PURPOSE AND BENEFITS OF MASSAGE THERAPY
Massage Therapy is a valid way of improving your life. It is beneficial for you in so many different ways. It is a method that knows no gender, age or race. Touch is an essential part of all our lives. No matter who we are we can benefit from the powers of positive touching or therapeutic massage.
Massage Therapy can influence the health of people of all ages in a positive fashion. Babies and seniors can benefit from massage therapy. The sense of touch is more than a sensation. It is greater than a mere laying-on of hands or casual stroke. Massage therapy is a means of maintaining and improving your health.
Massage therapy, depending upon the type, is either directed towards a specific injury or body part, e.g. sports massage, or is more general in its scope. The purpose can also vary according to the practitioner and the client. It may be a matter of maintenance or an issue of rehabilitation. Yet, overall, the purpose of Massage Therapy remains the same – to promote and maintain a healthy body balance.
PURPOSES OF MASSAGE THERAPY
The following are specific and basic purposes of Massage Therapy. They cover a variety of functions and intents:
- Relax the body e.g. tight muscles and tense joints,
- Remove stress and anxiety from your mind
- Stimulate circulation of blood and lymph to help improve various physical operations of the body
- Help the immune system function at its best
- Abet recovery or rehabilitation time of ill or debilitated patients
- Improve overall health
- Reduce and/or relieve pain –chronic and otherwise
- Remove stress
- Create or reinstate homeostasis (optimum health)
BENEFITS
Massage Therapy produces a number of different benefits for the body and the person who inhabits it. These are not New Age babblings. Research provides support for several of the claims. Admittedly more scientific studies need to be undertaken to provide further data, but to date, university research and studies made by the National Institutes of Health provide some validity to support the following:
- Regular massage can increase weight gain among infants exposed to the HIV-Aids virus.
- Patients after abdominal surgery have a quicker recovery time if they receive regular massage.
- People suffering from hypertension show a decrease in their blood pressure after Massage Therapy sessions.
- Sufferers of migraine headaches have a decrease in pain with a massage treatment system in place.
Increasingly research studies are beginning to support other benefits attributed to Massage Therapy. These include the following:
- Improves digestion
- Reduces or lowers blood pressure
- Releases pain killing chemicals – endorphins
- Balances hormone action
- Improves blood circulation
- Increases lymph flow
- Abets muscle relaxation
- Increases the range of motion for muscles and increases the flexibility of joints by lessening tension and stiffness
- Reduces instances of joint and musculature swelling
- Helps muscles and joints, sprains and injuries heal faster
- Reduces the chance and extent of scar tissue formation
- Mitigates stress and anxiety
- Reduces pregnancy tenderness and discomfort
- Introduces essential oils into the skin
- Reduces dependency on medicine by providing an alternative pain management system