The Health Benefits Of Massage Therapy
In an attempt to understand how and why massage therapy is as effective as it seems to be, scientists and medical researchers from around the world have been studying it for decades. Some characteristics of massage therapy have been conclusively resolved with apparent consensus among the learned scholars, while other characteristics remain as inexplicably mysterious as ever. For instance, they all agree that when a certain amount of pressure is applied to a soft tissue such as a muscle, some changes occur within the affected muscles. They also all tend to agree that massage therapy promotes relaxation and reduces the stress which often leads to deterioration or worsening of certain physiological conditions.
Those characteristics of massage therapy which have not yet been explained by conventional science, gave rise to a number of theories and postulates. You will note that they are all prefaced with the word “might” to indicate uncertainty as they described possible health benefits of massage therapy:
* Might provide stimulation that may help block pain signals transmitted to the brain and this is called the “gate control theory” of decreasing or alleviating pain.
* Might promote better health by stimulating the lymphatic system to increase the flow of lymph, which is the secretion that carries disease fighting cells through the body.
* Might re-route the client’s nervous system away from the sympathetic to the parasympathetic. In doing so, the fight-or-flight reaction of the sympathetic nervous system with its increased heart and breathing rates along with tightened muscles of distress are shunned in favor of the rest-and-digest reaction of the parasympathetic nervous system with its lowered heart rate, slowed breathing and relaxed muscles.
* Might be instrumental in effecting beneficial changes in the body by preventing fibrosis through the process of breaking up scar-like tissue
* Might arouse the body to discharge chemicals such as serotonin or endorphins which area known to give people the feelings of wellbeing.
* Might improve sleep patterns which is essential to pain control and healing processes.
* Might contribute to the overall mental and physiological health by the intimate interaction between the client and the therapist.
The following are specific cases and their reported benefits whether they are understood or merely observed with bewilderment:
* Students at a New Jersey Medical School who were given massage therapy before an exam displayed less anxiety, lower respiratory rates, a substantial increase in white blood cells and an enhanced immune system.
* Cancer patients at the James Cancer Hospital and Research Institute in Columbus, Ohio experienced less pain and decreased anxiety after receiving massage therapies than those who did not get such treatments.
* Studies at the University of South Carolina show that women who recently lost a child were less depressed after massage therapy.
* The National Institutes of Health (NIH) found that massage therapy improved weight gain in infants who were premature or those who were exposed to HIV. They also determined that massage therapy expedites recovery in patients who had abdominal surgery.
* Researchers at the University of the Miami School of Medicine’s Touch Research Institute discovered that massage therapy decreases high blood pressure, relieves migraine headaches, and generally increases alertness and performance in the workforce.
* Many additional studies confirm that massage therapy reduces heart rates, lowers blood pressure; increases blood circulation and lymph flow; relaxes stiffened and tense muscles while stimulating weak and inactive muscles to compensate for lack of movement due to an illness or an injury; speeds up the healing process after surgeries, disease and injuries; improves the range of vision; increases endorphins; reduces anxiety, tension, depression, pain and itching in burn patients; and Autistic children exhibit calmer and more predictable behavior.
So, is massage therapy beneficial? Yes! Massage therapy is beneficial on, oh, so many levels. The mechanics of the process may not be clear just yet, but the outcomes are undeniable by anyone’s standards.
 | Another amazing benefit of massage is bringing you closer to a person you care about. There is no better way to establish true intimacy than through the power of touch! But massage is about so much more than intimacy. It is about healing problems, making your muscles feel better when they ache, and achieving a sense of relaxation that just is not possible through any other means. Enjoy This Free PDF Ebook - Massage Therapy |
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The Common Types Of Massage Therapy
... connective tissues. Slow strokes are used across the muscles. The strategy is also referred to as the friction technique. This kind is employed on people who experience painful or chronically tight muscles, repetitive muscle strain, problems with the posture, and to help those who are recuperating from serious injuries. Then you also have the Japanese massage therapy that is called Shiatsu. This therapy utilizes the localized finger pressure following some rhythmic ...
... Kaifuku Anma. The Shiatsu Massage is the best known among them all and the one most often used in Japan and elsewhere around the world. It is based on the meridian system passed down from ancient Chinese arts of healing as well as old Japanese teachings. Stated very briefly, meridians are the conduits or energy channels by which gi and blood continually flow through the body. Any interference with this flow of energy translates in an imbalance within the body ...
... bad news is that, depending on their tolerance level to pain, most clients experience it to one degree or another at certain point during the session. In addition, there is usually some measure of soreness immediately after the treatment which can last up to an entire day. However, the pain of the Deep Tissue massage therapy and the lingering soreness afterwards is nothing compared to the pain before the treatment and it comes with the knowledge that it will ...
... to apply the customary and traditional Swedish massage strokes. Because they have the tendency to absorb heat and retain it for extended periods of time, the stones which are used are usual smooth, black volcanic basalt rocks of various sizes and shapes. For the most part, these rocks are heated in water at 120 to 150 degrees Fahrenheit. Native Americans are known to also have used hot stones for medicinal purposes but those were heated by direct fire. This ...
... centuries throughout the world: * Mesopotamia and Egypt. Some writings indicate that the Mesopotamians and the Egyptians used a variety of objects to manipulate the body and those would date as far back as 3000 B.C. * China. The oldest massage tool that has been discovered thus far is made out of jade and it was used in the Longshan culture of China during the Shang dynasty and dates back to about 2000 to 1500 B.C. a massage knuckle. At approximately the same ...
... increasingly leads to a wide array of ailments and dysfunctions such as stress, depression, poor sleeping habits, localized and remote pains and aches, hampered and sluggish blood circulation, overall poor health, as well as loss of hair or baldness. The main focus and intent of the Indian Head massage, therefore, is to open up the blockages and to allow the positive energy to flow freely through the entire body and in the process to get rid of the amassed negative ...
Dysfunctions Responding To Clinical Massage
... will pinpoint the exact location as well as determine the levels of pain. * The range of motion and the strength of the muscles is tested through a sequence of movements such as a passive movement which involves the massage therapist moving the relevant muscle groups while the client is inert; an active movement which involves the client s own movement of the muscles in questions; and the resisted movement which involves the clients movement against a resisting ...
... records in archeological digs conducted in Greece, Persia, Japan and India. All these early-day writings have one thing in common; their Facial massages were described in vivid details but always as part and parcel of total body massage therapies in which specific pressure points on areas of the face and neck were depressed sufficiently to loosen obstructions in the flow of the vital energy which is also known as gi. The standalone Facial massage of the recent ...
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