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- Herausgeber: V&S Publishers
- Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018
Different ways to massage for complete relaxation
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© Copyright: ISBN 978-935-05731-0-5
DISCLAIMER
While every attempt has been made to provide accurate and timely information in this book, neither the author nor the publisher assumes any responsibility for errors, unintended omissions or commissions detected therein. The author and publisher make no representation or warranty with respect to the comprehensiveness or completeness of the contents provided.
All matters included have been simplified under professional guidance for general information only without any warranty for applicability on an individual. Any mention of an organization or a website in the book by way of citation or as a source of additional information doesn't imply the endorsement of the content either by the author or the publisher. It is possible that websites cited may have changed or removed between the time of editing and publishing the book.
Results from using the expert opinion in this book will be totally dependent on individual circumstances and factors beyond the control of the author and the publisher.
It makes sense to elicit advice from well informed sources before implementing the ideas given in the book. The reader assumes full responsibility for the consequences arising out from reading this book. For proper guidance, it is advisable to read the book under the watchful eyes of parents/guardian. The purchaser of this book assumes all responsibility for the use of given materials and information. The copyright of the entire content of this book rests with the author/publisher. Any infringement/ transmission of the cover design, text or illustrations, in any form, by any means, by any entity will invite legal action and be responsible for consequences thereon.
DEDICATION
This book is dedicated to all the experts in the art of massage. Some sung and some unsung, these heroes have brought enormous comfort, relief and health to thousands of people, all over the world.
As a baby, I have enjoyed the massage given by my mother; after the birth of my children I got back to shape with the massage given to me by Radha — an expert masseuse. In my forties, my tired feet found solace in the loving massage treatment given to them by Vasantha.
In this fast paced world of stress and fatigue, these people brought priceless happiness in my life with their comforting touch.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Much of the information about Ayurvedic Massage has come from various people who are practising these therapies. I am indebted to my mother and aunt who have taught me the technique of ‘baby massage’.
I am also thankful to Vasantha, my devoted Maid-Friday who has spent hours performing ‘head massage’ and ‘body massage’ on me and gave me precious tips on the tricks of the trade.
I am also thankful to Yvonne who was the first person to educate me on the intricacies of ‘Reflexology”.
A big round of thanks goes to my persevering husband and the daughters. Each of my books is an agony to them because I go through an enormous amount of tension and work, which cuts into the attention and time I give my family. None of these books would have been possible without the unstinting support and encouragement given to me by my family.
CONTENTS
PREFACE
Much before the Western countries woke up to the magical powers of massage, the Eastern countries, in their native wisdom, had been using those very powers for centuries. Every Indian knows the efficacy of massage in relieving tension and washing away all kinds of aches and pains.
In India, massage therapy is given right from the birth of a baby, and continues through the life of an individual up to old age. In ancient times, the rich employed a retinue of servants who were experts in the art of massaging. When a woman delivered a baby, old ladies skilled in the art of post natal massage, helped in bringing back the tightness in the muscles thus helping the new mother get back in shape. Infants were given special massage to help them grow well, sleep better and become stronger even while making them feel secure and loved, thus fostering physical as well as emotional well being.
Our forefathers knew that tired muscles of the legs could be brought back to action through gentle massage. They also knew the benefits of a good head massage with a cooling concoction prepared from the leaves of Brahmi or Bhringaraj and coconut oil. Most Indian households revelled in a weekly body oil massage and a head massage. It was almost a ritual, to be observed every Sunday, without fail.
‘Champi’ and ‘malish’ were two professions that were practised by the experts in scalp and body massage. They were skilled in relaxing taut muscles of the neck and shoulder region and relieving cramp or settling minor muscle pulls. These professionals were much in demand and earned a fairly decent living.
With time, however, this breed of specialists dwindled and they could only be found in the smaller towns and villages. The westernisation of life took away the soothing benefits of a massage. What is ironical is the fact that the art of massage began vanishing just when it was required most. The modern lifestyle brought with it a fast paced life, hundreds of reasons for stress and a need for stress relieving techniques. It is now that the benefits of massage can be fully exploited. But, there are few massage-specialists remaining in the metropolitan milieu today and the present generation can only connect the word ‘massage’ with their childhood memories of a loving massage by the mother or grand-mother.
