Unravel The Mystery of Massage Therapy

Massage therapy is the practice of manipulating the soft tissues and muscles. Its goal is to provide the receiver with physical and psychological benefits. By manipulating the soft tissue and muscles with a series of orchestrated movements, massage is thought to result in relaxation and pain relief. Massage has been practiced in most cultures and since the beginning of recorded time.

A variety of movements and actions have been developed to soothe and relieve different parts of the body. Many are familiar with a kneading massage. This is a similar action to what a baker must do to make bread.

Massage therapy can be found in most civilizations throughout time. Since the beginning of recorded history, there has been evidence of massage therapy. Many techniques were developed from these ancient roots. The history of mankind has always been to find ways to restore and maintain health.

Clearly, massage therapy has been used throughout the world to help restore health to the body. Many of these civilizations develop very distinct types of massage techniques. Each technique brings about slightly different benefits.

Some of the more famous techniques are Swedish massage, shiatsu, reflexology, acupressure and many more. Many of these techniques can now easily be found being offered in most spots around the world. They are also being integrated into massage chairs.

The practice of massage is about applying direct pressure to certain points in the body. When this is done correctly, it will bring relief to those areas. In scanning the techniques offered by massage therapy schools, there are approximately 200 variations of massage technique. These are constantly evolving and subject to interpretation by the therapist.

A new study was published in September 2004 that used a need for analysis of peer reviewed scientific journals using massage therapy and the adult population. The conclusion of the study is that massage therapy provides a wide range of physical and psychological benefits.

Some of the typical benefits found in these studies have to do with relaxation. Many show that the heart rate slows down and the blood pressure is lowered. Psychological benefits were shown to be lower levels of pain and lower states of anxiety. This is generally shown to be true for two thirds of those participating in the study.

One study that we reviewed showed that the participants receiving massage therapy reported less pain than that not receiving massage therapy. They also had a lower average heart rate and blood pressure than those not receiving these treatments. It should also be noted that the massage therapy must be given on a periodic basis similar to exercise.

Another study conducted in May 2004 and published by the national Center for complementary and alternative medicine showed that massage was the ninth most popular form of alternative medicine. It also showed that 5% of the adult population used therapy at least once in the past 12 months. The popularity of massage treatments continues to rise.

Massage therapy continues to grow as people recognize the benefits of receiving natural treatments. Although the clinical studies are lacking, in time Western medical science will catch up with studying the techniques developed from antiquity. Many people are not waiting for the scientific results because they intuitively understand the benefits of receiving frequent massage treatments.