Beating the winter blues can be as simple as booking an appointment with your massage therapist.

Massage is good medicine—capable of alleviating stress, easing lower back pain, and reducing tension headaches.

Three ways massage can raise spirits as the thermometer drops

1. Alleviate Holiday Stress—Don’t let your to-do list ruin the most wonderful time of the year. Massage therapy has been shown to help address stress and anxiety while simultaneously addressing some of their physical repercussions.

2. Relieve Lower Back Pain—Whether back pain stems from holiday travel or shoveling snow, research has shown that massage therapy provides superior functional outcomes and symptom improvement over those who do not utilize massage.

3. Ease a Headache—Tension headaches aren’t on anyone’s wish list. Research indicates that those who receive massage therapy experience a decrease in the physical pain as well as the emotional distress associated with the headache.