MASSAGE THERAPY – AN
OVERVIEW
Massage Therapy is
known to:
Cause changes in the blood. The oxygen capacity of the blood can
increase 10-15% after a massage therapy session.
Affect muscles throughout the body.
Massage Therapy can help loosen contracted, shortened muscles and
can stimulate weak, flaccid muscles. This muscle "balancing" can
help posture and promote more efficient movement. Massage Therapy
does not directly increase muscle strength, but it can speed
recovery from the fatigue that occurs after exercise. In this way,
it can be possible to do more exercise and training, which in the
long run strengthens muscles and improves conditioning. Massage
Therapy also provides a gentle stretching action to both the muscles
and connective tissues that surround and support the muscles and
many other parts of the body, which helps keep these tissues
elastic.
Increase the body's secretions and
excretions. There is a proven increase in the production of gastric
juices, saliva, and urine. There is also increased excretion of
nitrogen, inorganic phosphorus, and sodium chloride (salt). This
suggests that the metabolic rate (the utilization of absorbed
material by the body’s cells) increases.
Affect the nervous
system. Massage Therapy balances the nervous system by soothing or
stimulating it, depending on which effect is needed by the
individual at the time of the massage therapy session.
Enhance skin condition. Massage Therapy directly improves the
function of the sebaceous (oil) and sweat glands which keep the skin
lubricated, clean, cooled. Tough, inflexible skin can become softer
and more supple.
Affect internal organs.
By indirectly or directly stimulating nerves that supply internal
organs, blood vessels of these organs dilate and allow greater blood
supply to them.
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SWEDISH MASSAGE THERAPY
Swedish
Massage Therapy was developed in the 1700's and has long been
thought of as the first organized and systematic method of modern
massage therapy in the western world. Swedish Massage Therapy is the
most common form of massage therapy.
Swedish Massage Therapy
refers to a collection of strokes and techniques designed primarily
to relax muscles by applying pressure to them against deeper muscles
and bones, and rubbing in the same direction as the flow of blood
returning to the heart. The specific strokes and techniques of the
Swedish Massage Therapist are each conceived as having definite
therapeutic benefits.
The Swedish Massage
Therapist seeks to affect specific muscles, joints and organs,
relieve pain and increase mobility. Swedish Massage Therapy is
effective for most ailments, because massaging the skin, the body's
largest organ, sets up a chain reaction that produces a positive
effect on all layers and systems of the body. Swedish Massage
Therapy relaxes muscles, increases circulation, removes metabolic
waste products, helps the recipient obtain a feeling of clarity, and
a better awareness of their body and the way they use and position
it. Swedish Massage Therapy reduces stress, both emotional and
physical, and is suggested as a regular program for stress
management.
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ESALEN MASSAGE THERAPY
Esalen Massage Therapy is a variation of Swedish Massage Therapy
developed by the famous Esalen Institute of Big Sur, California.
While the strokes of an Esalen Massage Therapist are similar to the
strokes of a Swedish Massage Therapist, the philosophy and intent
are quite different. The Swedish Massage Therapist seeks to affect
specific muscles, joints and organs, relieve pain and increase
mobility. The Esalen Massage Therapist maximizes physical pleasure
and seeks to integrate body, mind and spirit into a more harmonious
whole person.
The strokes and
techniques of Swedish Massage Therapy are for a specific therapeutic
benefit. Esalen Massage Therapy is set apart as a unique style
because it is not just physical manipulation. It reflects an
attitude about touching, caring, energy awareness and emotional
healing. The philosophy of Esalen Massage Therapy is that touching
is a basic need, as essential as air, food and water; caring about
others is natural; getting in touch with one's own body leads to a
more effective way of loving and relating to others; and healing
comes from within as well as from the outside.
It is said that Esalen
Massage Therapy "only" makes one feel good, as if that were a
frivolous self-indulgence, whereas Swedish massage therapy is more
"therapeutic". Esalen Massage Therapy is intended to feel good; its
creators believed in the wisdom that feeling good is good for your
body, mind and spirit. The Esalen Massage Therapist believes that
pleasure itself is therapeutic.
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SPORTS MASSAGE THERAPY
Sports Massage Therapy
has profound importance for those interested in health and fitness
-- in "tuning up" their bodies. In every sport or form of exercise,
Sports Massage Therapy helps to reduce physiological fatigue and aid
recovery from the exertion of working out or playing. Sports
Massage Therapy enables training better, with longer, more effective
workouts, thus facilitating better performance and preventing
injury.
Sports Massage Therapy
is classified into three main
categories: Maintenance, Event, and Rehabilitation. Maintenance
Sports Massage Therapy is a regular program of Massage Therapy to
help an athlete reach optimal performance through injury-free
training. Event Sports Massage Therapy takes place before, during
and/or after competition to supplement an athlete’s warm-up,
readying the athlete for top performance, and/or to reduce the
muscle spasms and metabolic build-up that occurs with vigorous
exercise. Such techniques enhance the body’s recovery process,
improving an athletes return to high-level training and competition,
and reducing the risk of injury. Rehabilitation Sports Massage
Therapy techniques are effective in the management of both acute and
chronic injuries because the growth and repair of tissue are
accelerated by efficient circulation in the injured areas and
appropriate stimulation of the healing tissues.
The Sports Massage
Therapist seeks to disperse the accumulated by-products of muscle
action that irritate muscles and nerve endings. Lactic and carbonic
acids build up in muscle tissue shortly after exercise begins. These
acids are waste products that contribute to causation of the pain
and occasional cramping that exercisers, athletes, dancers, etc.
suffer during and/or after workouts or performing. Sports Massage
Therapy helps eliminate the irritation caused by these wastes, thus
increasing muscle recovery rates. When Sports Massage Therapy has
been substituted for rest, an increase from 20-75%, even 100% muscle
recovery has been recorded. This is why boxers are massaged rather
than rested between rounds.
(Source) American
Massage Therapy Association.
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