There was another factor that drove people away from the ‘massage concept’. The mushrooming of dubious massage parlours in large cities gave the concept a very bad name. Massage began getting sexual overtones and the very mention of the word became taboo in most social circles. Rampant sexual favours granted under the guise of giving a massage became the turning point for this highly effective therapy. The word ‘massage’ had acquired a shady connotation.
By now the mothers had taken up jobs and so didn’t have time to give a massage to their babies and no one had the time to indulge in the healthy practice of the weekly body and head massage. The result was a whole lot of frayed nerves and stressed people around the house.
It is only in the recent years that the magical powers of this effective therapy have been rediscovered. As with most eastern therapies, the benefits are brought back to our minds by the interest sparked about it in the western world. And so with the ‘massage therapy’! Once again, the Indian population is realising the magic of this therapy and interest is beginning to be evoked about the subject. Like with the other facets of life, we are coming a full circle to all the ancient and wise methods that were in practice throughout the Indian subcontinent. Therapeutic methods based on the traditional methods of healing are re-surfacing with a vengeance and there is a perceptible shift in the thinking of the medical community, which is incorporating the traditional methods with the non-traditional ones to get better results.
I was surprised to note that enterprising business people in the Western countries are running educational courses on ‘baby massage’ and ‘Indian head massage’. Institutes are offering diplomas in these courses and making a fast buck, cashing in on the craze to learn the art of massaging. Many have opened health spas, where the ‘Indian head massage’ is a hot item. Surprisingly, we have forgotten it all!
When I was undergoing a course in Vipassana, I met a French girl, Yvonne, who was an expert reflexologist. Over a few weeks, she coached me on the intricacies of the therapy and opened my world to the magic of this amazing therapy. I realised that there was a strong bond between the ancient massage therapy and other therapies like shiatsu, reflexology, aromatherapy and osteopathy.
The effect of these therapies is simply stupendous. They need to be tried first, before one goes for the modern medicines. And they are simple enough for anyone to learn, just a little perseverance and patience is all that is required.
This book takes you back to the potent message of massage, showing you the path to a stressfree and healthy life through the power of massage. It is simple, it has no side effects, it is free and it is effective. What more could a person want!
—Tanushree Podder
CHAPTER IINTRODUCTION
Massage comes from the Arabic word mass/mas’s meaning ‘to press softly.’ Massage as a holistic treatment means treating the whole person, body, mind, and spirit. Research suggests that massage was in use several centuries before the birth of Christ. It was mentioned in ancient Greek, Egyptian, Indian and Chinese medical texts. It was mentioned in the 18th Century B.C. by Homer in his book Odyssey, mentioned by Hippocrates around the 4th Century B.C. and the physician Galen (AD 150) was known to use massage for the treatment and prevention of disease. Massage was taught in Egyptian temples alongside herbal medicine.
Massage has also been used throughout history for relaxation and a beauty treatment. The Romans indulged in massage with aromatic ointments, there are fables about the massage and bath centres that were frequented by the Roman nobles and emperors. They had taken bathing to the point of being a luxurious indulgence. After the fall of the Roman Empire the Western world became more puritanical and viewed pampering of the body as sinful. The very idea of treating the body as a thing of beauty and to indulge in pampering it was considered blasphemous. This resulted in massage as a form of relaxation and as a form of medicine being ostracized and it remained so for several centuries. It was not until the end of the 18th century, when the wave of liberalism hit the world, that massage was re-invented.
Massage relies on the power and magic of touch, for efficacy. Touch is an amazingly powerful tool. It heals, it comforts and it brings with it a warm glow of security that encircles both the giver and receiver in a strange kind of bonding. The warm cocoon of love that pervades the sense of touch and human contact is perhaps the most healing therapy of all. Remember the time you got hurt and ran back to mother for a comforting touch. At times, she would just touch gently on the spot and you felt a magic take place. That little touch took away all the pain and the hurt; it brought you a relief that could not have come from any medicine in the world. It was the touch therapy that you had experienced, then.
