As the festive season fast approaches we can look forward to long languishing summer days and fabulous feasting with family and friends. And then the dawn of 1 January and a long list of new year’s resolutions. While we won’t say don’t feast away in the weeks ahead, we will say there are some things you can do about feeling less bloated and more comfortable over the festive season. While this may include consuming less, we also won’t be saying that. So here’s what we are saying. Consider massage therapy as a possible option to help reduce indigestion, bloating and constipation, and an additional way to feed the feel-good festive spirit.
Also referred to as abdominal or belly massage, stomach massage is a gentle and non-invasive treatment known to help relieve and ease digestive issues, especially constipation and bloating. While some massage centres dedicate a full session to stomach massage, it’s often included in a regular massage treatment where a trained massage therapist will focus on stomach for even a few minutes or more as needed, to help give relief. Using circular motions with palms and fingertips, your specialised massage therapist will apply gentle pressure on targeted areas across your rib cage and abdomen.
Massage therapy in general is known to relieve stress and ease tension, physically and mentally. Stomach massage is thought to help improve the movement between your internal organs and other tissues in your body. The specific benefits of targeted stomach massage include easing constipation and relieving bloating.
Constipation: Evidence suggests that massage stimulates peristalsis -- the muscle contractions that move food through the digestive tracts. There have also been case reports showing massage helps constipation in patients for physiological reasons as well as long-term functional constipation. Bloating: Often after a large meal you feel bloated with your stomach distended and your abdomen enlarged. Massage can help to reduce bloating quickly. While there are techniques to do a belly massage on yourself, a trained massage therapist can apply the right pressure in the correct way to achieve optimal results, and include stomach massage in a longer massage session.By working on your core, other benefits of stomach massage include:
• Helps treat insomniaFor the best outcomes of any massage therapy, including abdominal massage, it’s always best to seek the specialised services of a trained massage therapist. Stomach massage can form part of a longer massage therapy session with a targeted focus to help relieve abdominal discomfort and ease digestive issues.
If you have any underlying health issues, recovering from surgery, have abdominal or spinal injury, or pregnant, you should not get a stomach massage. If in doubt or you feel reluctant, speak to your doctor or your massage therapist in advance of or during your regular massage session to learn more about the benefits of abdominal massage and if it’s right for you. With the food frenzy festive season on our doorstep, you may be weighing up healthy choices in the weeks ahead. With many known benefits, including to help relieve bloating and ease constipation, abdominal massage can also help improve mood with links between state-of-stomach and state-of-mind, contributing to an overall sense of wellbeing.
Bondi Junction Massage & Float Centre is a restorative and remedial oasis of calm and wellbeing in the heart of Sydney’s eastern suburbs, treating thousands of clients since 1985. Our centre is currently OPEN, adhering to a COVID Safety Plan. To find out more about our range of massages and other treatments, please make contact or book now.
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