The power of touch, before drugs there was massage therapy. Experience
a form of healing and relaxation that has been around for centuries.
Everyone can benefit from a professional massage.
Massage therapy can:
- Provide anything from soothing relaxation to deeper therapy for specific physical problems.
- Relieve symptoms of stress and anxiety.
- Increase the nourishing blood supply to your tissues.
- Improve energy and alertness.
- Aid your recovery from pulled muscles or sprained ligaments.
- Ease many of the uncomfortable stresses of child bearing, including edema, backaches, and exhaustion.
- Relieve certain repetitive motion injuries related to on-the-job activities.
- Greatly reduce your pain, if you suffer from such problems as temporal mandibular joint dysfunction (TMJ) or carpal tunnel syndrome.
- Compensate, at least in part, for lack of exercise and muscular contraction if you’re a person who, because of age, injury, or illness, is forced to remain inactive.
Once your massage is underway, a whole range of beneficial reactions is set in motion. The therapy can:
- Hasten the elimination of waste and toxins stored in your muscles.
- Increase the interchange of substances between the blood and tissue cells.
- Heighten the oxygenation of tissues.
- Stimulate the relaxation response within your nervous system.
All of these responses can:
- Help to strengthen your immune system.
- Improve your posture.
- Increase your joint flexibility and range of motion.
- Lower your blood pressure.
There are some instances when the use of massage might not be appropriate. Be sure to consult your physician before initiating any massage program. An experienced massage therapist will also be able to tell you when massage is not indicated.
What can you expect? Your massage therapist will do everything possible
to ensure that your experience is positive and rewarding. You’ll be
asked about your reason for getting a massage, current physical condition,
medical history, lifestyle, stress level, areas of pain, and other pertinent
topics. You’ll be asked to undress in private and drape yourself with
the sheet provided by the therapist. You may leave your underwear off
or on, at your discretion. You’ll lie down on a comfortably padded
massage table. The therapist will undrape only the part of your body
being massaged ensuring that your modesty is respected at all times.
You should expect a peaceful and comfortable environment for your massage.
Report distractions of any kind to your therapist whether from physical
discomfort, room temperature, volume of music, or any other source.
Relax and experience the art-and science-of massage.
Stress: everyone experiences it, no one is immune. But you don’t have to let it overpower you. You can learn to manage your response to stress. By gaining more control over your body’s automatic reactions to anxiety-producing situations, you can reduce the negative effects of stress in your life. What stress does to you, your body reacts unconsciously to situations you find threatening. Its emergency stress response primes you for fight or flight by causing certain physiological changes to take place.
- Your body produces additional adrenaline.
- Your heart beats faster and more blood flows into your larger muscles.
- Your breathing becomes shallow and you start to perspire.
- The functioning of your immune and digestive systems is inhibited.
- The flow of blood to your extremities and internal organs is decreased.
Frequent or unrelenting stress can damage your body, ultimately leading to discomfort or pain. It’s a contributing factor in most disease processes. The adverse effects of stress can manifest themselves as:
- High blood pressure
- Changes in blood sugar
- Hypertension
- Ulcers
- Colitis
- Heart disease
- Headaches
The antidote to stress is the relaxation response. During the relaxation response, your endocrine and nervous system activate changes to slow your heart rate, improve your circulation and digestion, and relax your muscles indirect counteraction to the stress response. There are many activities that can trigger the relaxation response such as exercise, deep breathing, meditation, or listening to soothing music. Of course one of the best methods to combat stress is therapeutic massage. Massage can dramatically reverse the damaging physiological effects of stress by helping to:
- Lower your heart rate and blood pressure
- Improve your circulation
- Raise your skin temperature
- Heighten your sense of well-being
- Cause your anxiety to drop
During the massage your tight muscles tend to relax and the pain associated
with chronic tension is relieved. Increased circulation will supply
more oxygen and nutrients to your muscles and help rid them of metabolic
waste. Blocked, deadened areas are thus able to respond to sensory input
again. Massage also stimulates release of the body’s own natural pain
killers- the endorphins.
A program of regular massage will put you in touch with your body, teaching
you to monitor its signals and needs so you’ll know when you should take
time out from the things that worry you. In this way, you can avoid
the damaging effects of chronic stress and gain some control over your
sense of well-being. You can understand why accumulated stress and tension
can spoil much of the pleasure and productivity you find in life.
Relax and experience the art-and science-of massage!
