Tag: Massage Therapy

Thai Massage Therapy at a Closer Look

Massage is said to be therapeutic. It is the science of healing that involves the human touch, so to speak. For several decades now, people have been making use of this option to treat their physical and emotional dilemmas. A lot of them even attest to how beneficial the massage has been to them. Although on the contrary there are likewise a bunch of individuals who believe and emphatically stress out its danger on those who suffer from serious medical issues, no one is able to deny how relaxing the technique can be. One of the most popular types is the Thai massage therapy.

A Bit of a Background
Thai massage is one of the types that has been practiced for a long time. Its existence can be traced to more than a thousand years now. The therapy itself forms part of the well-known area of Thai medicine. It comprises of manipulation, medicinal treatment, ritual, and diet. It is rooted from the belief that each and every disease is caused by a particular imbalance in the energy system within the body. It is geared at the promotion of balance which hence aids in the complete healing and rejuvenation of an individual.

The Techniques Unraveled
To be able to do the overall process of Thai massage, several techniques need to be applied. The pressure involved is actually gentler as compared to the rest of the types of massage therapy. It works well like the Shiatsu. In this kind of therapy, the pressure is applied on the energy channels and they are being treated using two directions.

One more technique is known as blood stopping. It is done by means of applying the pressure on the arteries in the leg or arm for about a minute. The theory that works behind is that of the importance of cutting out the principal source of the circulation that will lead to a heightened pressure. This will then lead to the slowing down of the heart muscle contractions that will eventually tone down the pressure. As the pressure applied on the artery has been let go, a supply of blood goes into the area so that brings the organ to a more relaxed state. This technique is not recommended for use on someone who has diabetes and other heart related issues.

Passive refers to the kind of stretching employed on the patient but he doesn’t move. Only the therapist does. The stretching is done in several stages and at a slow pace. Other techniques involved are hatha yoga and postures.

The Involvement of Reflexology
Reflexology or that which is otherwise known as foot massage is also a part of Thai massage. Reflexology is based on the belief that the points contained on the feet are useful enough to cure the body because every point is somehow related to a specific organ. When the energies are enhanced, the person will be able to establish a deeper connection to the Earth.

Thai massage therapy employs techniques that are to be performed for a longer duration of time. It can usually last up to three hours. It is important to engage a licensed therapist to ensure that everything is done properly. However, you should consult your doctor prior to taking any of these techniques to further avoid the dangers to your health.

PREGNANCY MASSAGE

Who better deserves and needs a good massage therapy than a mother to be? I cannot think of anyone, can you? Pregnancy is a very stressful time in a womans life; on the physical level as well as on the emotional. By increasing the blood and lymph circulation, by lowering the heart rate, by relaxing the body and by easing the mind; massage therapy can be very beneficial on both of these levels as it relieves common symptoms of this delicate feminine condition: muscle cramps, spasms and myofascial pain of the lower back, neck, shoulders, hips and legs; the excess stress on weight-bearing joints; the swelling of the extremities (arms, hands, legs and feet); sleep difficulties and the psychological turmoil (stress, anxiety, fear and restlessness). Many independent studies have conclusively shown that the positively beneficial effects of massage therapy during pregnancy also benefit the growing child in the mothers womb as well as resulting in an easier labor and in a less painful delivery.

What is the difference between Pregnancy Massage and any other massage? Well, there are a number of very important differences which should not be overlooked. And due to those differences, therapists who perform massage therapy on pregnant women must be specially trained and certified accordingly, and they must always take those extra few precautionary measures:

* Pregnancy Massage should not be performed until the first trimester of the pregnancy has been concluded because the increased blood circulation may lead to dizziness and a worsening of the existing morning sickness symptoms.

* Positioning of the pregnant woman is detrimental to her safety and the safety of the child she is carrying. If using a massage table for the Pregnancy Massage session, it must be a semi-reclining table. In the event that such an appropriate table is not available, the pregnant woman should lie on her side and switch sides in midsession to make both her hips available for the massage treatment. A wide variety of pillows (body pillows, wedge pillows and extra padding pillows) set in a few strategic places under the pregnant womans body can greatly add to her comfort.

Important safety measures: The pregnant woman must never lie directly on her belly and
the flat, horizontal table with the hole for the belly must never be used as it inflicts too much stress on her lower back.

* There are certain parts of the pregnant womans body that must never be massaged or pressed; both sides of the ankles as well as the webbing between the thumbs and the index fingers are pressure points that can induce early labor when exposed to sustained pressure.

For the great majority of the time, Pregnancy Massages are perfectly safe and much advised. However under certain very specific conditions Pregnancy Massages should not be attempted without consulting a medical specialist and those conditions may be: women who are at risk of preterm labor and women with blood clots or related blood clotting disorders.

How are Pregnancy Massages and any other massages similar to one another? Every human being, (pregnant or not, female or male, young or old, rich or poor) enjoys the touch of anther human being as it conveys comfort, love, awareness, caring, security and too many other wonderful sensations to name in this single short oration. Pregnancy Massage as well as any other kind of massage provides all that and more.

