After the Massage

Keep that Good Feeling Going!

You're smiling to yourself as you finish getting dressed in the dimly lit room and open the door that leads to the hallway. As you step out of the room, you find your massage therapist waiting for you in the hallway with a smile and a glass of cool water. She asks you how you feel and you find it hard to make your brain form a coherent response. What are the words to accurately describe how amazing you fee? You end up sheepishly muttering something like "really good" as you smile back and take the proffered glass. In reality, you haven't felt this good, this relaxed and stress free in way too long. You drink the refreshing water and revel in the hydrating sensation of the cool water as it makes it's way down your throat and into your stomach. You feel a hazy relief as you remember that you have already paid her for the session and rebooked for another in four weeks. She walks you to the front door and wishes you a relaxing weekend. "You too!" you reply a bit more coherently and you make your way to your car, where you sit and collect yourself for several minutes before starting the engine and driving home.

This is a very common result after receiving a massage. I know I've felt this way many times after a really good massage.

After a relaxing massage, you might be feeling warm, peaceful, content, in tune with your body, mind, and soul. You probably are feeling that post-massage high as dopamine and endorphins course through your body. If you had a more therapeutic massage, you might be feeling like you can breathe again, looser, happier, better range of motion, and possibly a little bit sore if you needed a lot of deep work.

The only question that remains is: How do I prolong this amazing feeling?

Here are some do’s and don’ts to keep the massage feel-good going.

Things to do:

Drink Plenty of Water

If you’ve ever had a massage, chances are VERY high that you’ve heard the phrase “make sure you drink plenty of water for the rest of the day today!”

We all know that we should be drinking plenty of water. We’ve all been told this since we were kids! But what is the reasoning behind this directive after every massage?

Massage is dehydrating to your muscles. It’s like a very passive workout session in which your muscles are being worked, squeezed, stretched, pushed, and unbound. It increases circulation which helps eliminate cellular and muscular waste – this is why you have to pee after your massage. With all this work and increased waste removal, you need to resupply water to your body as it continues this process for hours after your massage. And the deeper your massage, the more vital it is to rehydrate.  

What happens if you don’t drink water after your massage? Good question. Have you ever been outside on a hot day playing or working hard? You get thirsty. If you don’t stay hydrated, you get lethargic, you get headaches, you get muscle aches and cramps, you might start feeling sick to your stomach. These are all signs of dehydration. They are also symptoms of not drinking enough water after your massage. These symptoms will also completely un-do all the amazing feelings you experienced while getting your massage.  

Stretch Lightly or Move Gently

If you’ve just had a deeper, more physically therapeutic massage, your muscles might be prone to post-massage stiffness. To combat this stiffness, keep you muscles moving for a bit. Do simple stretches throughout the rest of the day.

Don’t go home and sit on the couch for hours. Instead, do some light stretching, go for a short walk, enjoy a soak in a warm bath, or make a nutritious meal!

The point is to keep your muscles moving without straining or stressing them. This will help the muscles continue to process and eliminate any muscle waste that has been trapped in the bound muscles prior to your massage. Warm and gently used muscles won’t get stiff and achy. And again… Drink Plenty of Water!

Prioritize Rest.

Rest comes in several shapes and forms. It doesn’t necessarily just mean sleep, or sitting on the couch. Rest can be active like doing Yoga or going for a leisurely stroll. Or it can be more passive like taking a soothing bath or reclining in a lawn chair enjoying nature.

Prioritizing rest also means avoiding strenuous and stressful activities (see the “avoids” list below).If you don’t prioritize rest, you will quickly undo all the relaxing effects of your massage, but you could also potentially do yourself additional harm. A stressful meeting or phone call, a high intensity workout, or a comprehensive honey-do list are all amazing ways to undo your massage. Doing strenuous activities can also contribute to physical harm to your muscles if you’ve just had a lot of deep tissue work done. Get those stressful things done prior to your massage so you can add a sense of accomplishment to the blissed-out feeling of your massage.

Eat a nutritious meal or snack

Does your tummy start making sounds during your massage? Well that’s because massage stimulates the digestive system!

This means that your body expedites the assimilation of nutrients and expedites the elimination of waste. As a result, and depending on the time of your massage, you might feel hungry after your massage. In fact, your tummy might even start rumbling before your massage is even over!

