Massage and Touch Therapy Facts

Massage feels too soothing and sounds too luxurious to have any benefits beyond indulgence, but it does. When I practiced massage therapy in my spa I was intrigued by how people's energy would shift, how tension slipped away and how their bodies would develop a more tranquil state of being.

Compassionate touch therapy is another technique to soothing emotional ilk and physical discomfort. Simply resting ones hand on the inner curve of another's elbow while consoling them, holding hands, a warm embrace, stroking the hair around the face or a kiss on the forehead of the bedridden are all therapeutic to the soul and can ease even the most intense pain.

Read these facts to learn more about the use of massage and touch therapy in our day to day life and throughout history:

1.) Just a few minutes of massage can help reduce the pain and intensity of numerous physical and mental ills.

2.) Children raised in families who hug and hold one another are generally healthier, more able to withstand pain and infection, are more social and happier.

3.) Marriages where people hold and hug each other are generally longer lasting.

4.) Friendships that allow open acts of affection and free expression of thought are stronger than those that do not.

5.) Harvard studies show that people recovering from surgery, or other illnesses who receive massage or compassionate touch therapy recover more rapidly, with a decreased requirement of drugs. This may be due in part to an increase in lymphatic and circulatory function, resulting in enhanced immune, physiologic and psychologic function.

6.) Massage has numerous health benefits such as; improved circulation, muscle relaxation, aids digestion, and by stimulating the lymphatic system massage speeds up the elimination of waste products.

7.) Massage is an ancient art that is first mentioned in writing in a book of Chinese Medicine, which dates as far back as approximately 2700 BC.

8.) At the end of the nineteenth century, massage was a popular medical treatment frequently used by eminent surgeons, cardiologists, and physicians.

9.) During World War I, massage was used extensively in the treatment of nerve injury and shell shock.

10.) Even today the therapeutic value of massage is being recognized and accepted as a complement to various other medical treatments and chiropractic.

11.) Massage therapy during pregnancy can help reduce the discomfort of low back pain, swelling of hands and feet, headaches, calf cramps, insomnia, sciatic pain and sinus congestion.

12.) Overall the therapeutic effects of massage are general relaxation, improved circulation, lymphatic stimulation, blood filtration resulting in toxic waste elimination, improvement in cellular nutrition, muscle relaxation, alleviation of muscular pain, structural normalization, relief from the negative effects of stress, reduction of anxiety and emotional release.