Touch is an absolutely primal and a basic instinctive need for the living beings. Be it a human being, an animal or a plant, every living being responds to the stimulus of touch. Even plants grow up healthy and faster when they are subjected to music and touch. Even the most violent animals can be subdued by the loving power of touch. It is a vital requirement that is sadly neglected in many of our societies. The continuing rise in the popularity of therapies like massage, REIKI, reflexology etc, demonstrate how effective touch can be. In the last 30 years researchers have started to look at the therapeutic effects of touch, and have shown that not only does regular physical contact lower anxiety levels and enhance the quality of life, but it affects physiological processes, too, ranging from lowered blood pressure, and even less arteriosclerosis, to reduced brain cell deterioration and memory loss with ageing. Musculoskeletal disorders are most often helped by manipulative or other physical treatments, and both pain levels and pain tolerance can often be aided with the help of touch therapies.
Massage is nothing but a technical adaptation of touch. It incorporates the various pressures and techniques of touch, for efficacy. And it can bring about tremendous amount of benefits to people, especially those who suffer from disorders related to stress and tension, which have become a part and parcel of our lives.
Apart from being therapeutically beneficial, massage also happens to be a very enjoyable treatment to receive and to give. It conveys a lot more than mere words can convey. It improves relationships between partners who practise it, making them secure and comfortable in each other’s company. Massage provides the most immediate way to affect another person, to reassure and relax them, to help to reduce pain, influence our ability to build relationships, and even fight off disease. The emotional effects brought about are of the kind that can heal most physical problems.
Origin of Massage
No one really knows how massage originated, or where it originated. The origins of massage are as old as humankind, for touch is the most instinctive response to soreness, pain, and debility. As species we can exist without many things but touching is not one of them. The physical contact is used by human beings to demonstrate love and affection and to comfort. It is something humans share with animals as an instinctive way of bonding and sharing. Whether it is the mother stroking a baby to soothe it or an adult gently using massage to alleviate tiredness and stress, this therapy has been around ever since human beings began inhabiting the earth. As a stress reliever, it is probably without equal, and every culture throughout history has used massage in some form or the other.
Massage as a therapy has evolved out of one of our most instinctive desires, to touch and be touched. As a studied therapy, however, it is said to have been born in China over 5,000 years ago, coming from the same tradition as acupuncture and Taoism. Written records mentioning massage, or rubbing, as it was known in former times, were found in the most ancient Chinese medical texts advocating stroking the limbs to ‘protect against colds, keep the organs supple and prevent minor ailments’. In India, the Ayurvedic scriptures, which date back nearly 4,000 years, also recommend rubbing and shampooing the body to keep it healthy and promote healing, and there has been an unbroken tradition of using massage since that time. Most Indian mothers are taught to massage their newborn babies.
In ancient Greece, the practice of rubbing up the limbs or ‘anatripsis’ was highly recommended for treating fatigue, sports or war injury and illness. Hippocrates, the so-called ‘father’ of medicine, writing in the fifth century BC, stated that the physician must be ‘experienced in many things but assuredly rubbing’, and suggested that the way to health was to have a scented bath and an oil massage everyday.
The Romans were equally enthusiastic about the benefits of massage, incorporating it into a daily routine in their spas, alongside hot and cold baths. Their bathing rituals formed a very important facet of life and almost everyone indulged in them. One of the most famous Roman physicians, Galen, wrote several books on massage, exercise and health in the second century AD, and classified many types of strokes for use in different ailments. A good masseur, during the Roman Empire, was always in demand and had a high social status.
Massages continued to be popular and respected in Europe after the Romans had left, although their elaborate bathing and massage facilities fell into disrepair. With the rise in more puritanical aspects of Christianity, however, the needs of the body were felt to be in some way sinful and massage became a rather neglected technique.
