Daily life comes with numerous stressful situations that can put you in a bad mood. Getting a massage can make your stressful situations a little easier to handle and turn your bad mood around.

A study showed that a Swedish massage increased serotonin by 28 percent and dopamine by 31 percent. Both these hormones are known as the “feel good” hormones. Massage also decreased cortisol, a stress hormone, by 31 percent.

Massage can change the biochemistry of your body, which therefore decreases your stress reactions. If you don’t have time for a vacation, consider getting a massage instead.

When people are preparing for marathons, senior baseball championships or just getting serious about their health, massage can help in both preventing and recovering from injuries that come with strenuous activity.

It is not just the workouts that are important in preparing for these events, recovery is also important. Regular massage helps keep the muscles moving without restriction, thereby reducing the likelihood of injury. If an injury has already been sustained, massage is of great benefit in the recovery process to restore movement and limit scar tissue development.