Massage Therapy Improves Flexibility

As we age, our joints tighten and we lose the range of motion we once enjoyed in our youth. One of the main reasons we become less flexible as we get older has to do with certain changes that take place in our connective tissues. As we age, our bodies gradually loose fluid and dehydrate.

Massage therapy is an effective treatment for increasing and maintaining flexibility and motion. By working on muscles, connective tissue, tendons, ligaments, and joints, massage can stimulate the production and retention of our bodies’ natural lubricants between the connective tissue fibers, making stretching and movement easier, and keeping the body flexible.

Improve Flexibility and Range of Motion Benefits

• Stimulates the production of the bodies natural lubricants to keep flexibility at a maximum
• Can enhance athletic performance as the body ages
• Helps prevent active lifestyle injuries by keeping the body flexible

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Massage Therapy Relaxes Muscles

Not only do tense muscles cause knots and pain in their respective areas in the body, they can create a chain reaction that spreads, making the ability to reduce pain nearly impossible.

Massage plays an important role in training the body how to relax. Not only will massage therapy help relax internal muscles through deep tissue techniques; it can also help individuals become aware of their daily stress levels. Once the body recognizes what true relaxation feels like, the mind can then easily recreate it before stress becomes chronic and damaging. Having this relief from stress can enhance our ability to cope with and enjoy life.

With deep tissue massage, the massage therapist focuses on deeper tissue structures with intense pressure to release chronic muscle tension and ultimately relax the body.

Relaxed Muscles Benefits

• Reduces pain that results from tense muscles
• Aids in relaxation
• Relieves muscle tension and stiffnes

Massage Therapy for Pain Management

Looking for a natural and effective pain management solution?  Massage therapy can provide all the relief necessary without the need for pain killing drugs.

Massage plays an important role in achieving a pain free lifestyle by utilizing various types of massage, such as swedish, deep tissue, or trigger point therapy.  By employing one of the many massage techniques, one can rejuvenate and refresh the mind while improving joint movement, and increasing the flow of blood and nutrients to muscles and other tissue.

Manage Pain of Chronic Conditions

• Fibromyalgia
• Migraines
• Arthritis

Be sure to check out all the different types of massage to find out which massage therapy is right for you.

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Massage Therapy Benefits Include Lower Blood Pressure

High blood pressure has more misconceptions than nearly any other disease. According to the American Heart Association, some of the most common are:

Misconception: High blood pressure has many symptoms
Truth: High blood pressure has NO symptoms. That’s why it’s often called the silent killer.

Misconception: High blood pressure is a man’s problem
Truth: High blood pressure can be anyone’s problem. In fact, women need to be aware of certain things that may put them at greater risk than men

Misconception: You don’t need to have your high blood pressure checked until you reach middle age.
Truth: Children as young as 6 can have high blood pressure. It’s a good idea to start having your blood pressure checked at an early age.

One of the most effective ways to stave off high blood pressure is massage therapy. A number of long term studies have shown that a consistent massage program can decrease diastolic and systolic blood pressure; decrease salivary and urinary cortisol stress-hormone levels; and lower sources for depression, anxiety and hostility.

As is the intent with all massage programs, the ultimate goal lies in a pain free and relaxing lifestyle. Controlling blood pressure is just one of the added benefits of massage therapy.

Lower Blood Pressure Benefits

• Lower depression, anxiety, and hostility
• Keeps stress hormone levels under control
• Low blood pressure can contribute to lowering the odds of having a heart attack, kidney failure, or a stroke

Massage Therapy Improves Posture

Allowing the body to reinforce healthy and natural movements can be one of the most beneficial aspects of massage therapy. Many aches and pains are due to poor posture. Whether we are driving, working at a desk, or even just standing still, poor posture can contribute to a number of physical aches and pains. Over time, these habits can cause increased body stress and breakdown.

With a consistent program of massage therapy, the painful points in muscles are loosened and relaxed, joints have greater freedom, and pressure points are relieved. This allows the body to position itself in a healthy and natural posture, therefore avoiding the movements and positions developed over time as a reaction to the pain.

