Massage Therapy

What are the Various Important Aspects of Massage Therapy?

As soon as people around the world realized the fact that the complementary and alternative medicines are equally effective for addressing and eradicating various health issues, their faith and belief on this treatment procedure started to increase.

Massage therapy emerged as a part of alternative medicine; and nowadays, it has been successfully drawing worldwide attention through its natural healing ability. Scientific evidences are helping many patients to overcome their hesitation and incorporate massage therapy as a natural treatment procedure.

What is Massage Therapy?

Massage therapy is the technique which uses hands-on manipulation of body’s soft tissues. The various connective nerves, ligaments, muscles, joints and tendons become stiff and inflexible over time. Sometimes body muscles or joints get exposed to excessive stress or tension, which eventually causes inflammation and discomfort. Using the special techniques of massage, various parts of body and head are rubbed and pressed in such a manner so that it helps to leave highly relaxing and satisfying feeling on human body and mind. Some professionals refer this method as the healing art of touch.

Origin of Massage Therapy

It was thousands of years ago when mankind did not have the privilege of advanced medical technologies and yet they wanted to survive a joyous life without the hazards of unwanted health complications. It is believed that in 1850s this specific practice became popular in United States. But, it lost its charm during the evolution and advancements of medical technologies in 1930s and 1940s. In 1970s; people, especially athletes again started to take interest in the treatment procedure.

Beliefs of Massage Therapy

Massage therapy aims at restoring, inspiring and promoting balance and well-being of the body, mind and soul. The practitioners and patients undergoing massage therapy believe in the mind-body-spirit-community philosophy of alternative medicines. They believe that the art of touch treatment procedure of massage therapy helps to unite the body, mind and soul; it has the power to alleviate mental and physical ailments by improving mind-body awareness.

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Practices of Massage Therapy

Massage therapists generally prefer a calm and soothing environment during treatment. They usually work in a variety of settings including their private offices, hospitals, nursing homes, etc. Some practitioners also provide at home treatment facility to some patients, who can’t travel because of their illness. In the beginning, the patient has to undergo a consulting session, where he/she needs to discuss the specific health issue and the severity of the discomfort. After the consultation, the therapist determines the particular type of massage technique according to the patient’s situation. Usually, a patient lies on a table. Then the therapist uses a particular oil or lotion during the massage to reduce friction on the skin.

Health Benefits of Massage Therapy

• By executing specific massage techniques, therapists help to improve blood circulation. Increased blood flow ensures that every cells of human body get enough nutrition and energy through the oxygen rich blood.
• With the help of massage therapy, human body and mind gets the opportunity to release the accumulated stress.
• When human mind is free from any stress, the level of important hormones like cortisol (stress hormone) and Serotonin (feel-good hormone) remain balanced. As a result, the feeling of satisfaction increases, which in turn helps to keep various functions like blood pressure, hunger feeling and sleep disorder in control.
• Massage helps to stimulate white blood cells and reduce cortisol level, and the overall result is a strong immune system. During a study, researchers of New Jersey found that the students, who were stressed about their upcoming exam, had a better immune system and less anxiety when they received massage.
• Massage also speeds up the recovery procedure of the body cells. Medical experts believe that massage can help the cells to become more efficient to initiate a quick recovery process.
• This treatment procedure helps to increase the flexibility of the body joints and also reduce the pain caused by joint inflammation or muscle injuries. A recent study led by a group of scientists from Buck University showed that massage helped to reduce inflammatory cytokines and create mitochondria in the muscle cells. A thorough analysis of the study confirms that massage therapy has anti-inflammatory influence same as other available anti-inflammatory medicines.

Scientific Evidences Supporting Effectiveness of Massage Therapy

• Few constructive scientific evidences can help to re-establish the effectiveness of massage therapy in providing the above mentioned health benefits. According to a study conducted at the Touch Research Institute, University of Miami School of Medicines, Florida, USA, 15 minutes of every day massage continuously for five weeks helped to reduce the stress of the participants significantly.
• A recent German study found that massage improved the condition of 10 patients suffering from chronic schizophrenia.

Side Effects of Massage Therapy

Massage therapy does not possess any considerable side effects. Medical experts suggest detail consultation with a health supervisor before incorporating massage therapy, if a patient is suffering any of these health conditions like blood clots, cancer, damaged nerves, open wounds or unhealed burns or bone fractures or noticing any unexplained syndromes.

How to use Massage Therapy as a Natural Home Remedy

With little attentive gesture, the technique of massage can also be utilized as natural home remedy to reduce weight. For example, according to a February 2010 study published in the Journal of European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, massage is helpful for reducing subcutaneous fat deposits. So, if a person can take help of his/her partner to incorporate a nice and careful routine massage and complement it with exercise and healthy diet plan, he/she can see significant reduction in the body weight.

The Benefits of Massage Therapy as an Alternative Medicine over Conventional Medicines

The main benefit of massage therapy is its safety. Being a natural health care solution, massage therapy does not contain any chemicals or drugs and minimizes the scope of developing any abnormal side effects like other conventional medicines. Many people prefer the customized, personal care that comes with massage therapy. That’s why people like this treatment process for curing many problems related to body and mind.

Unlike other similar alternative medicines, the effect of massage therapy is more relaxing and self-satisfying. The approach and treatment procedure of this particular technique is also comparatively easy than the others. From the above discussion about massage therapy,alternative medicine,home remedies using massage therapy and its health benefits it can be said that this technique can eliminate many bad health situations and help to initiate a new beginning.