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BENEFITS OF MASSAGE:
You might think of a massage only as a luxury in exotic spas and upscale health clubs. But did you know that massage therapy, when combined with traditional medical treatments, is used to reduce stress and pain and promote healing in people with many different health conditions?
 There is no Substitute for the Human Touch! Read more...
During a massage, a therapist manipulates your body's soft tissues - your muscles, skin and tendons - using his or her fingertips, hands and fists. We offer Swedish Massage, Neuromuscular/Deep Tissue Bodywork, Hot Stone Hydrotherapy, and Reflexology.
Massage can relieve tension in your muscles, and most people use it for relaxation, relief of stress and anxiety, or to reduce muscle soreness. Massage can also cause your body to release natural painkillers, and can boost your immune system.
Research in massage therapy has been ongoing for more than 120 years. According to studies, Massage:
 Reduces anxiety in depressed children and anorexic women.
Reduces anxiety and withdrawal symptoms in adults trying to quit smoking.
Decreases pain in people with fibromyalgia, migraines and recent surgery.
Relieves back pain.
Lessens stress and anxiety, relax muscles and reduce pain during labor.
Encourages weight gain in premature babies and reduces the number of days they stayed in the hospital.
Helps people with auto-immune disorders: people with HIV who participated in massage studies showed an increased number of natural killer cells, which are thought to defend the body from viral and cancer cells.
Children who were massaged every day by their parents were more likely to stick to their medication and diet regimens, which helped reduce their blood glucose levels.
Athletes often receive massages after exercise, especially to the muscles they use most in their sport or activity. A massage helps increase blood flow to your muscles and may reduce muscle soreness after you exercise.
People with cancer who receive regularly scheduled massage therapy during treatment report less anxiety, pain and fatigue.
Because massage involves direct contact with another person through touch, it can make you feel cared for. That special attention can improve self-image in people with physical disabilities and terminal illnesses. And using touch to convey caring can help children with severe physical disabilities.
Medical school students at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-New Jersey Medical School who were massaged before an exam showed 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.
Women who had experienced the recent death of a child were less depressed after receiving therapeutic massage, according to preliminary results of a study at the University of South Carolina.
Studies funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have found massage beneficial in improving weight gain in HIV-exposed infants  and facilitating recovery in patients who underwent abdominal surgery. At the University of Miami School of Medicine's Touch Research Institute, researchers have found that massage is helpful in decreasing blood pressure in people with hypertension, alleviating pain in migraine sufferers and improving alertness and performance in office workers.
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 also can 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.
Massage therapy decreased the effects of anxiety, tension, depression, pain, and itching in burn patients.
Abdominal surgery patients recovered more quickly after massage.
Premature infants who were massaged gained more weight and fared better than those who weren't.
Autistic children showed less erratic behavior after massage therapy.
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Sources: ©1998-2008 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (MFMER), AMTA, Holistic Online.com, Fran Dana |
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Helps relieve stress