Benefits of Improved Posture

• Muscles are loosened and relaxed
• Joints enjoy greater freedom
• Pressure points are relieved

Massage Therapy Improves Circulation

he long term effects of massage therapy are much more than just skin deep. Better circulation is part of the chain reaction that happens in the body as a result of receiving massage therapy on a regular basis.

According to Eileen Cahalane of Alive Magazine:

A person with poor circulation can suffer from a variety of discomforts including pooling of the fluid in the extremities (like the toes), cold hands and feet, fatigue, and achiness created by an accumulation of lactic acid in the muscles. Good circulation brings damaged, tense muscles the oxygen rich blood they need to heal.

Massage facilitates circulation because the pressure created by the massage technique actually moves blood through the congested areas. The release of this same pressure causes new blood to flow in. The squeezing and pulling also flushes lactic acid from the muscles and improves the circulation of the lymph fluid which carries metabolic waste away from muscles and internal organs, resulting in lower blood pressure and improved body function.

Improved circulation is just one more benefit of massage therapy. Combined with a balanced diet and regular exercise, massage can be the key to leading a healthier lifestyle.

Improved Circulation Benefits

• Enhances blood flow
• Moves waste away from muscles and internal organs
• Lowers blood pressure
• Improves body functi

Massage Therapy Encourages Relaxation

In today’s fast-paced world, our busy lifestyles can take a toll on our physical and mental well being. Allowing our bodies to relax and unwind is now more important than ever.

A therapeutic massage session provides the ultimate experience in relaxation. The lasting effects of massage can range from promoting relaxed states of mental alertness to enhancing our capacity for calm and creative thinking.

Through massage therapy, we become more aware of our daily stress levels. This allows us to recognize what true relaxation feels like so we can more easily recreate it for ourselves, before stress becomes chronic and damaging. Having this relief from stress increases our energy levels and vitality, as well as enhances our ability to cope with and enjoy our daily lives.

Relaxation Benefits

• Improves mental outlook
• Allows for better handling of pressure
• Reinforces positive attitude
• Promotes relaxed states of mental alertness
• Enhances calm and creative thinking

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Massage Therapy Relieves Stress

Stress management is a key component for anyone striving to achieve a healthy lifestyle. Massage therapy has been proven to be one of the most effective methods for achieving stress relief. Research studies show massage therapy actually boosts the body’s immune system, which can become compromised from extended periods of stress.

Enrolling in a reputable massage therapy program leads to significantly increased energy levels, the reduction of nagging pains, and the improvement of our overall physical and mental performance.

Stress Relief Benefits

• Lowers Heart Rate
• Lowers Blood Pressure
• Relaxes Muscles
• Increases Endorphins

Courtesy of http://www.massageenvy.com

Benefits of Therapeutic Massage

Here are some reported benefits of massage:

	Medical school students at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-New Jersey Medical School who were massaged before an exam showed a significant decrease in anxiety and respiratory rates, as well as a significant increase in white blood cells and natural killer cell activity, suggesting a benefit to the immune system.
	Preliminary results suggested cancer patients had less pain and anxiety after receiving therapeutic massage at the James Cancer Hospital and Research Institute in Columbus, Ohio.
	Women who had experienced the recent death of a child were less depressed after receiving therapeutic massage, according to preliminary results of a study at the University of South Carolina.

Studies funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have found massage beneficial in improving weight gain in HIV-exposed infants and facilitating recovery in patients who underwent abdominal surgery. At the University of Miami School of Medicine’s Touch Research Institute, researchers have found that massage is helpful in decreasing blood pressure in people with hypertension, alleviating pain in migraine sufferers and improving alertness and performance in office workers.

An increasing number of research studies show massage reduces heart rate, lowers blood pressure, increases blood circulation and lymph flow, relaxes muscles, improves range of motion, and increases endorphins (enhancing medical treatment). Although therapeutic massage does not increase muscle strength, it can stimulate weak, inactive muscles and, thus, partially compensate for the lack of exercise and inactivity resulting from illness or injury. It also can hasten and lead to a more complete recovery from exercise or injury.

