Jul
3
The Theory of Massage Therapy
Filed Under Exercise equipment
What really is massage therapy? Many associated it as part of the lifestyle of the rich and famous. The popularity of massage has grown tremendously in the last 10 years. Many ordinary people are recognizing the benefits to receiving natural treatments for restoring their health. By definition, massage therapy is the manipulation of the soft tissues. This is done with different movements and pressures. Many of these techniques date back thousands of years in their origin.
The root meaning of the term massage is friction and kneading. Kneading is a squeezing motion and friction is the associated heat generated from this action. This combination is at the heart of what massage therapy is all about.
Massage therapy can be found in most civilizations throughout time. Since the beginning of recorded history, there has been evidence of massage therapy. Many techniques were developed from these ancient roots. The history of mankind has always been to find ways to restore and maintain health.
The result of many civilizations developing massage techniques is the great diversity of them found. Some are very distinct to a particular place. For instance, shiatsu is distinctly Japanese. Another variety is termed Swedish massage licking its roots back to Northern Europe.
If you go to any international spa, you’ll have a virtual menu card of techniques to choose from. Most people are familiar with shiatsu, Swedish and reflexology. These are taught in massage therapy classes everyday. The number of variety of techniques available is quite extraordinary.
The practice of massage is about applying direct pressure to certain points in the body. When this is done correctly, it will bring relief to those areas. In scanning the techniques offered by massage therapy schools, there are approximately 200 variations of massage technique. These are constantly evolving and subject to interpretation by the therapist.
Recent studies of massage therapy have shown that there are benefits for your body and mind. Generally, benefits are associated with recovery and recuperation. This shows the importance of having time for your body to heal. This helps to provide an opportunity to activate the healing process.
Some of the typical benefits found in these studies have to do with relaxation. Many show that the heart rate slows down and the blood pressure is lowered. Psychological benefits were shown to be lower levels of pain and lower states of anxiety. This is generally shown to be true for two thirds of those participating in the study.
One study that we reviewed showed that the participants receiving massage therapy reported less pain than that not receiving massage therapy. They also had a lower average heart rate and blood pressure than those not receiving these treatments. It should also be noted that the massage therapy must be given on a periodic basis similar to exercise.
Another study conducted in May 2004 and published by the national Center for complementary and alternative medicine showed that massage was the ninth most popular form of alternative medicine. It also showed that 5% of the adult population used therapy at least once in the past 12 months. The popularity of massage treatments continues to rise.
One of the biggest hurdles for the studying of massage therapy is simply economic. Clinical studies are funded by companies hoping to profit from the positive results. There is not a way for a company to control massage techniques. This then leaves a void for funding these types of studies. However, these techniques have been used and refined since the beginning of time. They just don’t have the same documentation as a large pharmaceutical company.
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