Tag: pain

THE SWEDISH MASSAGE

The Swedish Massage, which was conceived by Henri Peter Ling, a Swedish physiologist at the University of Stockholm, was publically introduced in 1812 as a means of improving blood circulation, of relieving muscle stress and pain, of increasing flexibility and of promoting total relaxation of the body and mind. The Swedish Massage was imported into the United States in the 1850s by Charles and George Taylor, two American brothers practicing medicine in New York who opened the first two Swedish clinics in the New World; the first in Boston, Massachusetts and the second in Washington, D. C. where Ulysses. S. Grant, a famed general during the American Civil War and the 18th President of the United States (1869 1877), allegedly frequented regularly for Swedish Massage treatments.

Since its inception in the early part of the 19th century, the Swedish Massage had become one of the most widely used massage techniques in the Western world and it is the basis for a number of other Western massage therapies which include the Sports Massage, the Deep Tissue Massage and the Aromatherapy. To attain its objectives, the Swedish Massage utilizes seven basic therapeutic movements:

* Effleurage. These are long gliding and soothing strokes which are aimed toward the heart while tracing the natural curves of the body. Massage oils are often used to facilitate smooth movement and to warm the muscles.

* Petrissage. These are movements which use strokes that lift, roll or knead soft body tissues. This process draws blood into the area and helps relax tense muscles and fascia as well as the rest of the body.

* Pinpoint Pressure. These movements are directed toward points that are knotted or hardened and painful to the touch. Pressure is directed to these points in order to break them down and release the muscle.

* Deep Friction. These are very small circular movements which press slightly below the surface of the skin and onto the muscle beneath it. These strokes relax muscles which contracted and tensed due to overuse or as a result of emotional stress at their deeper levels.

* Skin Rolling. This movement involves pinching a fold of skin and moving it forward in a rolling motion. This process lifts skin off its connective tissues to promote better blood circulation for the improvement of skin tone.

* Tapotement. This movement requires rhythmical tapping with cupped hands or with hands set in the karate-chop position. This practice awakens the body into vitality and the tingling sensation of energy and health.

* Finger Brushing. This movement is usually performed at the closing of the Swedish Massage treatment session as fingertips are lightly brushing against the surface of the skin to relax the stimulated muscles while calming the nervous system.

The most outstanding health benefits of the Swedish massage are in:

* Relaxing of tired, tense or overused muscles.
* Improving blood circulation without overburdening the heart.
* Increasing flexibility and widening the range of motion by stretching the bodys soft tissues: muscles, tendons, ligaments, skin, joints and connective tissues.
* Stimulating the nervous system while simultaneously relaxing the nerve endings.
* Decreasing the recovery time of strained muscles by cleansing the tissues of lactic acid and uric acid as well as all other toxins and metabolic wastes.
* Bringing the skin to a healthier and more vibrant appearance of wellness.
* Helping the client achieve a feeling of connectedness and body awareness for maintaining a better posture and stance.
* Alleviating pain and any associated discomfort due to muscle tension, fractures, sprains, sciatica and stiff joints.
* Reducing emotion disstress.

THE SPORTS MASSAGE

Describing it in a nutshell, the Sports Massage is a specialty massage technique that was created and developed with athletes in mind. And as such, the Sports Massage prepares the bodies of professional and amateur sportspersons for their best possible performance before participating in a sport and it then helps their bodies to recover afterwards. However, just because the Sports Massage was designed for those participating in sports, you do not have to be an athlete to reap the benefits from it. After all, athletes are not the only people who get injured and they by no means hold the monopoly on pain.

The Sports Massage is, in effect, one of several forms of the Swedish massage and it promotes an increased circulation of blood and lymph fluids in the body. To break down or dissolve adhesions, which are painful clumps or knots within the muscles, and to widen the range of motion of stiffened joints, trigger point therapy is incorporated as part of the Sports Massage session. There are four different types of Sports Massage therapies and their distinction is made primarily by its time of performance in relations to the athletes sport activity. In other words, it is mainly their timing which makes them different from one another. The four types of Sports Massages are designated as follows:

* Pre-Event Sports Massage. The Pre-Event Sport Massage is a vigorous but shortened massage treatment that lasts anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes and is performed right before the sports event. Its main focus is on those specific parts of the athletes body which will be most intensively involved in the action.

