Does Massage Remove Toxins from the Body?
There is no scientific evidence that massage removes toxins from the body. Our bodies are intricate systems designed to care for most of our needs, including waste disposal. The systems in our body are busy bringing nutrients to various organ systems and, in turn, removing waste and byproducts.
The liver, kidneys, skin, intestines, and lungs are our bodies’ detoxifying organs. They are all meant to process and remove waste and byproducts from the body. These organs also handle the biotransformation and removal of environmental toxins if they aren’t stored in the body.
What about lactic acid buildup?
While lactic acid does collect in the muscles after a workout, it breaks down in the body shortly after activity. Some sources say tight, overworked, or stressed muscles are still acidic due to other metabolites, including lactic acid, leading to soreness. This is temporary, though. Our blood provides the means to neutralize this acid and keep the pH balance.
What’s Massage Therapy’s take on this?
What’s typically touted in massage schools is that when a muscle becomes tight, it can’t release its contracted state due to a lack of oxygen, neurotransmitters, and nutrients. Trigger Point Therapy is a common technique whereby you apply pressure to the affected muscle to cut off blood flow to the area; this is called ischemic compression. Upon release, blood flows back into the area. This then allows the muscle to leave its contracted state so it can once again function normally.
As the blood flows again into the area, bringing oxygen and other essential substances, it reuptakes cellular debris, waste, and byproducts ( “toxins”) to be processed, and the cycle repeats. Makes sense, right? However, that does not mean that massage causes the processing and elimination of these toxins, whether stored or not, in the body. If anything, it facilitates the body’s optimal transport of nutrients and waste to/from the muscle fibers in a targeted way.
Myth Busted
Massage can’t remove toxins from the body directly; it improves circulation.
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