The COVID-19 pandemic is causing droves of people to experience more stress than before, due to a combination of possible factors. Many are fearful of getting sick with the illness, while others are facing sudden job loss or feel worried about the state of the economy as a whole. Others have become anxious due to social distancing and isolation rules, as well as the loss of their normal everyday social activities that brought them a sense of routine and contentment.
Health experts have pointed to pandemic-related anxiety as a risk factor for all kinds of physical health conditions. They also point to various types of interventions that can help alleviate stress symptoms in sufferers, including massage therapy.
To understand more about how pandemic-related stress can affect the body and how massage therapy might help, let’s take a closer look.
Signs a Person May Be Experiencing Pandemic-Related Stress
Many of the physical symptoms people have complained of in the face of the pandemic are the same ones associated with stress in general, including muscle pain, tension headaches, and extreme fatigue. As these can also be some key symptoms of COVID-19, the presence of these physical changes can lead some to mistakenly believe they have caught the virus.
Pandemic stress may also cause people to begin experiencing sudden new stomach ailments, tingling of the extremities, and chest pains. With this in mind, it’s important for the sufferer of any new physical symptoms to visit their family doctor to rule out any serious illness. Once they are quite certain they are COVID-free and otherwise healthy, their doctor may determine that these physiological sensations could be stress-related.
How Those with Massage Therapist Training Can Help Sufferers
When stress or anxiety has been diagnosed as the source of such physical symptoms, the stress itself can be helped by various interventions such as exercise, counselling, and massage therapy. The healing techniques learned in massage therapist training can help to relax the client’s body and mind, resulting in improved blood flow and other benefits.
The relaxation achieved through regular massage sessions can also lead to better sleep, which may have been disrupted for a prolonged period due to pandemic related anxiety. Better sleep is commonly associated with a reduction in stress, which can further help people recover from the worries caused by the pandemic.
Touch Therapy Can Be Especially Helpful to the Most Isolated
Graduates of massage therapist course know how to communicate effectively with the client to better understand the nature of their pain or sensitivities. Some individuals have suffered more than others from the extreme isolation caused by social distancing. In these cases, touch therapy may be of even greater benefit, with some therapists noting a more emotional treatment response in clients who’ve been mostly alone for weeks on end.
This personal level of engagement, combined with learned massage techniques for treating the soft tissues and joints, can help to provide invaluable stress relief. With regular routine sessions, the massage therapist can be beneficial to those suffering from ongoing pandemic-related anxiety.
Are you interested in helping people heal from the physical symptoms of stress by training for a massage therapist diploma?
Contact Oxford College today to learn more about its specialized program in the GTA!