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MASSSAGE THERAPY

Massage Therapy is just one persuasion from a wide array of other very effective and closely related persuasions such as Acupressure, Body Work, Manipulative Therapy, Manual Lymphatic Drainage, Structural Integration, Alternative Medical Systems, Mind-Body Intervention, Biologically Based Therapy, Energy Therapy, Shiatsu and Tui Na. And all these as a group come under the wide umbrella of alternative medicine and body-based methods. Massage Therapy is a procedure in which various methods are utilized to manipulate soft tissues of the subjects body such as the muscles, tendons, ligaments, skin, joints, connective tissues as well as the lymphatic vessels and organs of the gastrointestinal system.

The primary goal of Massage Therapy is to affect physical, psychological and functional curative changes by performing manipulative functions which involve moving or stationery pressure, structured or unstructured force to strategic points, vibration, stroking, kneading, and so on. On occasion, mechanical devices are used as tools of the trade, but for the most part, Massage Therapy is applied manually with the therapists hands, fingers, elbows, forearms and feet as the subject is fully clothed in a massage chair or partially to totally naked but covered with a towel on a massage table or on a mat on the floor.

Ancient scriptures have attested to the fact that massage therapy dates back into antiquity and it has been a fundamental practice in many different cultures such as the Roman, Greek, Japanese, Chinese, Egyptian, Mesopotamian and Indian. Even Biblical writings from c. 493 BC speak of daily massage with olive oil and myrrh being applied to the wives of Xerxes (Esther, 2:9-12) as part of their daily beauty routine. Hippocrates of Cos, a Greek physician of the fourth century BC who is also considered the father of medicine and after whose teachings the famous Hippocratic Oath was named, wrote that The physician must be experienced in many things, but assuredly in rubbing.

Advancing to more modern times, Massage Therapy gained its popularity in the United States when it was presented by two physicians from New York in the 1800s. Their techniques were an adaptation from the Per Henrik Ling Massage Therapy which was developed in Sweden. With the introduction of new and exciting innovations in medicine during the 1930s and 1940s, the popularity of Massage Therapy waned but was revived again by the athletic community in the 1960s and 1970s. Massage Therapy was provided as a central medical service for the first time in the United States during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.

Etymologically speaking, the word massage in English comes from a long line of derivatives as follows: the French word massage which means the friction of kneading, which comes from the Arabic word massa which means to touch, feel or handle, which comes from the Latin word massa which means mass or dough. The Greek word for massage is anatripsis and the Latin word is firctio. However, the oldest known origin of the English word massage comes from the Biblical Hebrew word me-sakj which means to anoint with oil.

What we refer to as Massage Therapy today has in the past been merely referred to as Massage. However, the therapy portion of the Massage Therapy came into being only when the illegal prostitution and sexual services in the United States began advertising themselves and their wares as massage. Wanting to distinguish itself, the legitimate massage became Massage Therapy while the illicit continued to be called massage.

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MASSAGE FOR YOUNG CHILREN

Countless studies and pediatric research have shown that massage therapy is supremely beneficial for a wide variety of conditions in young children. As a matter of fact, these studies revealed that massage therapy for young children is a crucially important supplemental treatment to conventional medicine. However, these studies further showed that, in many cases, massage therapy on its own works better in relieving symptoms of many disturbing conditions than do medications and other standard procedures associated with Western medicine.

According to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMA), more than twenty percent of all children, from newborns to toddlers and early school year children, are afflicted with eczema at some point in their young lives and roughly the same percentage is true for infants and young children suffering from traumatic burns. For that reason, the pain and suffering of trauma burns and eczema are counted among the most common pediatric skin conditions in the United States. Most studies bring to light the following findings:

* Young burn trauma patients who were treated with a massage therapy sessions for approximately thirty minutes before any kind of medical or nursing procedures, were more relax physically as well as mentally through the process and they, therefore, experienced less discomfort or pain.

It is important to stress here that the massage treatment was applied only to areas which were not affected by burns.

* Young children suffering from eczema (also known as atopic dermatitis) who were given massage treatments before and while being treated with skin medications such as emollients and ointments exhibited less apprehension and they were more willing to cooperate. In addition, the physical conditions of their skins dramatically improved as redness subsided, as did lichenification, scaling, excoriation and pruritus.

The therapy in these conditions ideally consists of two phases. First phase to ensure smooth strokes during the massage treatment, the childs body is moisturized with a dermatitis medication. Second phase being very careful to avoid particularly sensitive areas of the body, a series of varied massage techniques is used on the childs face, chest, stomach, legs and arms.

The Childrens Mercy Hospital of Kansas City, Missouri has been using massage therapy to alleviate chronic pain from headaches and migraines in young children and, in the process, also relieving their levels of anxiety and distress, lowering their heart rates, improving their gastrointestinal systems, promoting the release of endorphins and bringing their entire bodies to a state of calmness. And all these positive effects seem to be immediate or nearly immediate.

Applying massage therapies to infants and young children is not at all a newly discovered concept as it has been a daily practice in the Eastern and African cultures for many generations. They understood that the first sense to develop in humans is the sense of touch and that it is essential to health and wellness. Massage treatments for the young members among ancient cultures served to heal, to energize, to calm and to reinforce close bonding and the sense of trust and security.

Having been working zealously on the subject of massage for young children for the past ten or so years, Dr. Tiffany Field and her associates at the Touch Research Institute (TRI) in Miami, Florida insist that, Every child, no matter the age, should be massaged at bedtime on a regular basis.

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