From the time of the Renaissance, when classical medicine and philosophy were once again in favour, massage was revived and respected again. Although the revival was slow and cautious, enough interest was generated in it for the elite to experiment it in various forms.
It was not until the 16th century that a French doctor, Ambroise Pare, renewed interest in the subject with his more anatomical and physiological approach. Pare was a physician to no fewer than four French kings and he used a great deal of massage in his practice. Other cultures had always continued to value massage—Captain Cook wrote in his diaries how he was cured of sciatic pains in Tahiti by being massaged from head to foot by several women at once.
Then, early in the 19th century a Swede, Per Henrik Ling, developed a method of massage and gymnastics known as Swedish massage, which still forms the basis for the modern massage techniques. Ling, who was a Swedish gymnast turned into a therapist is known as the father of therapeutic massage. From that time, many schools of massage have sprung up, and to the present day different methods continue to develop.
After Ling, it was an American massage therapist, George Downing who published in his trend setting work—‘The Massage Book’, popularised this therapy in the early 1970s. He formulated the idea of massage as a holistic therapy taking into account a person’s whole being, his physical, mental and emotional make up. Downing also incorporated into this system the beliefs and techniques of two other well-known massage therapies—Reflexology and Shiatsu.
The latest development of massage happened during the 1960s and 1970s, especially in the US, where personal growth centres-most notably the Esalen Institute-adapted massage into a holistic approach that looked at releasing trapped emotional issues and creating overall health and balance rather than simply easing tired muscles or aching limbs.
From there to the modern use, this amazing therapy has covered a long journey. The current popularity of massage can be gauged from the fact that it is extensively being used in beauty clinics, sports and hospitals. It is increasingly being used to complement conventional medical treatments to treat stress related disorders, heart surgery recuperation and a whole gamut of physical and emotional problems.
THE HISTORY OF MASSAGE THERAPY
General Time Line
The information in this timeline is from many sources, mainly massage textbooks, massage books and massage school manuals. There are many contradictions in the various sources and the dates can only be taken as approximates in many cases.
3000 BC : Cong-Fu of the Toa-Tse in Chinese was discovered. It is the oldest known book, written about massage. This book was translated to French in the1700s.
2000 BC : The first writings about Massage
1800 BC : Ancient written works of Ayurveda were found. These dealt with the Art of Life and included massage techniques. In India, the focus was on sensual massage aspects.
776 BC, Olympic Games : The athletes who took part in the games are believed to have used massage prior to their events.
500 BC, Herodicus : He prescribed gymnastics to heal. Considered to be the founder of medical Gymnastics.
460-380 BC : Hippocrates who was a student of Herodicus, used ‘Friction’ technique to treat sprains and dislocations (called anatripsis-Greek for friction). He believed that disease resulted from natural causes and the body has the power to heal itself. Hippocrates also wrote code of ethics that became the Hippocratic Oath.
100-44 BC, Romans : Julius Caesar used Massage therapy to relieve his neuralgia and epileptic seizures. He was thought to have used the pinching movements of massage, every day.
130 AD-201 AD, Galen : He was originally from Greece. Galen was a physician for the school of gladiators who were rubbed before fighting. He wrote a book on manual medicine.
25 BC-50 AD : Aulus Cornelius Celsius who was a Roman Physician wrote ‘De Medicina’ (8 textbooks with a lot of information on massage).
228 AD-337 AD : The Roman Emperor Constantine condemned the baths and gymnasiums as he thought that they added to the abuse of sex.
589 AD-617 AD : Sui Dynasty already had knowledge of Massage and used it as therapy.
980 AD-1037 AD : Avicenna, a Persian medic, wrote the Canon of Medicine.
1300-1368 : Guy de Chauliac wrote a book on surgery mentioning bodywork as an adjunct to surgery.
1517-1590 : Ambroise Pare, a French barber-surgeon, raised awareness about the use of massage.
1564-1626 : Lord Francis Bacon observed that massage had benefits like enhancing circulation.
1660-1742 : In Prussia, Friedrich Hoffman, physician to King of Prussia recommended rubbing and gymnastics for the royal court.
