On top of being an ideal way to reduce tension and stress throughout the body, as well as bringing flexibility back into your tight muscles, massage can also provide a host of beauty benefits, especially when it’s performed by an experienced massage therapist who has the best tools from Therapy Essentials at their disposal.

So how can a massage help bring beauty to your face and your body? Continue reading to learn more.

A facial massage will increase blood flow to the area and leave it glowing and feeling nourished and revived. (Photo: Philippe Salomon)

The benefits of facial massages for maintaining youthful skin

A facial massage can be received at a spa, or you can do it yourself at home using your favorite moisturizer or serum. Use upward strokes with one hand following the other quickly as you massage the cheeks and your neck from one direction to the next. Apply a bit of pressure using your middle fingers, particularly on the inner corners of the eyes. Make circles gently around the eye sockets about three times as well, and then massage the forehead and temples.

The rhythmic and steady pressure that you apply to your face will increase blood flow to the area and leave it glowing and feeling nourished and revived. And if you massage in an upward motion, you can even prevent the formation of wrinkles, as well as prevent your skin from sagging with age.

Full body massages can reduce the appearance of cellulite

Cellulite plagues many women, and it can be very difficult to get rid of it. If you are frustrated by your cellulite, consider indulging in full body massages more often, as these will target all areas, from your arms to your legs, where lymph nodes are located.

Once you get the lymphatic fluid moving, and once you’re able to decrease the build-up of lymphatic fluid in various parts of the body, you can also help reduce and even prevent the development of cellulite. At the same time, the massage will work on increasing the flow of oxygen-rich blood throughout your body and into every cell, including the skin cells.

A full body massage can help reduce cellulite and improve your skin’s tone and texture. (Photo: Shutterstock)

See an improvement in your skin’s texture and tone

The skin all over your body suffers as a result of toxins in the environment, such as pollution, as well as from aging. But if you get a massage on a regular basis, you’re able to effectively increase the blood flow throughout your body and can help your body naturally heal itself through the draining of toxins and the strengthening of the immune system.

Again, increasing circulation and the flow of lymphatic fluid means your body will be cleansed from the inside out, and this can eventually lead to a visible improvement in your skin’s overall texture and tone from your head to your toes.

As you can see, massage can help you relax and release tension, but it can also make you feel more beautiful by improving your skin. Now that you know all of the benefits that massage can have on your skin, start incorporating it into your routine on a regular basis to reap the best results.

Article by Carol Trehearn

To ice or not to ice — that is the question. Or maybe the real issue is to heat or not to heat? Either way, whether you’re dealing with a one-time injury or chronic aches and pains, a few simple guidelines will help you know whether it’s best to bag some ice or get the trusty heating pad.

Ice is usually the best choice when you hurt yourself is ice for the first 48-72 hours, then heat. (Photo: Penn State Hershey)

Dr. Scott Lynch, director of sports medicine at Penn State Hershey Medical Center, says it’s all about blood flow. When you injure yourself, you should follow a prescription known as RICE – rest, ice, compression and elevation. “Elevation is probably the most important thing because it limits the amount of blood flow to the area and the amount of swelling,” he says.

Ice helps reduce swelling

Cold temperatures applied to an injury help constrict, or narrow, the blood vessels and keep blood from accumulating there, potentially causing too much inflammation or swelling that can delay the healing process.

Dr. Cayce Onks, family and sports medicine physician at Penn State Hershey, says icing an injury for the first 48 to 72 hours after it occurs can reduce the amount of secondary tissue damage. Ice also can help decrease pain. The recommendation is to use ice for 20 minutes, once an hour. That’s so you don’t create additional issues such as frostbite or damage to the skin. It also gives the skin a chance to recover from each icing session.

While special freezer packs are readily available, Onks says plain old ice in a bag is still the best. “You can mold it around the injury and get more coverage,” he says. “You also have to keep in mind that because of the chemicals in freezer packs, they can get much colder than ice and you could cause temperature-related skin problems.”

Heat alleviates aches and pains

Heat, on the other hand, is often used to alleviate muscle aches and pains, or to loosen up tense and sore areas before activity. “Heat typically brings blood flow to the area, which provides nutrients that the tissues need for healing,” Onks says. “It can also increase the flexibility of tendons and muscles.”

Athletes who have chronic issues or old injuries typically heat before they are active and ice afterward. Using a moist heat can also help because some people feel like the extra humidity helps with penetration of the heat.

In an athletic training room or physical therapy setting, providers can also produce deeper heat by using ultrasound. But generally a heating pad or a corn pack you put in the microwave to heat up will do the trick. Commercially available heat patches or products such as Icy Hot may provide temporary or superficial relief, but they don’t typically offer the penetration of ice, moist heat or ultrasound.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use them though.

“A lot of it just depends on what feels good with chronic injuries,” Onks says. “It’s one of those things where some people get relief from heat and some from ice. Though with acute injuries, you would want to stick with ice.”

Article by the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center