Touch plays a huge role in our well-being.
It impacts our physical, mental, and emotional health, and quite literally shapes the way we go through our lives.
Touch is the sense that we take for granted the most, but we miss it when it’s gone.
It fosters trust and aids in the formation of close bonds.
A tender touch from others is now known to boost the immune system, lower blood pressure, reduce stress hormones like cortisol, and trigger the release of opiates similar to painkillers.
Touch can be that powerful.
Touch is beneficial
We don’t usually think of physical touch as a form of therapy, but studies have shown that being touched can actually help lessen pain, improve immune system functionality, improve pulmonary function, increase growth and development, and lower blood glucose.
The healing power of the human touch is unquestionably important in self-care.
Touch is central to everything we think and feel, as well as how we communicate and bond.
Touch has strong psychological effects on both the giver and the receiver.
It conveys a lot of unsaid information and can influence people’s decisions without them even realizing it.
Science behind touch
When you are touched, your skin’s many nerve endings send messages back to your brain.
Physical contact has been shown to increase dopamine and serotonin levels, two chemicals that help you feel better in stressful situations.
Dopamine and serotonin both assist your brain in regulating your moods, stress, and anxiety levels.
Touch activates the orbitofrontal cortex of the brain, which is associated with feelings of reward and compassion.
Touch also sends information to our mechanoreceptors. Our brains function better when they receive more inputs, especially if the input is not constant (i.e., visual input for seeing individuals).
Small gestures can help promote calm, reduce anxiety, and send calming signals to your brain.
A single touch can produce feelings of security, happiness and comfort.
These emotions are supported by a reduction in stress hormones and an increase in oxytocin, a hormone thought to calm and counteract stress.
A hug, massage, or other form of touch can have a cortisol-lowering effect on someone who is sick, which can also have healing effects.
Massage therapy
Massage is an extremely healing modality for a variety of reasons.
Your body sometimes craves more than a light, casual touch; it craves someone to go deep.
Massage can help reduce stress and anxiety. It also helps with sleep and pain relief.
Massage strengthens the immune system by increasing the number of lymphocytes in the body (white blood cells that help defend the body from disease).
Post-workout massage sessions can help your muscles recover and improve your fitness results by reducing post-workout muscle inflammation.
Massage can alleviate pain and anxiety in people suffering from chronic illnesses such as cancer, as well as reduce the physiological burden of stress.
To name a few, it can help treat stress-related tension, cancer-related fatigue, sleep disorders, high blood pressure, diabetes, low back pain, and depression.
Massage therapy can improve your quality of life by:
- Reducing pain, restriction and spasm and inflammation
- Improving mobility
- Improving blood circulation
- Reducing fatigue
- Improving sleep
- Helping raise levels of natural opiates that help combat feelings of depression
- Addressing digestive and elimination disturbances
Conclusion
Touch is an important part of the human experience when done correctly.
The touch does not have to be intimate or large in order to have an effect.
A pat on the back, a shoulder rub, a handshake, or a professional massage all stimulate the brain’s reward centers. We are happier, safer, more confident, calmer, and more connected.
Let us not forget that we must be careful not to deprive ourselves of the nurturing, healing, and connection that comes from simple human touch.
We have the ability to nourish our health, relationships, and spirit through the simple act of human touch.