Do your body a favor, and feed it what it really wants! Feed it a light, but nutrient dense meal or snack! Easy to digest foods like soup, salad, soft fruits, cooked vegetables, eggs, rice, poultry, and fish.

Soak in a nice warm bath

Extend your blissed-out feeling with a post massage soak in the tranquil sanctuary of a nice warm bath. Let the water embrace you as it cocoons your still relaxed body in its serene calmness.

A calming warm bath with some aromatherapy can prolong that massage high and even take it to the next level. It can also soothe worked over muscles from a deep tissue or rehabilitative massage shortening the period of soreness so you can go straight to feeling normal and functional.

Things to remember: Keep the bath water warm, not too hot. Opt for a water temperature of between 100°F and 105°F. Also remember to drink extra water if you opt to bathe, especially if you add Epsom salts.

Things to Avoid:

Avoid Strenuous Workouts or Activities

Your muscles are relaxed and loose and the last thing you should be doing is strenuous activity. Strenuous means doing something that requires using great exertion, an activity that stresses you physically. When your muscles are loose and relaxed, a strenuous activity can actually cause your body harm.

Massage is similar (not the same though) as a good workout. Your muscles are worked and your circulation is increased, All you had to do was lie on the massage table! But now your muscles and joints are loose. If you did a strenuous workout or activity now, you would not only undo everything your massage therapist as achieved, but you could also potentially hurt yourself through over extension, sprain, strain, or pulled muscle.  You could put back the knots that were just released and even create new knots! Basically, you would end up undoing your massage and therefore wasting the time and money you spent on it in addition to losing the physical benefits of the massage.

Avoid Caffeine, Alcohol, Soda, and other sugary drinks and foods.

Really, we should all be avoiding all these things most of the time anyway, but here are some reasons why you will want to pass on them right after a massage.

Caffeine: Caffeine is a diuretic. It will increase the amount of urine your body produces and then needs to eliminate. In and of itself, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it can be if you are already dehydrated. Since we already discussed how massage is dehydrating to your muscles, consuming a diuretic that will increase that dehydration is definitely not a good idea- think headaches, stiff and achy muscles, and stomach pains.

Alcohol: Alcohol is also dehydrating, but in addition to having diuretic properties, the alcohol also binds to the water already in your body and tags it for elimination. Basically, its gonna see your dehydration and raise it exponentially.

Soda: Non diet soda is made with ingredients that are not good for your body; specifically high-fructose corn syrup, phosphoric acid, and carbonic acid. According to the American Osteopathic Association, “high-fructose corn syrup depletes energy while it’s metabolized, leading to lethargy, fatigue, and increased hunger.” You’ve already given your body the task of eliminating extra muscle waste, why would you slow down the process while at the same time decreasing your overall energy levels? So why not just stick to diet soda after a massage? The artificial sweetener, Aspartame, has been identified as a dietary trigger for headaches and migraines. If you are already on the dehydrated side, which can also lead to increased headaches, aspartame and diet soda may not be worth it.

Sugary drinks and foods: This one should be obvious, but I’ll still explain it. Sugar causes inflammation in the body, which can then lead to increased occurrences of knots in your muscles. Sugar is also a stimulant that will override your blissed-out and relaxed feeling leaving your restless, jittery, and anxious.

Avoid overeating and heavy meals

Overeating and heavy meals are taxing on your digestive system and can make your body divert its energy and resources towards digesting that meal rather than continuing to rest and rejuvenate.

Simply put, eating too much or eating foods that take longer and more energy to digest, or are nutrient deficient, will tax your digestive system and make you feel sluggish, bloated, and backed up rather than lighter, refreshed, and healthy.

Avoid meetings, tasks, appointments, or people that might cause physical or emotional stress.

These are probably big reasons why you needed the massage in the first place. I’ve had clients that have named their most chronic knots after bosses, co-workers, and significant others (or ex-significant others). Anytime is a good time to get a massage, but the best time to get a massage is when you are done for the day with the reasons why you need a massage in the first place!

If you keep to these do’s and don’ts you are sure to extend all the benefits of your massage for as long as possible. Now all you have to do is make your next massage appointment!