Why Do You Get Dehydrated After a Massage?

A question I’m often asked is, why do you get dehydrated after a massage? And, why do you have to drink water after a massage?

The answers to these questions are quite simple and will make perfect sense as I will explain.

First though, let me ask, how many people drink the recommended daily intake of water?

The National Academies of Sciences and Engineering have the daily recommendation of water intake as about:

• 3.7 liters, or 15.5 cups of water for men, and
• 2.7 liters, or 11.5 cups of water for women

Don’t worry if you don’t drink anywhere near that much, not many people do!

It gives you a good idea just how important being hydrated is and how much water we should be drinking daily, however.

Why Do You Get Dehydrated After a Massage?

So, regardless of how hydrated you are, why does a massage make you even more dehydrated?

There are a couple of reasons for this.

Firstly, the process of a massage stimulates the body to start pumping fluid around and moving moisture within your soft tissues being worked on and inside your body.

Secondly, massages stimulate the movement of metabolic waste. Which again, takes a toll on the body and requires circulation to increase along with other bodily functions.

This is why some people feel really tired and drained after a massage, especially if they have not had one in a while or are not in the best physical shape.

If you’re dealing with some muscular pains, tightness, and knots, then you have some problem areas that are restricting blood flow.

As soon as these are worked out there is going to be an increase in blood flow, your body will start to flush the toxins that have been building up, and there will be a huge dump of fluids.

That’s why it’s so important to drink plenty of fresh water after a massage. You start to replenish fluids with water, as well as aiding your body flushing out the toxins.

This is good for your kidneys, blood, and will help you recover quicker and in better health after a massage.

Should You Drink Water Before a Massage Too?

Yes. For the same reasons to drink water after a massage, you should be drinking water before a massage too.

Some therapists will test you to see how hydrated you are before a massage. They can do this by rolling your skin and seeing how smoothly it rolls.

This may even determine how they carry out the following session. If you’re dehydrated it makes performing some strokes more difficult, and potentially more painful than necessary.

So the rule of thumb is to drink plenty of water before and after a massage. Plus, why not start drinking more water as part of a healthy lifestlye, right?