What is Massage Therapy
Have you ever had a massage? If not, we recommend you schedule a “self-care Sunday” in your near future. Massages are great for stress reduction and relaxation. However, they can be more than that when massage therapy is brought into the mix.
What is a Massage?
In general, a message is a trained professional who puts degrees of pressure on the soft tissues in your body—things like your muscles, connective tissues, tendons, ligaments, and skin. There are dozens of types of massages, including the famous Swedish massage or even a deep tissue massage. Each has a goal; for example, the deep tissue will put higher levels of pressure and movement to reach the muscles and tissues deep in your body.
What is Massage Therapy?
Massage therapy is a type of massage. In this massage technique, a massage therapist will use therapeutic massage techniques to reduce or eliminate chronic low back pain, stress, and other issues.
The effectiveness of massage therapy is strange and not wholly understood – even if accepted. Massage therapy falls into the alternative part of complementary and alternative medicine. It’s not what people usually think of when they think of medicine, but it works nonetheless.
How Does Massage Therapy Help?
Our bodies are amazing machines – completely stopped in their tracks by stress and pain. However, what may surprise you is the effect stress has on healing and the body. While a massage will never cure a cancer patient, it can help them to reduce their stress and pain.
Go back to a regular massage for a moment. When you get any type of massage, the goal is to relax and stretch your muscles. This process often makes people fall asleep – the first sign they are distressing.
Now, massage therapy is done by trained doctors who understand various health conditions and risks. Variations like the sports massage can focus on getting your relaxed and recuperate before a big game. At the same time, other types can heal, reduce the stress and pain of cancer, heart disease, and stomach problems.
Is It an Effective Treatment?
That depends on what you plan to achieve from the treatment. If you want to mend broken bones or heal health issues, no. However, if you’re going to reduce stress, increase flexibility, and – in some cases – reduce pain, then the answer is yes.
Modern health care is more than accepting of the benefits of massage therapy. In addition, it’s got plenty of good with minimal side effects that usually pass, revealing overall increases in health and wellness.
Similar to Chiropractic Care
In many ways, getting a massage is a lot like going to the chiropractor (after all, you’re reading this blog!) Massage therapists and chiropractors understand the body and how each muscle is connected to the bones and tissues around it. Using this understanding, we can manipulate your skeleton and help you feel better.