Therapies
Massage Therapy
What
is Massage therapy?
The word massage is
most likely to have emerged from the Greek word 'Massein', meaning 'to
knead' or the Arabic word 'mas'h' meaning 'to press softly'. Massage is the
oldest form of physical medicine known to man and can be traced back to the
early Chinese medical manuscripts around 400BC. Massage was advocated by
Hippocrates who was born in the fifth century and was known as 'the father
of medicine'. It was widely used and written of in Roman times with history
recording how Julius Ceaesar received massage to relieve neuralgia!
Very little was recorded
about massage in Europe between the Roman times and the early Middle Ages,
but by the sixteenth century medicine slowly started to re-learn what had
been lost. Between 1776 and 1839, a Swedish professor, Peter Ling, created a
scientific system of therapeutic massage known as Swedish massage and
established a teaching institute in Stockholm.
Today, massage therapy is one
of the fastest growing forces in the field of health care.
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How
does it work?
Massage is simply the
manipulation of the soft tissues of the body - the muscles, tendons and
ligaments. A massage therapist's hands are his most important tool through
which he not only treats the patient but also detects physical and emotional
problems. The massage therapist palpates the patient's body to determine the
condition of the tissues and the likely source of any pain, and thus the
correct form of remedial treatment.
Massage works through the
various body systems in one of two ways, a mechanical action and a reflex
action. A mechanical action is created by moving the muscles and soft
tissues of the body using pressure and stretching movement, thereby
cleansing them of acids and deposits. This mechanical action breaks up
fibrous tissue and loosens stiff joints.
A reflex is created when
treatment of one part of the body affects another part of the body, much
like pressing a light switch on a wall to turn on a light in the centre of
the room. Just like this electric connection, so too are different parts of
the body connected to eachother not just by flesh and bone but by nerve
pathways, or flows of energy known as 'meridians'. So, by using reflex
action, some therapists will treat a patient's stomach complaint by
massaging the arms, and will alleviate pain in the legs by massaging the
lower back.
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What
does treatment involve?
Each massage session
will last 60-90 minutes, and will take place in a quiet room on a massage
table. The patient will lie down undressed and the therapist will cover the
parts of the body not being worked on with towels. Therapy will often start
with the feet or with light stroking on the back to introduce you to the
touch and for relaxation. The therapist will use either oils or talc and
will work methodicaly around the whole body. The number of appointments
required will depend upon the seriousness of the health problem.
The massage therapist will
treat the patient through four stages of healing - relief, correction,
strengthening and maintenance. For relief, the therapist will aim to
alleviate any pain by sedating the sensory nerves, stimulating blood flow
and reducing muscle tension, possibly by using hot and cold compresses.
Secondly, for correction, the therapist will need to alleviate the
underlying cause by rebalancing the muscles, clearing away lymph congestion
and unknotting any fibres through various techniques of massage.
For strengthening, the weak
joints and tissues should undergo continuing treatment to avoid repeated or
additional injury. Finally, the massage therapist will recommend a monthly
or bi-monthly maintenance programme to help keep the tissues and ligaments
healthy as ligaments never regain their original strength once they have
been damaged.
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Research
(What it can help)
Massage can improve
circulation and aid digestion and has been known to help insomniacs and
migraine sufferers.
Relaxation massage has been
shown to help reduce blood pressure by as much as 20 points. (2) One nurse
who measured a patient's blood pressure before and after a half hour
massage, confirmed that blood pressure nearly always falls. In some cases
the reduction was quite dramatic, for example, from 180 over 130 to 140 over
110 nmHg.(3)
Massage improves the blood
circulation in several ways without putting additional strain on the heart.
It helps the flow of blood through the veins and also stimulates the nerves
which control the blood vessels. It has the added benefit of relaxing tense
muscles and tight connective tissues which may have been constricting blood
vessels and thus enable blood to flow more freely. It is for this reason
that soothing massage helps reduce emotional tension, it enduces relaxation
and calms stress-related cardio-vascular conditions.
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