Massage Therapy Benefits and Tips

Everyday the human body is bombarded with the stresses placed on it just living life. Finding a healthy solution to combat that attack is vital to the body's ability to function at optimal level. One solution that is proving to provide a multitude of therapeutic benefits is massage therapy. Perhaps this could be the healing touch you have been looking for.

Should You Try Massage Therapy?
If you have been thinking about whether or not to include massage therapy as a part of your healthcare regimen, then you are not alone. A growing number of people are turning to massage therapy as a natural alternative in reducing mental stress as well as musculoskeletal discomfort. Research continues to show the tremendous benefits of touch.

Just because massage can seem like an indulging treat does not mean it is any less therapeutic. Enthusiasts use massage for a number of benefits - which can range anywhere from merely alleviating tension, rehabilitating injuries, neurological disorders, to actually treating chronic diseases. As a result, the medical community has become proactive in the integration of massage therapy as part of many recovery processes.

Disease and Illness Benefits
Introducing massage therapy into one's healthcare regimen can be a powerful ally in the fight again disease and illness. We all know that stress and negative emotions play a key role in the detrimental effects on the body's health. Many theories explain how massage therapy can aide the body's ability to actually heal itself.

Through a group of manual techniques derived from the scientific manipulation of the soft tissues of the body, massage therapy is believed to be a healing touch that can positively affect one's immune system. The flow of blood and lymph are stimulated, which is the body's natural defense system. If that is not enough, massage also helps with the removal of toxins, another vital step towards optimal health.

Massage and Therapeutic Benefits
Although the most common therapeutic uses of massage therapy are to reduce stiffness and release stress, many practitioners utilize multiple techniques of the more than 250 variation of massage and its related touch therapies to profoundly effect physiological and chemical changes throughout the body. Research shows that with massage, patients with high blood pressure showed lower diastolic blood pressure, anxiety and stress hormones.

Patients suffering from arthritis noted less stiffness and pain resulting in fewer aches. Better pulmonary function and increased peak air flow were benefits noted for asthmatic children. Water retention and cramping decreased for sufferers of premenstrual syndrome. Patients with burn injuries reported less pain, itching and anxiety. Premature babies even demonstrated improved weight gain. Massage therapy may also be effective for back pain, headache control, carpal tunnel syndrome, and to alleviate the side effects of many diseases.

Massage and Sports
Within the "sports community", massage therapy has become a vital component of the training program to help optimize the athletes' performance. Athletes as well as those in the movement arts (such as dancers and skaters) take advantage of the massage therapy benefits to help keep their bodies fine-tuned. Because of the high demand placed on the body, the body is susceptible to much stress and possible injury. Sports massage therapy can play an integral role in the prevention or rehabilitation of these injuries.

Wondering whether or not massage therapy would benefit you? Find out more about Massage Therapy

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Harriett_Kean