More than 9% of the entire population of the United States lives with diabetes. Unfortunately, diabetes is increasingly common. The need for prevention, care, treatment, and management is more important now than it ever was before. The symptoms of diabetes can be painful and difficult to live with. Some people with diabetes find that massage helps them feel better, and research confirms that their experience is in backed by science.
How Diabetes Affects The Body
Diabetes affects the body as a whole. There are different varieties of diabetes, but they all relate to the body’s ability to manage its insulin levels. Some people cannot produce the amount of insulin they need, while others cannot utilize the insulin they create.
Type 1 diabetes affects the pancreas and disrupts its ability to work properly, requiring insulin injections. Type 2 diabetes is far more prevalent than type 1. It affects the body’s ability to utilize insulin properly. Type 1.5 is a mixture of the two. There are other forms of diabetes, such as gestational diabetes, that are remedied or treated differently.
Many people with diabetes experience circulatory problems and the accumulation of fluid in the lower extremities. Widespread nerve pain is also common. While medications for diabetes (such as insulin when needed) will help regulate the internal processes of the body, these medications may not promote circulation and drainage or reduce pain.
The Benefits of Massage For Diabetic People
Massage offers many benefits to people living with diabetes. Since massage is designed to improve the way the body works and promote overall health, there is no shortage of ways people with diabetes can utilize massage to help them feel better.
Circulation And Glucose Management
Since diabetic patients frequently face challenges with circulation, a massage might provide a simple solution to their woes. When muscles are stimulated, circulation improves. Better circulation increases the body’s ability to manage both glucose and insulin. This benefit is easy to test. Check your glucose levels before you get a massage, and test them again two hours after the massage. You’re likely to see a significant improvement.
Lymphatic Drainage
People with diabetes are prone to buildups of lymphatic fluid, particularly in the lower legs. Most medical care providers will prescribe diuretics to help the body drain the excess of fluid, but some patients will need a little extra help. Stimulating the muscle will help it to remove buildups of fluid and other muscular waste products. By stimulating and stretching the muscle, the improved circulation will help to carry away some of the unnecessary fluid.
Increased Mobility
Decreased mobility and muscle stiffness are very common in diabetic people. This diminished range of motion often prevents diabetics from getting the exercise their body needs. Even if the desire is there, the pain and difficulty may be too great to keep a diabetic from achieving their fitness goals. Since people who don’t get enough exercise are more prone to conditions like depression, barriers to exercise must be removed. That’s why increasing the range of motion is of the utmost importance.
Stiff muscles are rejuvenated through massage. Any scar tissue that exists can be broken down, preventing it from throttling the muscle’s ability to work to its full potential. Oxygenated blood will flow through the stiff muscle, encouraging it to become long and lean. The body will begin to repair and fortify the stiff muscle, increasing the range of motion and allowing the patient to enjoy more physical activity.
Boosted Mood And Improved Sleep
Massage is for more than just the body. As a response to the stimulation from a massage, the body is encouraged to become more relaxed. This relaxation is mostly due to the mind. Hormones that promote stress, such as cortisol, affect everything we do. Stressed people get less sleep. Their moods suffer. They lose motivation to do the things that make them happy. By reducing cortisol levels, more things become possible.
In addition to a reduction in cortisol, there is an influx of happy hormones. Serotonin leads to better sleep and even greater optimism. Massage effectively replaces the bad with the good for longstanding benefits. These happy hormones also act as a natural painkiller, reducing the aches of day to day life. A great night’s sleep, a reduction in pain, and a positive attitude will make self care easier for people with diabetes.
We Invite You To Greentoes
At Greentoes in Tucson, we know how important massage is for diabetic patients. We want everyone to feel better by offering services that improve their help and calm their minds. Greentoes offers a whole host of massage services that will benefit diabetic patients. We encourage you to book an appointment with us to find out why people of Tucson trust Greentoes for their massage needs.