Massage is the sensation of soothing feelings of calmness recorded by our brain based on the signals it receives through nerves under the skin. This sensation occurs because of another person’s touch and the movement of soft and gently moving firm fingers and hands on our skin.
In response to the soothing sensation, the brain releases certain chemicals. They in turn help boost our body’s immune defense system. Some of the chemicals help reduce anxiety and some depression. They also help relieve pain and stress developed in muscles. The stress relief directly relaxes our mind. Massage therefore helps invoke good feelings in us.
The importance of massage can be gauged from the fact that almost every mother massages her infant’s skin using baby oil. She knows that massage helps in providing glow and tone to her baby’s skin and muscles. It helps keep the child cheerful and enables it to sleep well.
During pregnancy and in labor, massage helps reduce stress levels in women. Massage also helps indirectly to reduce the pain and stress due to the adverse effects of illnesses such as diabetes, cancer in a patient. It can especially help children, anorexic teens, and elderly patients. It also helps in the faster recovery of patients who have undergone certain types of surgeries.
Smokers and alcoholics undergoing get riddance treatment are benefitted by massage in better managing the stress developed due to withdrawal. Massage improves self-esteem in physically and mentally challenged individuals. It also helps in the quicker rehabilitation of injured sportspersons.
Occupational therapists are trained in the art and science of therapeutical massage and this is why you are safe with them. They know exactly the kind of massage to be used on individuals with different health conditions.It is important for a therapist to be a thorough professional, invoke your trust, and ask you all the right health questions. He/she needs to be aware of your exact health condition. If you loathe disrobing for a massage he/she must prompt you for a chair massage.
It is also important to select a qualified massage therapist with experience in administering different types of massage. This is important because the wrong massage technique or in an injured or otherwise affected area can sometimes land you in a much worse state than you were earlier.
You need to be wary if you have had a heart attack recently or if you have open wounds or burns over part of your body. You are at risk even if your bones have become brittle with age or osteoporosis. Otherwise too massage is contraindicated if you are afflicted by rheumatoid arthritis
or you have an rectified fracture.
You can afford to put down your guard and enjoy the stress-relieving benefits of a well delivered massage only if you are completely healthy. However, you need to remember that massage is not a replacement for treatment and neither is it a sole remedy for a person’s ills. It only acts as a catalyst in recovery and as an aid in pain and stress relief.