* Post-Event Sports Massage. The Post-Event Sport Massage is performed within an hour or two of the event and its aim is to return bodies to their normal state by helping them recover from the hard work in the shortest time possible.

* Restorative Sports Massage. The Restorative Sports Massage is applied while the athlete is in training and it helps him or her practice harder while, at the same time, decreasing the chances of incurring injuries.

* Rehabilitative Sports Massage. The Rehabilitative Sports Massage is there to pick up the proverbial pieces by treating the injuries which resulted from the exertion of the sport. The foremost objective of Rehabilitative Sports Massage is to relieve pain and to return the body to its former, pre-injury state.

So, whether you are a professional or an amateur athlete or simply a citizen of the world who happens to have a precise problem such as a sore knee from your morning jog around the block or a frozen should because you slept on the wrong side of the bed or a stiff back because you forgot to use your legs when lifting the grocery back and so on, do yourself a favor and see a Sports Massage therapist. And the best way to find one is by getting referrals from reliable sources or by doing some research. The National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB) and the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA) suggests that you ask the following questions when interviewing a potential Sports Massage therapist or any other type of massage therapist, for that matter:

* Did you graduate from a program accredited by the Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation (COMTA)?
* Are you licensed or registered as a massage therapist in this state?
* Are you certified by the national Certification Board of Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB)?
* Do you have training in any specific massage modalities?

Beyond all that, you should just relax and enjoy the process while your body is being directed onto the path of healing.

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THE KOREAN MARTIAL THERAPY

The Korean Martial Therapy, also well known by its acronym KMT, had been recognized for its effectiveness in keeping warriors in their topmost forms after as well as before battles. The Korean Martial Therapy, therefore, became widely used and closely associated with the numerous Korean martial arts since the 17th century.

A newly developed Korean martial art, combining several old Korean martial arts and the Japanese Aikido discipline, was introduced in Korea in the latter part of the 19th century as Hapkido. Today, Hapkido is one of the most popular martial arts in Korea as well as elsewhere around the world and has become closely linked to the Korean Martial Therapy.

The Korean Martial Therapy made its way into the United State via Jae Kwon Yun, a master in Korean martial arts specializing in Hapkido for many years, who opened a school of Korean Martial Therapy where he integrated the combative aspect of Hapkido with the therapeutic aspect of the Korean Martial Therapy. This, in his opinion, formed a perfectly balanced modality.

Now that we have covered some of its background history, let us look at the Korean Martial Therapy itself and its technique of deep tissue massage as it is performed in either a sitting position or reclining flat on a massage table. The fundamental principle of the Korean Martial Therapy is to utilize a variety of sinuous movements performed by the client to promote the therapeutic effects on the body and the spirit. Traditionally, the Korean Martial Therapy was facilitated by a trained therapist or a practitioner who guided the clients body into the correct movements and positions. However, the Korean Martial Therapy can be just as easily accomplished as a self-directed therapy without losing any of its curative values.

Another crucially important principle of the Korean Martial Therapy is the notion that the same movements that can lead to pain, damage and destruction on the battle field can also be used to provide healing in a peaceful arena. In other words, the Korean Martial Therapy works on the premise that anything that can hurt can also do the opposite; it can cure. And in fact, many of the pressure points along the gi meridians used in Korean Martial Therapy for promoting positive energy for restoring health are likewise used in Hapkido as points for promoting negative energy and agony.