1742-1823 : John Grosvenor, an English surgeon practised healing with hands.
1776-1839 : Per Henrik Ling-a fencing master and gymnast studied massage after he cured himself of rheumatism in his arm. He developed a system of Medical Gymnastics.
1813 : Per Henrik Ling formed the Royal Gymnastic Central Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. His students carried on his work after his death.
1837 : Ling’s disciple, M. LeRon brought Movement Cure to Russia, St.Petersburg.
1839-1909 : Johann Mezger of Holland brought medical massage to scientific community. Started using the terms effleurage, petrissage and tapotement.
1856 : Mathias Roth, English physician, taught Charles Fayette Taylor and George Henry Taylor the essentials of massage therapy and they brought massage to the US.
1852-1943 : John Harvey Kellogg, used massage and hydrotherapy. He published a magazine called “Good Health”.
1879 : Douglas Graham—described the lomi- lomi technique and wrote a history of massage. He may have been the first to use massage in USA.
1880 : Mary Putnam Jacobi and Victoria A White, who were medical doctors and professors in USA, researched the benefits of massage and ice packs in the management of anaemia.
1884 : Professor Charcot, a French Physician, who taught Sigmund Freud was of the opinion that French doctors should use massage more often in their treatment.
1884 : There were massage scandals in Europe. Physicians became sceptical of claims made by massage therapist and accused practitioners of stealing patients.
1894 : Society of Trained Masseuses was formed in Britain. It set up study of massage along with prerequisites for education and the criteria for school recognition.
1895 : Sigmund Freud used Massage Therapy to treat hysteria. He also conducted studies in hysteria and postulated that what we did not or will not confront in our lives would be buried in the body in the unconscious mind.
1899 : Sir William Bennet started a massage department at St. George’s Hospital in London.
1900 : Albert Hoffa wrote the book ‘Technike der Massage’
1907 : Edgar Ferdinand Cyriax used Ling’s Swedish Movement Cure and Mechanotherapeutics.
1913 : Dr. William Fitzgerald rediscovered Reflexology and called it Zone Therapy.
1917 : James Mennell of St. Thomas Hospital in London, practised physical treatment by movement, manipulation and massage.
World War I : Swedish massage was used for rehabilitation of injured soldiers.
1929 : Elizabeth Dicke, a German physical therapist, created ‘Bindgewebs massage’ or connective tissue massage. She used reflex zones in the course of her practice.
1930s : Many hospitals employed trained Physical Therapists for doing massage therapy for the patients.
1930 : Neuromuscular Therapy was created by Stanley Leif.
1932 : Emil Voder, a Danish physiologist created Manual Lymph Drainage.
1934 : Wilhelm Reich, who was an Austrian psychoanalysist and also Freud’s student, used Somato techniques to dissolve muscular armour. He also attempted to cure neurosis by releasing the corresponding muscle tensions by using breath, movement and physical manipulation.
The community was outraged at the thought of using physical contact. He was sent to prison for his conflicts and died there. Bioenergetics, created by Alexander Lowen, emerged from Reich’s work.
1940 : James Cyriax, son of Edgar Ferdinand Cyriax, and British Osteopath, created deep transverse friction.
1943 : Chicago American Association of Masseurs and Masseuses was formed. Later the name was changed to American Massage Therapy Association.
1949 : Massage Registration Act formulated by AMM.
1944 : Harold Storms formulated the Storms technique for fibrositic nodules.
1950s : Francis Tappan and Gertrude Beard wrote books and articles on massage techniques.
1952 : Janet Travell researched Trigger points.
1956 : Margaret Knott and Dorothy Vass wrote a book called ‘Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation’.
1960s : Albert Baumgartner used Massage in Athletics.
1960s : Esalen became the first centre to explore the potentials of massage therapy on human beings. It brought about notable advancements in the field of massage therapy and allied branches; Ida Rolf (who created Rolfing), did her first trainings there. Deane Juhan worked there and Bernie Gunther trained people to do massage.