 

Research has verified that:

	Office workers massaged regularly were more alert, performed better and were less stressed than those who weren’t massaged.
	Massage therapy decreased the effects of anxiety, tension, depression, pain, and itching in burn patients.
	Abdominal surgery patients recovered more quickly after massage.
	Premature infants who were massaged gained more weight and fared better than those who weren’t.
	Autistic children showed less erratic behavior after massage therapy.

According AMTA, massage helps both physically and mentally.

 

Physical Benefits of Therapeutic Massage

 

	Helps relieve stress and aids relaxation
	Helps relieve muscle tension and stiffness

Alleviates discomfort during pregnancy

	Fosters faster healing of strained muscles and sprained ligaments; reduces pain and swelling; reduces formation of excessive scar tissue
	Reduces muscle spasms
	Provides greater joint flexibility and range of motion
	Enhances athletic performance; Treats injuries caused during sport or work
	Promotes deeper and easier breathing
	Improves circulation of blood and movement of lymph fluids
	Reduces blood pressure
	Helps relieve tension-related headaches and effects of eye-strain
	Enhances the health and nourishment of skin
	Improves posture
	Strengthens the immune system

	Treats musculoskeletal problems
	Rehabilitation post operative
	Rehabilitation after injury

 

(Source: AMTA)

 

Mental Benefits of Massage Therapy

 

	Fosters peace of mind
	Promotes a relaxed state of mental alertness
	Helps relieve mental stress
	Improves ability to monitor stress signals and respond appropriately
	Enhances capacity for calm thinking and creativity
	Emotional Benefits
	Satisfies needs for caring nurturing touch
	Fosters a feeling of well-being
	Reduces levels of anxiety
	Creates body awareness
	Increases awareness of mind-body connection

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What Types of Dysfunctions Respond To Clinical Massage?

Massage and Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction

Pain and/or physiological dysfunction originates from identifiable points within muscles and their fascial tissues. These locations are known as trigger points because they often trigger distant reactions.

Scientists have developed extensive maps of such referred pain. They have also identified nearly a hundred dysfunctions that can have myofascial trigger point origins. Some of these are: carpal tunnel syndrome, TMJ dysfunction, PMS, headache, diarrhea, dizziness, cardiac arrhythmia, indigestion, tennis elbow, urinary frequency, sinusitis, deafness, and blurred vision.

 

Massage and Fascial Plane Dysfunction

Fascia can be compared to the body’s own version of “Saran Wrap.” It covers most of the body in large, continuously connected sheets. Injury, postural patterns and chemical imbalances can cause these sheets to distort and bind to themselves and nearby tissues. Since all major blood vessels and nerves follow these fascial sheathes through the body, properly aligned and released fascia is vital to good health and the proper operation of the circulatory and nervous systems.

 

Massage and Neuromuscular Dysfunction

The smallest muscular activity requires that countless nerve impulses be sent to the muscle to be activated and to all of the adjoining and opposing muscles. For example, let us say that you want to flex your elbow. This requires that you must tighten the biceps and other associated muscles while simultaneously relaxing the triceps and other associated muscles. The combined nervous activity and muscular response must be precisely timed and exactly proportionate.

For more complex movements like rotating the head or taking a breath, the amount of coordinating activity increases exponentially. Unfortunately, the mechanism responsible for such coordination can break down and muscle fibers or whole muscles can actually lock in opposition to their normal activity.

 

Massage and Tonus System Dysfunction

When overused, muscles can lose their ability to understand how to relax. This is referred to as hypertonic. As a result, the muscles become overly tight. They tend to harbor myofascial trigger points, and cause stress on the muscles that oppose them and the joints that they cross.

 

Massage and Dermatomic and Spondylogenic Dysfunctions

If a nerve is pinched where it leaves the spine, or anywhere along its route, the area that nerve serves will feel pain. Many people have experienced such a problem with the sciatic nerve. It originates in the low back, but when pinched can make the knee, shin, or heel hurt. This is an example of dermatomic pain – literally translated – pain in an area of skin.

 

Massage and Spondylogenic Dysfunction

This occurs when the joints of the spine are compressed or otherwise impaired and cause their own special trigger point-type pain or dysfunction.

Both of these are successfully treated with clinical massage by loosening the muscles and other soft tissue that surrounds the affected joint or nerve.

Courtesy of http://www.holisticonline.com