Many people love foot massages after a long day at work – particularly when they have to stand for hours in a row. If they’re also dealing with pain, then getting a massage can be one of the most amazing feelings in the world. But often, people tend to massage for very long periods, and this might not be the best decision.
So, how long should a foot massage be, especially when using a foot massager?
Foot Massagers – How Do They Work?
Foot massagers are units that help you massage particular areas of the foot and can incorporate multiple functionalities depending on the way they were designed. There are various types of foot massagers – for example, closed designed massagers and open designed massager – so, each one of them will work differently.
Electric foot massagers are some of the most popular devices due to the features they come with. As the name suggests, they are powered by electricity in order to work and they have multiple settings the user can adjust. These are the intensity level, vibration, or the heating level of the air compression. As such, you can change the settings to get the optimal comfort level to massage your feet.
Handheld foot massagers are also available on the market, except that they don’t have all these features. This type of roller will only apply pressure wherever you use it, but won’t let you adjust the level of intensity, for instance.
The Advantages of Foot Massagers
You might be wondering why would you get a foot massager in the first place? Is it helpful? If you didn’t care much about foot massage till recently, then you need to know how it can help improve your wellbeing. If it’s done regularly and each session lasts the right amount of time, then you will definitely experience numerous benefits.
So, here are some advantages of getting your feet massaged:
1. It Can Ease Depression
You might be surprised and even shocked at the fact that something like depression can be relieved with a foot massage. However, it’s actually true. If helps you boost the endorphins and thus, make you happy.
2. Pain Relief
Relieving pain is one of the most known benefits and it’s also one of the main reasons why people seek a foot massage in the first place. Instead of spending money on medicine that could harm you, a foot massager could help you out and safely release pain.
If it’s done on a daily basis, foot massage can also prevent chronic pain. So, if you’re prone to this condition, you should consider this type of therapy.
3. Improves Blood Circulation
If you want to improve the blood flow in your feet, then a foot massage is perfect for you. All the nerves are connected in the feet. Thus, by stimulating that area through massage, you can improve the blood circulation.
4. Injury Recovery
Believe it or not, but a massage can also be used to help you recover from an injury. Usually, there are various side-effects after you deal with an injury. If your feet get massaged, you can help relieve cramps, muscle soreness, and pain.
5. Improves Sleep
Are you dealing with sleeping issues? Then you should consider foot massage because it makes you feel more relaxed. This way, it will help you fall asleep better, and overall, it will improve your sleep quality.
How Long Should a Foot Massage Be?
When you’re getting a massage from a professional, the sessions may last between 30 and 90 minutes, in order to make sure you get all the benefits that come with a long massage. It all depends on why you’re getting the massage in the first place.
However, things are a little different when you’re using home massagers.
Basically, a human massager will be able to find the painful spots and deal with them accordingly. Foot massagers don’t have this ability, so it’s important to know how long you should allow your foot massager to operate.
When getting a massage for a specific body area, the process is shorter – of around 20 minutes – when it comes to traditional massage. But with a home massager, you can get a deeper muscle massage while no unpleasant sensations will be caused.
This is why you need a shorter massage session with an electric massager, for example. 10 minutes would be enough to get the results you’re looking for. Of course, that doesn’t mean you can’t use the device for longer, but it won’t really do anything since it will achieve its goal faster.
Since you will be the one in charge of your massage, you must make sure to keep in mind the following aspects:
- You will have to practice basic safety guidelines (such as not spilling water on and around an electric massager, for instance)
- Reading the manual is essential and will help you find out how to use the massager and for how long.
- You will have to identify your problem areas to see what type of massager you should use
Final Thoughts
A foot massage session shouldn’t last too long. In general, around 20 minutes would be enough if we’re talking about a traditional massage, as the therapist needs to get deep into the tissue. Home massagers, though, should be used no longer than 10 minutes, especially if we’re talking about electric ones. Longer massages are not really necessary, since you can obtain the benefits you’re looking for very quickly.