1966 : Raymond Nimmo wrote the book “The Receptor Tonus Method”, which came from his work with “noxious generative points”.
1972 : Moshe Feldenkrais, writes “Awareness Through Movement” which follows up his 1949 publication “The Body and Mature Behaviour.” He studies the details of sensory awareness and movement re-education, somewhat based on F.M. Alexander’s work.
1981 : Lauren Berry, a physical therapist and mechanical engineer, recorded his methods of manipulating joints, “The Berry Method, Volume I”
1981 : Lawrence H. Jones identifies tenderpoints and develops “Strain-Counterstrain” techniques of treating points.
1983 : Janet Travell writes book with David Simons. It is called “Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: The Triggerpoint Manual: Volumes I & 2.
WHAT IS MASSAGE THERAPY?
There is not much difference in the concept of massage and massage therapy. When a layman uses the touch, pressing and kneading actions to bring about a feeling of lightness and happiness in the receiver, he is practising the art of massage. But, when the same techniques are used in a scientific manner, taking into account the muscle locations, stress points and other anatomical considerations, it becomes massage therapy.
Massage can be given by anyone, anywhere and under any circumstances. One does not need to know the intricacies of human body-systems in order to practise massage. But to practise the massage therapy, one has to be proficient in the knowledge of the human body-systems and their working. It is a more skilled and technical aspect of the common massage, which is more instinctive than technical.
Massage therapy is the systematized manipulation of soft tissues for the purpose of normalizing them. Practitioners use a variety of physical methods, which include applying fixed or movable pressure, holding, or causing movement to the body. Therapists primarily use their hands, but may also use their forearms, elbows, or feet.
The basic goal of massage therapy is to help the body heal itself and to increase health and well-being. Touch is the core ingredient of massage therapy and also combines science and art. Practitioners learn specific techniques for massage and use their sense of touch to determine the right amount of pressure to apply to each person and locate areas of tension and other soft-tissue problems. Touch also conveys a sense of caring, an important component in the healing relationship.
When muscles are overworked, waste products such as lactic acid can accumulate in the muscle, causing soreness, stiffness, and even muscle spasm. Massage improves circulation, which increases blood flow, bringing fresh oxygen to body tissues. This can assist the elimination of waste products, speed healing after injury, and enhance recovery from disease.
Therapeutic massage can be used to promote general well-being and enhance self-esteem, while boosting the circulatory and immune systems to benefit blood pressure, circulation, muscle tone, digestion, and skin tone. It has been incorporated into many health systems, and different massage techniques have been developed and integrated into various complementary therapies.
Most therapists, and certainly those who work holistically, believe that regular body massage can release emotional tension and promote physical health, gradually restoring the whole person to balanced health. Massage also forms the basis of other therapies such as aromatherapy, Shiatsu, and physiotherapy, and plays an important part in Chinese and ayurvedic medicine. Massage is primarily about touch, and touch in itself has healing qualities for reasons that are beyond our understanding.
How Does it Work?
There are many types of massage, some which work on reflex points, such as Shiatsu, reflexology and Chinese massage, others concentrate on relieving specific conditions, for example remedial massage is used to treat sports injuries and muscle strains, and manual lymphatic drainage (MLD) is used to stimulate lymphatic system.
Therapeutic massages can be given practically anywhere, ranging from a fifteen minute massage of the shoulders and back for someone sitting in a chair to an hour long head to toe massage on a padded massage table.
Basic massage techniques such as stroking, kneading, wringing, pummelling and knuckling, have been shown to simulate physical and emotional healing by a mechanical and a reflex action.
The Mechanical Effects of Massage
Theses are the physical results of pressing, squeezing and moving the soft tissues. Depending on the massage techniques used, this can be relaxing or stimulating. Tense muscles can cause sluggish circulation because they force the body’s blood vessels to constrict. Massaging the muscles relaxes them and stimulates the circulation so that blood flows freely, carrying oxygen and nutrients to where they are needed. By working on the circulation regular massage can help to normalise blood pressure, easing the pressure on over-burdened arteries and veins. Massage also stimulates the lymphatic system, which is responsible for nourishing cells, carrying waste products out of our body and defending the body against infection.
