Massage therapy is a holistic option to deal with issues arising from tense muscles and depression. The pressure applied by the fingers and hands and feet of the masseur results in the effective reduction of pain and the targeted relaxation.
Interestingly, the word massage is derived from the French word for friction of kneading! The word meanings from other cultures include ‘to touch or feel’ and ‘mass or dough’. Massage is the therapy for the treatment of the soft body tissues with physical and functional methods to relax the muscles. Many a times, the purpose of the medical and therapeutic massage is to serve pre determined psychological purpose. The art of effective massage involves manipulating the muscles with pressure. The pressure could vary according to requirement and thus be structured or unstructured or stationary or moving. The tension or vibration could be manipulated either manually or with the help of special mechanical aids.

In a massage, the muscles and tissues targeted usually include the tendons, ligaments, joints and the lymphatic vessels and organs within the gastro intestinal system. Massages are now designed for relaxation of the hands, feet, fingers etc. It is interesting to note that there are over a hundred massage modalities! A massage may be opted for either by patient demand or as prescribed by the physician for clinical effectiveness. The benefits of massage, according to dedicated medical research, include relief from pain, reduction of muscle tension and anxiety or depression. Massages are also effectively used to reduce blood pressure and heart rate.

The massage actually blocks the ‘pain’ signals to the brain and activates the nervous system that in turn, stimulates the release of the hormones like endorphin and serotonin. This helps in preventing scar tissue and increases the flow of lymph, which is known to induce and improve sleep. A massage can be effectively given by a trained masseur, a chiropractor, athletic trainer or osteopaths and physical therapists. There are massage therapists who are an integral part of hospitals and nursing homes and various sports and fitness facilities. The technique is much appreciated and is catching up fast. Today, along with the regular beauty treatments, a number of spas and beauty salons also offer the services of trained masseurs.

It is important to be educated that massage therapy cannot and should not be used to treat damaged blood vessels, weakened bones, cancer, osteoporosis or any bleeding disorders. In a professional massage setting, the client is treated while he or she is in the reclined position on a massage table. There are forms of massages that are even extended to clients who sit upright in special massage chairs or lie down on a pad, on the floor. During a massage, the person could be either clothed or unclothed or partially unclothed. In the latter, the body is draped with special towels or a sheet. The commercial massage tables are very comfortable. They have a heavily padded surface and a head support designed to allow the client to breathe easily even while lying face down.

The massage table may be stationary or portable and now there are special orthopedic bolsters that are available to correct the body posture. The massage chairs are ergonomically designed to create a similar setting as the massage tables. The chair designs make it easy for the practitioner to maneuver around the client. The oils used for massage include coconut oil, grape seed oil, sesame oil, pecan oil, olive oil, almond oil, pine oil and macadamia oil. These are usually fractionated or mixed with certain prescribed carrier oils.

The Ayurveda massage is a natural health care system from the orient. Ayurvedic massage is also referred to as Abhyanga and is part of a therapy that involves the expertise part of two therapists. The massage is given with a warm blend of herbal oils, with the aim of loosening and relaxing the muscles through kneading and rubbing motions. There is the barefoot deep tissue massage therapy also, where the therapist applies pressure to sense and manipulate the tissues and search for and attack the anxiety trigger points. There are therapists that apply the ‘rolling’ movement on the target body part, to relieve muscle tension and to restore the normal lymphatic flow.

By Gaynor Borade
Published: 2/3/2008

Discover the benefits of the massage stones in this stressful world!

Did Xerxes, Genghis Khan, Attila the Hun, or Charlemagne ever get a massage? And if they never had one, would they have been “friendlier” if they had periodically enjoyed a relaxing hot rocks massage? Though we will probably never know for certain whether particular leaders in the past enjoyed massages, historical records provide us with some details about the usage of massages and massage stones, throughout history. Learning about how massages began and their trends throughout history, will not necessarily make our massages more relaxing. However, it will definitely help us to better appreciate the physical and mental benefits of massages, as we enjoy them today.

A healthy stone
Historians believe that massage is the oldest type of medical therapy used on humans. Various forms of accounts reveal that massage was used in ancient China, India, Egypt, Rome, and Greece. Besides positioning the stones directly on the body, people would carry stones for health and safeguarding purposes. Stones were also used to diagnosis and treat various diseases.

Even as early as 2,700 B.C., ancient Chinese used massage as a type of treatment for various illnesses, such as paralysis. And more than 2,000 years in the past, the Chinese were already using warmed stones, to improve the internal organs’ performance. Besides in China, people were using massage and healing stones in other regions of the ancient world, including India, Egypt, Europe, Africa, and North and South America. In India, the traditional medical system included therapeutic massage with aromatherapy oils and spices. And pictures of people being massaged have been found in various tombs of ancient Egypt.

Getting on Caesar’s nerves
Meanwhile, in the western world, several Greek and Roman heroes had massages performed on them every day, as a form of treatment for nerve pain. In fact, historical records reveal that Julius Caesar himself had such daily massages. One of the Romans’ practices combined hot immersion baths, with cold pools and marble stone.

The mother of invention
Where did the most conventional variety of massage used in Western society, Swedish massage, originate from? It was created sometime in the 1800s. Experts believe that masseuses in Sweden used several of the massaging techniques used in ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt, and China. Besides Swedish massage, various methods have been used to help create other massage methods, such as aromatherapy and reflexology.

Furthermore, several of today’s mainstream massage methods were originally used to relieve people of particular health problems. For example, medical staff would use a certain massage for wounded soldiers during the 1930s’ World War I, to treat nerve damage and to ease “shell shock.”

Today, massage and massage stones are still used to treat a wide range of conditions, from lumbar back pain to paralysis, and from strokes and heart attacks, to different varieties of cancer. The secret to these “magical” stones is in the use of heat and cold during massage, to create useful therapeutic results. This stone becomes a handy, natural tool for the massage therapist, making his or her work more efficient.

Ninety eight point six
How does applying heat and cold impact the body? Back in ancient history, we learned in elementary school that the average temperature of a human’s body is 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. In fact, the body is constantly battling to sustain that precise temperature. When the massage therapist applies stones to our bodies in a variety of ways (i.e. hot, cold, local, general, short, long), the natural and beneficial therapeutic results are outstanding.

Throughout human history, therapists have used massage as a means to treat a variety of medical conditions that have plagued people since the beginning of time. Though in modern times we are more aware of the medical befits of massage than Julius Caesar was, we can equally appreciate the historical benefits of massage stones.

To make history by using the finest massage stones for a relaxing massage, visit us today at www.tirmassagestone.com .