Why does massage make you feel tingles?
Updated: Oct 1, 2019
Getting pressed, moved around, and massaged creates pressure on the muscles that cause intense sensations. Many people report feeling a massage throughout their entire body even if it’s a localized massage like a foot massage.
Our muscle is a sensory organ, chock full of nerve endings. The connective tissue is mixed with tendons, ligaments, intricate wrappings called “fascia”, and plenty of nerves. Those nerve endings actually produce more sensation than all other sense combined. Half of all sensory information sent to the spinal cord and brain comes from these nerves.
The nervous system craves stimulus, baby mammals can die from lack of sensory stimulation. As adults we don’t need input to survive, but we do need it to thrive. Humans crave dazzling sights, beautiful sounds, exotic smells, and even touch.
Your nervous systems favorite thing is friendly sensory surprises. The problem is it can be difficult for the muscles to be surprised, your brain knows the moves you make so it predicts the feelings you’ll feel. For example you don’t know what a flower is going to smell like until you smell it, but you do know which step you’re going to take before you take it. The only way to easily surprise your muscles it with massage.
When you are feeling intense tingles during a massage it is because you are feeling such a large quantity of sensations, more than any of your other senses, and it can’t be predicted by your brain. If you’re looking to feel tingles from head to toe come to Your Massage Spa for a sensory changing massage.