Health Benefits That Massage Therapy Has To Offer

Massage provides very tangible physical benefits. It is deeply stress-relieving and gives people a sense of "True Relaxation." The benefits are many to many different people. But in every case, the therapeutic benefits of a massage are valuable, meaningful, relaxing and even curative! Massage is a manual therapy that manipulates the soft tissues and decreases muscle tension, pain, stress and depression.

The simple act of placing the hands on the body can itself encourage a person to thrive. Many studies have illustrated that without physical touch; babies (human or animal) will not thrive and may not even survive. Touch also has a positive effect on caregivers. For example, mothers who regularly have a great deal of physical closeness with their babies experience postpartum depression to a far lesser degree, and elderly caregivers feel a decrease in stress, anxiety and depression when they touch and are touched.

Massage therapy offers an avenue for balancing the stress of everyday life. Our bodies reflect our inner state of mind. So if someone feels overwhelmed and taxed, the muscles may be tense, sore, or stiff. Likewise, the physical state affects the mental state. Being in discomfort or pain, makes a person, prone to more negative thought patterns, and anxiety.

Acupressure massage therapy is a form which involves pressing particular points in the body which affect different organs of the body. Several different kinds of acupressure are currently practiced, although the same ancient trigger points are used in all of them. Varying rhythms, pressures, and techniques create different styles of acupressure, just as different forms of music use the same notes but combine them in distinctive ways.

Massage therapy, if properly done:

• Increases circulation;
• Enhances the immune system;
• Promotes nervous system functioning;
• Reduces blood pressure;
• Relieves pain and muscle tension;
• Improves mood, intellectual reasoning and job performance;
• Positive effect on conditions such as fibromyalgia, arthritis, diabetes and migraine headaches.

Depending on the technique used, massage therapy can also:

• Stimulate the nervous system to help reduce muscle atrophy;
• Increase muscle tone;
• Stimulate the functions of the skin or an organ deep inside the body;
• Sedate the nervous system to help ease muscle tension, spasticity, stress-related symptoms and headaches;
• Boost the functioning of the immune system and maintains health when done regularly;
• Stimulate sluggish circulation or slow down the circulation of someone who has just run a marathon when using friction massage techniques;
• Allow better range of motion and support the connective tissue and muscles in becoming strong and healthy when doing simple joint movements and joint stretching.

The health benefits are enormous, hence to infer it can easily be said the Massage Therapy not only helps treating body ache, stress and several other ailments, it is also the best way to be rejuvenated.

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