Often, especially when writing about massage, the human angle of the benefits that massage therapy provides can be lost. This blog is surely guilty of this crime, extolling the proven virtues of massage therapy by noting the publication of studies or work of professional organizations.
But then stories like this one from the Arizona Daily Star come along and remind you exactly what the proven benefits of massage therapy translate to: an improvement of the human condition.
Every couple of months we try and pull together a list of the many benefits of massage therapy (click here or here). We do this because, while writing individually about different benefits of massage therapy week in and week out, it is easy to forget the impressive collection of benefits that massage therapy provides.
Fortunately for this week’s report, another writer has pulled together a pretty thorough list of massage therapy benefits for us. (more…)
As the East coast shovels out from yet another brutal winter storm, and places as far south as Florida see snow, many of us are left to wonder exactly how much longer winter can last. The shorter days and limited sunshine can leave people depressed, lethargic, and illness-prone, looking for something to give them a boost that will carry them to the longer, warmer, sunshine-filled days of spring and summer. (more…)
Last week I wrote about a study posted on the Touch Research Institute’s Web site about the effect massage therapy and touch can have on infants (massage therapy, according to the study, was shown to improve responsiveness among infants. Click to see my post).
This week I want to focus on a different study, also posted on the Touch Research Institute’s Web site, but available, for free, online as well (click here). This study focuses on massage therapy’s effectiveness in decreasing rates of aggression among adolescents.
We already wrote about the medicinal benefits of aromatherapy, coupled with massage therapy, over a year ago (see post). As it says in that entry, aromatherapy and massage can be used (and has been clinically proven) to reduce stress levels and help the immune system.
But in that entry, we glossed over the fact that making massage oils and aromatherapy oils can be a very easy task. Follow the directions below, and start adding aromatherapy to your chair and table massage sessions. It is a great addition to the many benefits that massage therapy already offers. (more…)
Massage therapy has been demonstrated to help relieve chronic pain, stress, and anxiety, all in a non-invasive way. For this, it deserves praise as a profession. But there are, of course, limits to what massage can do. Often pain and discomfort is caused by something (such as an internal injury, certain chemical imbalances, etc.) that needs a more invasive approach, and in these cases massage therapy can be used as a supplementary treatment. However, there is also a lot of pain that goes unexplained in the medical world, and this might be due by an element that is difficult to define: trigger points.
How much money will a client pay for a hands-free massage? Different massage modalities require different levels of exertion and forms of application by massage therapists. Often times a deeper, Swedish massage can involve a lot of force from a therapist’s hands, knuckles, and elbows. But some forms of massage therapy actually allow some therapists to avoid using their hands entirely.
Hot stone massage is one of these modalities. (more…)
I do not think there is anyone who would be reading this blog and would not agree that stress is a major problem in modern society, and that massage is a great way to get rid of it. (more…)
As promised, I will continue outlining the ways to give self-massage on different parts of the body. Last week, I wrote about giving self-massage to your head, shoulders, and feet. This week I will write about self-massage for your hands and torso. I will end with some general guidelines for self-massage.
A common lament about massage is the price. And there is also the I-don’t-have-enough-time excuse that many use to justify not getting a massage, even though their feet and head ache, their shoulders are tense, their hands hurt, and their torsos are cramp-ridden. Fortunately, there is a pretty well founded set of guidelines (found on the examiner and livestrong Web sites) for self-massage that will fit your budget, schedule, and needs perfectly. Here they are, pared down to their simplest forms and separated by body part: