Massage Side Effects

Side effects are any signs or symptoms experienced by an individual which deviate from the intended objective or outcome of a treatment.  I wonder how many people still read the common side effects on medication leaflets or on the side of the box.  I think similar to that scenario, if I was to hand out leaflets on the side effects of a massage, the answer would be less than 1%.  Why? Probably part laziness, part time poor, part attention deficient, or the expectation you’ll be told by the practitioner especially if it’s a likely side effect.

So top 5 common side effects of a massage treatment are:

– Post treatment tenderness

– Bruising

– Sleepiness

– Headaches

– Nausea

It’s not a bad thing to experience these side effects.  In fact, some clients expect it or use it has a benchmark that if they’re not feeling tender or bruised the next day, then it wasn’t a good massage!

If you receive a massage when you’re at the beginning stages or in the middle of being sick, you may feel worse the next day.  This is because the treatment would have brought up a lot of toxicity in the body and the added manual flush from the massage is your body trying to get rid of waste products quickly and sooner than later.

Tenderness and bruising is common especially when the pressure applied was firm or quite a bit of time was focused on the area.  I don’t necessarily perceive bruising as a sign it was a poor massage,  rather any adhesions between connective tissues needed to be broken up.  If it was really painful at the time of treatment, and not in a “good pain”, “I feel something is being released” sort of way, then yes I wouldn’t suggest going back to that therapist again.

Sleepiness is very common after a massage.  Your body is more relaxed as muscles have been kneaded over, blood is flowing more freely and the rhythm of the treatment would induce sleepiness.  It’s important to rehydrate and find alternative ways home if you’re aware you get really drowsy after a massage.  I’ve had clients remark they’ve had to have a snooze in the car before driving home on occasion.

A massage can set off a headache depending on how tight the muscles were to treat and if it was due to poor posture as opposed to coming down with a cold/flu. If the headache was a symptom tied in with another illness it can induce nausea.   It’s important to rehydrate especially if you feel a headache coming on after a massage treatment.

As mentioned above, nausea can be a side effect brought up if it’s tied in with an underlying condition such as the onset of a cold/flu/fever.  If you’re already feeling feverish, you shouldn’t be getting a massage in the first place.  If you’re already nauseous I’d probably recommend a relaxation massage or reflexology to calm the body’s senses.  My first option would be for you to wait till you’re in a better state before you book in for a massage.  As a side effect, highly unlikely the massage treatment alone created or caused the nausea.

“Massages for Camberwell, Caulfield North and Malvern”