What is Massage Therapy?
Massage involves the manipulation of the soft tissue structures of the body to prevent pain, discomfort, muscle spasm, and stress; and, to promote health and wellness. AMTA defines Massage as, "a manual soft tissue manipulation that includes holding, causing movement, and/or applying pressure to the body."
Massage Therapy is defined as " a profession in which the practitioner applies manual techniques, and may apply adjunctive therapies, with the intention of positively affecting the health and well-being of the client." (AMTA). Massage includes diverse physiological effects, which are primarily due to the therapist's hands moving over the body. The different movements can physically stretch muscles, ligaments, tendons and fascia, boost the circulation through the tissue, inhibit muscular spasms and be either sedating or stimulating to the nervous system.
Therapeutic massage improves functioning of the circulatory, lymphatic, muscular, skeletal, and nervous systems and may improve the rate at which the body recovers from injury and illness.
Massage Therapy operates on the foundation of different types of strokes and oils that work on stress accumulated areas in an effort to achieve a relaxed mind and body. The different kinds of Massage include: Back Massage, Neck and Shoulder Massage, Chest Massage, Abdomen Massage, Face and Head Massage, Arms and Hand Massage, Legs and Feet Massage, Massage for babies and children and Massage during pregnancy.
Massage can be done using any of the 200 odd techniques known to therapists worldwide, which include:
- Sports Massage
- Swedish Massage
- Thai Massage
- Infant Massage
- Relaxation Massage and
- Zero Balancing
The Oriental techniques that include massage as a form of therapy include: Acupressure, Shiatsu, Lomi Lomi, Jin Shin Jitsu, Amma Therapy, Chi Nei Tsang etc.
A variety of Massage techniques have also been incorporated into several other complementary therapies such as: Aromatherapy, Reflexology, Rolfing, Reiki, Hellerwork and Osteopathy.