Initially having been created for the battlefield to relieve combatants of their pain and suffering, the Korean Martial Therapy primarily strives for instant curative results. And that is in direct opposition to other alternative healing techniques which aspire for long term effects of weeks or months or even years into the future. The Korean Martial Therapy is made up of a varied combination of techniques and the most frequently used among them are the conventional massaging strokes, ballistic stretching, applying deliberate pressure to specific points along the body, the yin yang therapy and the Korean energy work. Since the Korean Martial Therapy makes the most of the body movements used in martial arts, it relieves the therapist from doing much of the work and it has, therefore, been favored by many practitioners.

Perhaps the Korean Martial Therapy has not had must use on the modern-day battle fields as it had in the past, but it certainly is great for treating the more contemporary conditions such as repetitive motion syndromes, stress and muscle strain as well as depression, anxiety, migraine headaches, and sport injuries.

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THE INDIAN HEAD MASSAGE

Its origins stem from an Indian remedial and grooming practice which had been and continues to be part of the Indian daily ritual for over 4,000 years. The ancient Indians believed that when energy channels become blocked and the flow of positive energy is obstructed, negative energy builds up and increasingly leads to a wide array of ailments and dysfunctions such as stress, depression, poor sleeping habits, localized and remote pains and aches, hampered and sluggish blood circulation, overall poor health, as well as loss of hair or baldness. The main focus and intent of the Indian Head massage, therefore, is to open up the blockages and to allow the positive energy to flow freely through the entire body and in the process to get rid of the amassed negative energy.

Indians in times of yore, young and old and mostly women but not exclusively, sat in large groups and massaged each others heads. They began by applying a variety of nut and grain oils (coconut, almond, olive or sesame) which were to nourish the hair and scalp while, at the same time, the massage promoted improved circulation. Todays modern Indians get their head massage treatments regularly in beauty salons and barber shops.

The Indian Head massage was introduced into the Western world in the early years of the 1970s by Narendra Mehta, a native of Bombay, India and an osteopath and a massage therapist. As countless techniques for the Indian Head massage were passed down through the generations, Mr. Mehta developed his own particular technique by integrating the head, neck, and shoulder and massage into a single robust therapy which promotes and elevates the body to heightened states of physical, mental and spiritual health and wellness. Mr. Mehta branded his comprehensive massage treatment as Champissage. Champi means head massage in Indian and it is also, by the way, the origin of the English word shampoo. With the help of Mr. Mehtas promotional campaign, Champissage rapidly gained popularity in Europe and elsewhere around the world, and he summarizes his own belief which, in fact, echoes the belief of his ancestors by making the following statement out of his current home base in London: Unfortunately, in the West, many people worry about their hair’s health only when they start to lose it. Healthy hair should be promoted from childhood with the help of regular massage.

The body has seven chakras which are centers that regulate the flow of energy all through the body. Champissage works on the top three energy centers or chakras which are found on the crown of the head, the forehead and the throat as it aims to bring the entire body into corrected alignment and proper balance. The resulting effects are strong, silky and shiny hair, relief from stress, restful sleep patterns, increased energy and sharpened mental clarity.

The Indian Head Massage or the Champissage is performed in a quiet place where the client can sit comfortably on a chair and the massage therapist can either stand or sit directly behind him or her. The sequence of the treatment is as follows:

* The shoulders. Gently squeezing the trapezoid muscles at the base of the neck and moving outward toward the shoulders. This is repeated three times while slightly increasing the pressure.

* The neck. The neck is massaged with small circular motions, beginning at the collarbone and ending at the hairline. This is repeated three times.

The sides of the neck are then stroked with a rolling motion beginning under the jawbone and ending at the shoulders. This is repeated three times.

Avoiding the vertebrae, the back of the neck is pressed with a gliding and rotating motion from the collar bone up to the hairline and it is repeated five times.

* The head. The head is moved slowly and gently forward and backward three times.

The entire area of the scalp is massaged with rolling gentle pressure four or five times and then the scalp is rubbed briskly without causing pain for a full minute.

* The hair. Fingers are run through the hair from the forehead back three times.

* The temples. The temples are worked with small circular massaging and pressing movements three times.

* The end. Slowly stroking the entire head area from the forehead to the back for a minute and progressively making the strokes lighter and lighter.

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