All about Massage Therapy

Massage therapy is used for revitalization and relaxation, but also for improving one’s health. It is very good for the human body, in terms of curing illnesses and making the brain less stressed. That’s why in the U.S., accordingly to a recent study, around 18 million adults and 700,000 children got on the table for massage therapy.

Although it doesn’t cure cancer, accordingly to some clinical studies it has been proven that massage reduces pain and makes patients feel better. Also, people suffering from HIV/AIDS can gain an improvement in their quality of life with massage therapy.

There are many illnesses that can be cured by massage therapy, such as weak or atrophied muscles, problems with the immune system, poor flexibility, bad circulation, fibromyalgia, spasms and cramping, and many painful brain problems like headaches, anxiety and depression or migraines.

Though there are many massage techniques, only some of them truly work. Here are some examples:

1. Swedish massage

This is one of the most relaxing and popular types of massage in Western countries. It releases the tension your body has accumulated in the past few days, and also breaks up adhesions. This kind of massage usually involves tapping, shooting, and kneading.

2. Deep tissue massage

If you have a lot of muscle tension, this is the best massage for you because it targets this kind of problem. To release tension, the professionals sometimes use their fists to do it (not just the fingers and thumbs).

3. Sports massage

This is the athlete’s massage, helping the better training of the body. It’s almost like the Swedish one, but its techniques are a bit different. Sports massage targets the circulation and focuses on improving, warming up and relaxing the muscles.

4. Neuromuscular massage

This type of massage is applied to only some of the muscles. It’s very important to ask for such a massage when you have pain in just a part of the body, because it usually reduces such discomfort. It also reduces tension and blood pressure, and improves the blood flow.

5. Rolfing

This is used especially for curing problems with the spine, and improving the body’s posture. In many cases when someone has spine problems, they also have backaches and joint pain, and this massage can make them feel better.

Other techniques are: hellerwork, craniosacral therapy, aston-patterning, feldenkrais, and trager.

Even though it was discovered thousands of years ago, massage therapy does have some problems you should be aware of. If you use massage therapy for a long time, some negative effects can appear. Some of these are:

· Soreness

· Fatigue and malaise

· Pain and complications (especially for the patients suffering from cancer, those with weak bones, and pregnant women)

· Internal bleeding or nerve damage (appearing after many strong massages)

Therefore, you should tell the massage therapist about all of your medical conditions before starting message therapy.