If you’ve ever had an intense massage, particularly a deep tissue massage, you may have found yourself feeling ecstatic during the massage… only to feel a bit sketchy after.
What’s the deal?
It’s not uncommon to feel sick or even nauseous after a massage.
This is the reason why many people can feel nauseous after having a massage treatment, so is there anything that you can do to prevent this from happening, especially when you’re paying the massage therapist to help you feel better?
In this blog post, we’ll share some hints and tips to help you stop feeling sick after a massage.
Feeling Sick After A Massage
The reason why most people decide to have a massage is that they expect to feel relaxed, refreshed, and/or rejuvenated after they’ve received the treatment.
However, sometimes the exact opposite can happen, and some are left feeling worse than they started, anxious and unhappy, or even sick to their stomach.
So, why does this happen? Why is it that something that should feel good has feeling nauseated like you’ve been hitting the tequila shots the night before?
Basically, it means that the massage has done its job, so you shouldn’t worry about it! In fact, it can happen to anyone at any time, even if you’ve had many massages before.
Of course, there are different types of massages, ranging from deep tissue manipulation, such as Thai massage, Lomi Lomi, sports massage, and lymphatic drainage massage to light touch massage techniques like traditional Swedish, and hot stone massage.
But does the type of massage have anything to do with you feeling nauseous or coming down with the flu?
Is It Normal To Feel Sick After A Massage?
When you have a massage, your body undergoes a great deal of agitation. This is due to the therapist manipulating your muscle tissue and is why you’re always offered a glass of water at the end of your session.
Though many believe toxins get flushed from the body after a massage, there’s no real evidence to back this up.
It’s not entirely clear why the body feels sick after a massage, but some research suggests it has to do with the immune response to the massage experience — particularly if it is a deep tissue or sports massage, given after exercising. It may be postural hypotension, or dizziness (more on that below).
It may even be a placebo effect due to the impact of a deep tissue massage. That’s not to say it’s all in your head, but rather that the feeling may be your mind and body’s reaction to the massage treatment, not the treatment itself.
Regardless, hydration will often make you feel better.
Feeling Dizzy After A Massage
If you stand up too quickly after the end of your massage, then it is possible that you might experience dizziness or lightheadedness, because your body is needing to pump more blood to your heart.
This is known as postural hypotension, but it’s not something that you need to worry about. This condition happens when you’ve been lying down for a long period of time (most massage treatments last for around an hour) or so, which causes a drop in your blood pressure.
So, when you stand up, and more blood needs to be pumped to your heart, it can make you feel like you want to faint.
Your therapist is well aware of this situation (it’s actually very common) and will suggest that you drink the water provided, and sit and breathe deeply.
You’ll feel better within a few minutes.
Can Lymphatic Massage Make You Sick?
After you’ve had a lymphatic drainage massage, it is very possible that you may experience nausea, fatigue, or even a headache if your immune system is compromised.
After you’ve had a lymphatic drainage massage, it is very possible that you may experience nausea, fatigue, or even a headache if your immune system is compromised.
In addition, in extremely rare cases, you may develop skin conditions like discoloring or blistering, or even a manifestation of an underlying infection.
This is because waste can accumulate in your lymph nodes when your immune system isn’t working as well as it should. You will know this is the case if you have tight or painful swelling in parts of your body, like your breasts, legs, or ankles, where the skin feels tight and can feel hot.
Removing toxic waste from your lymph nodes during a massage can cause you to feel unwell if you are dehydrated or don’t do enough exercise, for example, which keeps your lymphatic system from working as well as it should.
Removing toxic waste from your lymph nodes during a massage can cause you to feel unwell if you are dehydrated or don’t do enough exercise, for example, which keeps your lymphatic system from working as well as it should.
Keeping your lymph nodes clear of toxins will help to keep your blood circulating properly, and therefore boost your immune system, and give you tons of energy,
However, you should be aware that there are certain conditions that are contraindicated for lymphatic drainage massage, due to the fact that it can overtax the immune system with toxins.
Therefore, if you’ve had an acute inflammation response from an injury, a thrombosis, or have a heart issue or malignant tumor, then you shouldn’t have lymphatic drainage massage.
Can A Massage Make You Feel Sick The Next Day?
The answer to this question is yes. In fact, there’s even a name for it. It’s called Post Massage Soreness & Malaise, or PMSM. This condition affects those who get it with different levels of severity. Some people will even experience flu-like symptoms for a short period.
But you should know that PMSM is definitely not the flu, so you are not really sick, even if it feels like it.
If you are a regular gym goer and love a good workout, then you will be aware of DOMS, which is also known as Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness.
Whenever you do an intense workout involving muscles that are not used to that stress, those muscles will get tiny tears in them that need repairing. This is how you build stronger muscles that have more stamina.
Your body will respond to the tiny tears by causing inflammation, which is part of the healing process. However, this process can be quite painful, and it’s the reason why you’ll find it hard going down the stairs after doing too many squats.
PMSM is similar to DOMS in this respect. Because your muscles are manipulated during a massage in ways that they are not used to, the resulting healing response is inflammation and pain, which kind of feels like having the flu.
BPMSM is similar to DOMS in this respect. Because your muscles are manipulated during a massage in ways that they are not used to, the resulting healing response is inflammation and pain, which kind of feels like having the flu.
This means that you don’t actually have the flu, even though you may have sore and tender muscles that feel like it. This response can last for up to three days, until your body fully heals from the inflammation caused by the massage.
Your best course of action would be to rest as much as possible during this time. You can also treat your sore muscles with self-massage, or alternate between cold packs and hot baths with Epsom salts.
How Long Do You Feel Sick After A Massage?
If you’re worried about feeling sick after a massage, then know that any unwanted symptoms you might have won’t last for very long, even if you experience PMSM.
Generally, as soon as you take some deep breaths and have some water, you’ll feel better. And even if you end up getting PMSM, there are things to do that will relieve your symptoms, which won’t last more than a couple of days with adequate rest.
Final Thoughts
A massage should be an enjoyable, blissful process to help your body relax, recover, and release the stresses of everyday life. And having a massage has many other benefits, including lowering blood pressure, reducing pain and fatigue, and improving your sleep.
However, feeling sick after a massage is a thing, so if this has happened to you in the past, make sure that you drink some water before your treatment, and definitely have a glass after your massage.
Doing this will help your body to flush out the toxins that have been released so that you can feel as good as you expected to after having your massage.
META DESCRIPTION: Taking time out to fully relax and have a massage is something many of us enjoy. But what about feeling sick after a massage? Has this ever happened to you? Click here to find out why.
