes skeletal cells
- Improves muscular balance and thus skeleton alignment (contracted muscles can pull bones out of alignment)
- Exercises joints through range of motion – joints are nourished by joint fluid, which is moved and circulated by massage
- Can aid circulation in the area of a fracture without producing motion in bone fragments; also aids in healing of surrounding affected tissue
- Can aid functional efficiency in terms of structural support/posture -> massage can be a first step in the process of postural awareness (where less energy is used to maintain efficient posture)
- Can prevent adhesions from forming and can break down adhesions -> these adhesions can form between ligaments and bones, and can alter a joint by limiting range of motion (adhesions can form repair tissue, but not flexible tissue; massage, in turn, can create mobility in such scar tissue)
