10/05/2026
5 things worth knowing about massage therapy:
1. It's one of the oldest healing practices we know - written records go back more than 4,000 years to ancient China and Egypt.
2. Your skin is your largest sensory organ. A big part of what massage does happens through the touch receptors in the skin, not just the muscles underneath.
3. Studies link massage to lower cortisol and higher serotonin and dopamine - the chemistry of feeling calm.
4. There are more than 80 recognized styles of massage, from Swedish to sports to shiatsu.
5. A 2020 systematic review (BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine) found massage can modestly ease post-exercise soreness. Real, but not magic - recovery still takes time.
Save this for someone who thinks massage is "just pampering."