The Reflex Action
This is the involuntary reaction of one part of your body to the stimulation of another part. Because the body, mind and emotions form one intricate organism, connected by energy channels and a complex nervous system with receptors in the skin, stimulus in one part of the body can affect several other parts. So, strange as it may seem, a back massage can also be used to ease leg pain.
Massage is a physical therapy, but one with a strong emotional content. Austrian psychoanalyst, Wilhelm Reich was the first modern therapist to understand the effects of massage on emotions. He introduced the concept of ‘body armouring’, the belief that unexpressed emotions, such as anger or grief are held in the body. Tense, rigid muscles are not healthy for the body and suppressed emotions are not good for the mind. Reich’s philosophy paved the way for massage as a holistic therapy. The Esalen Institute in California later developed it into a therapy for releasing and encouraging personal growth.
Lately, research in the US has reinforced Reich’s belief that the mind and body are so interrelated that it is impossible to make a clear distinction between them. It has found that old emotions are stored in the ganglion of the spinal cord and other parts of the autonomic nervous system. Massage can free them by inducing relaxation, releasing endorphins-the body’s pain relievers, but also by triggering neuropeptides-molecules that act as intercellular messengers within the nervous system.
Massaging the skin releases the peptides affecting the mind, stimulating the immune system and improving overall body health. According to a leading US pharmacologist, Dr. Candace Pert, the preventive benefits of massage are so great that ‘almost 90% of mainstream medicines can be replaced with a weekly massage’.
What Can Massage Do?
As babies, touch is essential to our growth, both physically and mentally. In a recent experiment on premature babies, a US psychologist, nurse, and specialist in early childhood development, demonstrated that massage from the mothers increased nerve and brain cell development, accelerated weight gain, and generally increased hormonal functioning and cell activity.
The benefits of massage don’t end in infancy. Bulimia and other eating disorders suffered by adolescents and young people can be countered with massage, providing them with comfort, reassurance and a better self-image. Massage aids those suffering from depression; anxiety, hypertension and poor sleep patterns. In old age, massage counters the sense of loneliness and isolation, and can delay the onset of senility.
One of the prime benefits of massage is to the muscular system. Muscles may be loosened and relaxed, if they are tight are knotty. They can be toned if they are found to be too loose or lacking in tone. All these benefits are dependent totally on whether the strokes used are relaxing or stimulating. In restoring a balanced tone to the muscles, massage also aids the circulation of blood and lymph.
An increasing number of research studies show massage reduces heart rate, lowers blood pressure, increases blood circulation and lymph flow, relaxes muscles, improves range of motion, and increases endorphins (enhancing medical treatment). Although therapeutic massage does not increase muscle strength, it can stimulate weak, inactive muscles and, thus, partially compensate for the lack of exercise and inactivity resulting from illness or injury. It can also hasten and lead to a more complete recovery from exercise or injury.
Research has verified that office workers massaged regularly were more alert, performed better and were less stressed than those who weren’t massaged. In fact, a lot many leading companies in the US are resorting to the practise of providing massage therapies to their employees, during the coffee and lunch breaks. The performance of these employees was found to have increased significantly after they had undergone the therapy.
Massage therapy decreased the effects of anxiety; tension, depression, pain, and itching in burn patients. Abdominal surgery patients recovered more quickly after massage. A hospital study conducted on 52 children suffering from depression or adjustment problems in the USA revealed that those who were given a daily back massage for five days were less depressed and anxious than the control group who just watched relaxing videos. It was also found that the ones who had undergone massage therapy slept better after the treatment.
Premature infants who were massaged gained more weight and fared better than those who weren’t. Autistic children showed less erratic behaviour after massage.
Other studies demonstrated a significant decrease in anxiety and respiratory rates, as well as a significant increase in white blood cells and natural killer cell activity, suggesting a benefit to the immune system in people who had undergone massage therapy.
