Strengthen Your Immune System with Massage & Cupping

Many people are turning to alternative therapies to help strengthen their immune system. Especially during the winter months, everyone looks for ways to fight against becoming ill. This year due to covid-19, having a robust immune system is more important than ever.

Everyone knows that foundational to building a healthy immune system is eating a balanced diet and getting lots of rest. Scheduling a massage once per month is another way to stay healthy.

 

Here are a few ways massage can improve your immune system:
  • Promotes increased circulation and lymphatic flow, which helps move healthy nutrients throughout your body and to filter metabolic waste.
  • Stress has shown to be an immunosuppressor. Massage is one of the best ways to reduce stress by reducing the level of cortisol, a stress hormone.
  • Pain has significant negative effects on our immunity. Massage has an enormous impact on decreasing pain, which makes it easier for your body to fight off illness.
  • Massage is great for your mental health. Your mind is a direct link to your body and a healthy mind promotes a healthy body.
  • Massage strengthens our ability to fight disease, a regular massage naturally increases the healthy immune system’s ability to kill certain cells, while decreasing the number of t-cells for an improvement of the body’s overall immune function.
  • Massage can increase the level of lymphocytes, which are cells that help the immune system fight off harmful substances in the body.

Even one session of massage boosts immune function. Massage offers relaxation and stress relief, and when people are less stressed, they are much less likely to fall ill. Chronic stress impairs your body’s inflammatory immune response, increasing your susceptibility to infection.

 

Cupping Therapy

Another way is Cupping therapy, which is an ancient practice that dates back to China, Egypt, Greece and Eastern Europe.

Cupping is an inverse massage that works faster and more effectively than regular massage. In regular deep tissue massage, the muscles are compressed; Cupping stretches, lifts and separates soft tissue using suction, allowing for blood and lymph fluid to flow more freely.

Cupping therapy is beneficial to the immune system and offers ways to help boost the immune response to better fight off unwelcome pathogens.

 

Benefits of Cupping
  • Supports healthy respiratory function by nourishing lungs and clearing congestion and phlegm
  • Helps improve lymph and blood flow
  • Helps maintain a healthy digestive system

The goal of cupping is to increase circulation to the blood vessels and encourage blood flow to the affected areas. These benefits are important to strengthen the immune response, which is often compromised by stress, lack of sleep, poor diet and viruses. Having a robust immune system is very important to protect against bacteria and infections.

Cupping also encourages the lymphatic system to reduce inflammation by increasing the amount of circulation to targeted areas and muscles of the body, moving toxins and waste to the lymphatic system where lymph fluid takes it away. 

If you are looking for a new way to strengthen your immune system, schedule a session to try cupping therapy and/or massage therapy. Email ebrunner@ampersandintegrative.com to schedule an appointment.

 

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