How Massage Therapy for Seniors Can Improve Sleep Quality and Reduce Insomnia
During aging, a person may have to go through a number of overwhelming complications, but sleep deprivation is one of the most serious consequences. Multiple factors such as stress, anxiety, pain, etc can make an aged person suffer from insomnia and disturbed sleep patterns.
Sleep disruptions can be a real hindrance, but they can also drain a person's energy and cause a number of other diseases. Yet, massage therapy for seniors can be very useful in several ways to enhance their sleep quality.
In this blog, you will learn how a good massage session can improve sleep quality in aged people. So, get to reading now!
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How Can Massage Therapy Facilitate Better Sleep in Seniors?
Read below to learn about how a good massage session can promote better sleep quality in old people by reducing insomnia:
Reduction of Stress
One of the major reasons behind improper sleep habits and insomnia in old people is stress. A person who does not have a calm mind will not be able to sleep well. Hence, it is essential to be stress-free and sleep well at night.
Massage therapy is a natural treatment for insomnia in older adults. It can help reduce the amount of the stress hormone cortisol in the body thus making one feel relaxed.
Hence, the inexorable massage therapy will bring major advantages in the fact that it will promote quality sleep in older people. Listening to soft music during the therapy can greatly lessen stress!
Pain relief
To put one to sleep, it is absolutely necessary to discover a position that one finds pleasant. Nevertheless, your body depends on you as pain and inflammation may manifest as you grow older, thereby making it difficult to settle into a comfortable position at night.
Thus, elderly people, whose bed rest is supposed to be calm and peaceful, find sleeping very difficult, because of constantly being disturbed and distressed. Massage treatment can be very useful in helping old people experience better sleep quality.
When the appropriate techniques are implemented to ease chronic conditions in older adults, they find much relief from the pain, and inflammation and can find a comfortable position for sleeping.
Better Blood Circulation
Without proper blood circulation, it can be very difficult for an individual to attain proper sleep and rest. As you age, your blood circulation may become affected, resulting in sleep complications.
Massage therapy can be highly useful in promoting better blood circulation by increasing oxygen delivery to the muscles.
As a result, the muscles will be properly relaxed, allowing the individual to have a good night's sleep. So, old people suffering from reduced blood flow can get considerable help from a good massage session.
Reduction of Anxiety
Excessive overthinking in old people can result in severe anxiety and depression. It can be the root cause of multiple sleeping disorders. Getting a relaxing massage therapy can enhance the release of endorphins, making a person less prone to anxiety and depression.
So, this treatment can be considerably useful in stabilizing one's sleep patterns during old age by improving their mental health. However, old people suffering from excessive mental stress and anxiety should seek professional medical assistance for more concrete solutions
Increase Serotonin Levels
Serotonin is very critical in ensuring a proper sleep cycle. On the other hand, your natural production of the hormone may start decreasing as you age. Consequently, the sleep cycle will be disturbed and you are likely to sleep less.
In such cases, a massage session can be very useful. It can encourage the secretion of serotonin in the body and regulate sleep patterns efficiently. So, it can allow an aged person to experience a much deeper and restful sleep.
How to Improve Massage Therapy for Seniors?
Here's how you can improve massage treatment for aged people:
Consultation
To improve massage therapy for aged people, it is very important to consult an affiliated therapist to understand your body's unique requirements. A specialist will right identify your type of sleeping disturbance and the potential reasons behind it.
Therefore, consulting a specialist will ensure that you get treated with the right techniques and procedures to receive the maximum benefits.
Customized Therapy
To ensure that old people receive considerable benefits from massage therapy, customization of the treatment can be very useful. So, seniors with sleep disturbances and insomnia can avail of completely catered treatments emphasizing mainly relaxation, stress reduction, and pain relief.
Relaxation Environment
A proper environment works like magic in improving the results of massage therapy. To make massage therapy more effective for aged people, it is very important to create the perfect environment.
A calm and quiet space with dim lights can make the environment much more relaxing, thereby making old people completely free of stress.
If you get your therapy done in a busy and unquiet environment, it will hardly be functional since you will not be able to get peace of mind. The use of scent oils or incense during therapy can serve as an adjunct to therapy and increase benefits.
Techniques
Different individuals have different sets of requirements. Therefore, the reason for sleep deprivation in old people may greatly vary. To address each concern accurately, it is very important to implement accurate techniques.
For improved therapy, your therapist can provide you with combined techniques for maximum benefits in stimulating better sleep quality. However, you should be able to communicate with your therapist freely so that you can be very clear about your comfort and convenience.
Duration
The duration of treatment can vary depending on how severe your sleep problem is. So, old people with sleep disturbances should seek therapy for the right duration. If your treatment session is too short or too long, it might create negative health consequences.
Conclusion
If you want to get relief from your sleep disturbances and insomnia during old age, you can choose a customized massage therapy for seniors for the best benefits.
However, using improper massage techniques can make your sleep problems much worse as the human body becomes much more fragile and sensitive with age. Therefore, always consult a trained medical professional before getting massage therapy for insomnia in old age.