Getting a massage when sick, good or bad idea?
Waking up on a pleasant day and realizing you are sick. Maybe it’s a headache or a sore throat, nevertheless, it means you are sick and you have to stay at home. No one really wants you ogling around, spreading the germs in the workplace.
I am sure even your clients won’t appreciate seeing you unfit. So what do you do? Work from home? That probably will be a better idea than going to a place filled with people and not really being able to give it your best. Also let’s face it, on a sick day you don’t really have the energy or the stamina to work and put in the effort.
This brings us to the all-important question, is getting a massage when sick, good idea or bad idea? Just read on to get the answer.
What effects does a massage have on your body?
I mean, it definitely does sound soothing and relaxing and works as a pain reliever. A massage does calm and relaxes your muscles and the nervous system. Massages are generally known to boost your immune system as well.
They work best for stress and pain relief situations and they are most familiar to increase blood circulation inside one’s body. As positive as all of it sounds, it is still unlikely that a massage will help a sick person to get better. It is usually advised not to get a massage when a person is sick.
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Massage isn’t as relaxing as it sounds in sickness:
There are many reasons discussed why one should not get a massage when sick. One of those reasons is that massage increases the circulation in the body. It manipulates the muscles, encouraging and pushing the waste through the body at a faster pace than normal.
The already illness fighting body is put under a lot more pressure. Thus the early stages of sickness may increase rapidly due to this compression. When the body is already dealing with sickness symptoms this stress might just add to those existing symptoms and make you even sicker.
This is the reason that if you go to your massage therapist when you are sick, he might just send you back home. It is because in earlier stages of sickness it gets very hard to lay head faced downwards on the chair and stop yourself from sneezing or covering up your runny nose. Plus it feels terrible and not relaxing at all.
A contagious sickness may spread:
Another reason to stay away from a massage clinic while you are sick is that if you have a contagious illness, you don't want others to catch it from you. This is just to be considerate of your therapist and the other clients.
The health of others should also be your priority. So it is better when you are sick, you should stay at home rather than going out and spreading the germs. Imagine yourself in their shoes. You as a therapist would not want to give a message to anyone who is sick or seems unhealthy either.
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Staying at home a much better idea:
If you're sick and you are upset about missing out a massage appointment, you can think positively. Though on the bright side you get to stay at home and be comfortable. Not lay on a chair for 45 minutes uncomfortably. You can be home and stay in bed wrapped up and all cozy. It is highly recommended by a number of massage therapists.
However, some may suggest that getting a message when you are sick is not that bad of an idea. In fact, it has some benefits as well.
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How getting a massage helps in sickness:
Massage can actually help you get better much quicker. You can, in fact, speed up your recovery process. However, this is only possible if you are ready to take on 3 to 4 days full dose of extreme symptoms. Getting a massage will pressure your body and push it to its limits.
It forces to speed up the process by pushing everything in your body. This would cause a reaction of increased disease symptoms for 3 to 4 days. However, it would not last for as long as one to two weeks as on a normal pace it would have lasted.
A few things that should be kept in mind are that if you have colds and flu you should probably stay at home. Or if you have a fever or feel nausea it is still better to stay at home and tucked in your bed. If you have a case of a common cold you should wait until it gets a little better to catch your appointment with the therapist for a massage.
However, if you are having common cold signs, it is usually ok to get a therapeutic massage. There are different types of massage that you go for in this situation. These include Swedish massage, hot stone massage, and deep tissue massage. These massages are also good for recovering from strenuous exercise too. These massage techniques will improve blood flow and your overall health and release stress hormones.
Check out these, What is a therapeutic massage?
In our personal opinion
So in conclusion getting a relaxing massage when you are sick can be a bad idea or a good idea depending on the intensity of sickness or the person himself. Every person has a different immune system and a different coping mechanism with disease symptoms.
Consequently, everyone deals with their recovery differently and takes their own time. If a person thinks they can handle the pressure of getting a massage and feeling under the weather for a couple of days to get better and recover faster. They should probably get a massage session when they are sick.
However, if a person has a weak immune system and requires a natural and steady time to recover, which is one to two weeks, they should probably reschedule their massage appointments until they are feeling better. In the end, the decision of getting a massage depends on the person and the type of disease they have, contagious or not.
