If you happen to be suffering from some kind of injury or nagging aches, you know how difficult the pain can be to manage. You are often prescribed some kind of medication to deal with your aches and pains. If you are someone who works out regularly or if you happen to be a manual labourer, you probably have your fair share of aches and pains as well. These can be difficult to manage, and they only get more strenuous when you add a medication regimen into the mix. There are ways to manage pain without chemicals, though. A spa is a great way to manage pain without a medical intervention.
The Way it Works
A spa helps to reduce pain in many different ways. Depending on the source of the pain, the mechanism for curing it differs. If you have pain from working out, you probably have what is called delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). DOMS stems from the lactic acid buildup in your muscles while you are working out. Also, it comes from tiny tears in the muscles that result from the added stress of lifting weights. To repair the muscles, you need to flush the lactic acid out and usher in proteins to help your body rebuild. That is where the spa comes into play. Outdoor spas help your body respond to vigorous exercise and they help you recover more quickly.
A spa can help you recover from exercise-related soreness by increasing the blood flow to your muscles. The warm temperatures loosen your muscles and facilitate greater blood flow to and from the sore spots. This means that you can effectively clear out the lactic acid, and any proteins you have consumed will be efficiently delivered to your muscles. The heat of the water also has a painkilling effect.
Aches and Pains
If you have aches and pains that aren’t from exercise, you can still benefit from a spa. Warm water has been proven to reduce pain and relax muscles. Relaxing your muscles is often enough to reduce your pain, which is the entire principle behind a massage. A spa can work as effectively as a professional massage when it comes to relaxing your muscles. Furthermore, research has shown that you can reduce your pain levels simply by relaxing. There are obvious physical benefits to a spa, but there are psychological ones as well. Because the sensation of pain is essentially the brain’s way of interpreting certain kinds of stimuli, changing your brain’s interpretation can also help to reduce pain.
Researchers have found that when people are emotionally relaxed, they report lower pain levels. Likewise, their pain levels go up when they experience stressed. Their actual physical pain doesn’t have to change for their perception of it to change. There are many reasons for this, but most importantly, you can reduce it by relaxing your mind. After all, there are few things more comfortable and reinvigorating than sitting in a hot spa.
A spa is an investment in your future and in yourself. It might seem like a luxury, but in reality, it is a great way to lower your pain levels and to recover from exercise more quickly. When it comes to both physical and mental health, you will be much better off after investing in a spa.