Many people know that massage helps muscles relax, but few likely understand why. Massage is a science as well as an art. So while you may think your therapist has magic hands, she may just know a thing or two about the science behind therapeutic massage therapy.
Muscle tone is usually thought of in terms of fitness but really, tonicity refers to the level of tightness or flaccidity. Overuse can cause a muscle to be painfully tight while underuse can cause stiffening and shortening.
Optimal tonicity is where muscles are able to return to a lengthened resting state after contraction. Massage affects muscles in specific, verifiable ways and it isn't really magic.
If you are unfamiliar with some of the terms here trigger points and fascia please see my articles, "Myofascial Massage for the Sports Minded," and "The Pain Spasm Wheel," on my blog.
Reversal of Ischemia. When a muscle is in a contracture a type of involuntary spasm for a length of time, it can become tight and ischemic. Ischemia is a state in which blood delivery to muscle fibers is in short supply. Think of sweet corn. You remove the green, supple husk before you cook the cob. If you were to take that husk and put it on your counter top for a week or two, what would happen? It would dry up, turn brown, shrink and shrivel. Muscles don't react quite that dramatically to a lessened blood supply, but they do suffer.
