Your Body Keeps the Score: How Massage Can Help Release Stored Stress and Trauma

Head Massage

Have you ever felt tension in your neck after a stressful week or noticed that an old injury still acts up when life gets overwhelming? That’s because your body remembers. It holds onto stress, pain, and even emotional trauma in ways you might not realize. At Flint Therapeutics, we believe in listening to the body and giving it the care it needs to heal. Science supports what many people experience firsthand our bodies keep score of our past experiences, but the good news is, we can help release that tension and restore balance through massage therapy.

The Science of Stored Stress & Trauma

Dr. Bessel van der Kolk’s groundbreaking book, The Body Keeps the Score, highlights how stress, trauma, and emotional experiences physically imprint on the body. According to research, when the brain encounters stress or trauma, the nervous system reacts by triggering the fight, flight, or freeze response. If the body doesn’t fully process these responses, the tension remains trapped, manifesting as chronic pain, muscle tightness, fatigue, or digestive issues. The physiological mechanism behind this is the way the body stores information in its tissues, a concept known as somatic memory.

A key part of this process involves the autonomic nervous system (ANS), which regulates involuntary body functions like heart rate, digestion, and muscle tension. When the ANS is in a heightened state due to stress, the body can become stuck in a sympathetic dominance state (fight or flight), leading to long-term effects such as muscular tension, inflammation, and even digestive issues. On the other hand, activating the parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest) through techniques like massage can help reset the body’s response and promote healing.

Types of Trauma Your Body Holds Onto

Your body can hold onto different types of trauma, and understanding these can help explain the underlying causes of chronic tension:

• Physical Trauma: Old injuries, surgeries, and chronic pain conditions create tension patterns in the body that may never fully resolve. These patterns can cause muscle tightness, discomfort, and reduced mobility long after the injury itself has healed. For example, scar tissue can form in the fascia (connective tissue), which can cause restrictions in movement and muscle tightness, even if the initial injury was years ago.

• Emotional Trauma: Stressful life events, grief, or anxiety can manifest physically. Emotional trauma often leads to muscle tension, headaches, TMJ (temporomandibular joint disorder), and even sleep disturbances. Studies have shown that unresolved emotional trauma can contribute to persistent muscle tension and pain, particularly in the jaw, neck, and shoulders.

• Stored Stress & Everyday Tension: Even if you haven’t experienced significant trauma, daily stressors add up over time. The result? Tight shoulders, stiff necks, back pain, and restless nights. Over time, chronic stress can lead to conditions such as tension headaches, insomnia, and even digestive disruptions.

How Massage Helps Release Stored Tension

Massage therapy is far more than a luxury or relaxation tools a powerful treatment for helping the body process and release what it’s been holding onto. Here is how massage therapy supports the body’s healing process:

• Reduction of Cortisol (The Stress Hormone): Studies have shown that massage therapy can significantly lower cortisol levels, the hormone responsible for stress. Lower cortisol levels are associated with improved mood and relaxation. Massage also increases serotonin and dopamine, neurotransmitters that help boost feelings of well-being.

• Activation of the Parasympathetic Nervous System: Massage activates the parasympathetic nervous system, promoting relaxation and healing. This helps counteract the fight-or-flight response triggered by stress, encouraging the body to enter a rest and digest state that fosters recovery.

• Improved Circulation & Mobility: Massage increases blood flow and oxygen to tissues, reducing muscle tightness, promoting detoxification, and enhancing mobility. By breaking down adhesions and knots, massage helps restore muscle function and flexibility, reducing pain and discomfort over time.

Massage Techniques That Help Release Stored Trauma

At Flint Therapeutics, we use a variety of specialized techniques designed to target deep-seated tension and trauma. Some of these include:

• Myofascial Release: This technique focuses on the fascia, the connective tissue surrounding muscles and organs. Tightness or restrictions in the fascia can contribute to chronic pain patterns. Myofascial release uses slow, sustained pressure to help release tension in the fascia and restore flexibility to the affected areas. You can schedule this in our customized therapeutic massage.

• Lymphatic Drainage Massage: This technique supports the body’s natural detox process by encouraging the flow of lymph, a fluid that helps remove toxins and waste from the body. Lymphatic drainage massage can help reduce inflammation caused by stress and trauma, leading to greater relaxation and overall well-being.

• Deep Tissue & Trigger Point Therapy: Targeting muscle knots and chronic tightness, deep tissue massage uses slow, firm pressure to break up adhesions and improve mobility. Trigger point therapy focuses on specific points in the muscle that cause referred pain and discomfort. By releasing these knots, deep tissue and trigger point therapy help restore muscle function and reduce long-term pain. You can schedule this in our customized therapeutic massage.

• Intro-Oral TMJ Massage: For clients experiencing jaw tension, headaches, or teeth grinding (often linked to stress and emotional trauma), Flint Therapeutics offers intro-oral TMJ massage. This technique targets the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), muscles of the jaw, and surrounding areas to release tension, improve jaw function, and reduce discomfort. By focusing on the muscles responsible for biting, chewing, and talking, this technique can alleviate symptoms of TMJ disorders, which are commonly exacerbated by stress.

Your Next Step: Listen to Your Body & Book Your Massage

If you’ve been feeling tense, fatigued, or stuck in cycles of stress, your body is telling you something. Massage is a powerful tool for giving your body the care it needs to let go, reset, and heal. By targeting the deep-seated tension and trauma that your body holds onto, massage helps restore balance and promote overall wellness.

Whether you’re dealing with physical injury, emotional stress, or everyday tension, we’re here to help you feel your best. Let’s work together to release that stored stress and trauma and give your body the care it deserves.

Book your massage today at www.flinttherapeutics.com and start feeling the difference.

Your body keeps score but you have the power to rewrite the story. Let’s get started!