Beware the common cold | newburysportsmassage

Beware the common cold - when to avoid

going for a massage

The common cold is a viral infectious disease of the upper respiratory tract which affects primarily the nose. Massage has a profound effect on the body’s circulatory system, facilitating the movements of fluid throughout your body. This is not good news if you are in the acute phase of the cold (typically the first 2 or 3 days of the cold). By moving fluids, massage can spread the cold through the body much more effectively than would happen naturally.

One of the main benefits of massage is that is increases blood circulation, carrying fresh oxygenated blood and nutrients to the cells and carrying away metabolic waste products. Where there is muscle dysfunction, tightness and muscle fibre adhesions, the act of massage will physically encourage the flow of blood to these tissues, break down these adhesions thereby is even more effective at pumping the blood and all it contains (including germs) around the body.

So if you're going for a massage, and if you have the onset of a cold, the best advice is to wait until you are better as your cold will likely hit you harder and be worse than otherwise (and your therapist should they be infected will not be able to work for at least a week!). In the same way that you would be adviced not to excercise with a cold, the same applies with massage.