Is there a physiological reason why you would feel dehydrated after receiving a massage? Often times massage therapists will suggest that you drink plenty of fluids after receiving a massage from them, and you might be wondering what is behind this. The fact of the matter is that the act of massage on the human body can result in water loss, and for some people this loss turns into a feeling of dehydration. Here’s what’s going on in your body during a massage and why you might need more fluids than usual after you leave your Victoria massage therapy clinic.

Massage causes fluid from the tissues to be squeezed out

When your massage therapist is using their massage techniques on you, they are actually compressing your tissues. This causes the fluid from your tissues, known as interstitial fluid, to be moved to your lymphatics and then to your vasculature. This interstitial fluid makes up about three-quarters of your extracellular fluid, which makes up one-third of all of the water in your body.

This increased flow of fluid into your plasma can cause you to develop an increased need to urinate, which could make you feel dehydrated. That’s because increased flow is also occurring in your kidneys, causing increased glomerular filtration–the process by which your kidneys filter out unneeded fluids from your blood.