Massage – A Power of Touch!

Having massage in your life is a health benefit. The positive effects on your health can be both immediate and long-lasting. Because the bulk of the research in this area has been done using massage, we will use massage as a generic term in this chapter without intending to omit any form of bodywork. All the massage and bodywork modalities have health benefits.

Although there are differences between approaches in the particular improvements or gains to be derived, there are also areas that overlap. In this chapter we want to introduce you to the overlap – the best reason to have massage in your life – for your health and feelings of well-being.

Bodywork and massage are not intended as a replacement for medication or medical treatment recommended by your doctor. However, the relaxation response induced by massage on both physical and mental levels triggers recuperative processes in the body and the mind. Combining conventional medical treatment with alternative approaches like massage can have a powerful impact on your health. The key element that empowers touch to affect our health is the constant interplay between body and mind.

The Relationship Between Mind and Body –

Your body and you mind do not act independently of each other. The functioning of the body and the mind are clearly intertwined and have an ongoing mutual impact. Their functioning is so reciprocal and interdependent that it is common for symptoms and illnesses to contain mental and emotional components as well as physical pain and discomfort. Wondering where the impact on health begins, with the body or with the mind, is like asking which came first, the chicken of the egg. Even though this is an unsolvable dilemma, let’s examine each direction: body to mind and then mind to body.

Stress and Your Health –

The relationship between stress and illness is well documented and widely accepted. It has been estimated that upto 90% of visits to primary care physicians are associated with stress-related complaints. The most common symptoms reported include physcial fatigue, emotional exhaustion, headaches, backaches, neck-pain, eyestrain, poor concentration, anxiety, depression, irritable bowel, stomach pain and discomfort, and high blood pressure. Stress can be a big factor in triggering and maintainting any of these problems.

Stress begins with a stressor. Everyone is exposed to stressors throughout the day. A stressor is an event over which you have no control and which has the potential to trigger a stress reaction with physical, mental and emotional components. Examples of stressors include your car not starting in the morning when you are late for an appointment or your boss denying you a personal day. Big or small, such events can trigger negative thoughts and physical tension. As the mental and physical reactions to external stressors grow in intensity through the activity in the mind-body feedback loop, we begin to experience stress.

Stress makes all the systems of the body work harder and less efficiently, which is what makes us prone to illness and dysfunction. The mental tension triggered by the events of everyday life quickly signals the brain to tense your muscles through the relase of stress hormones from the adrenal glands. These stress hormones cause your blood vessels to constrict and reduce circulation. As a result, your heart works harder, your breathing becomes more rapid and shallow, and your digestive system slows down.

In fact, nearly all bodily systems are affected negatively by stress. The ripple effect of this sluggishness of bodily systems leaves the cells of the body and brain deprived of oxygen and other nutrients. Waste products accumulate without being eliminated efficiently from body tissue. The result is a weakened internal environment and mental and emotional exhaustion. In this condition, the body cannot easily prevent and fight disease.

There are actually stress hormones that can literally kill brain cells in the hippocampus, a structure in the brain critical to learning and memory. Stress can be a causal factor in migraine headaches, chronic pain, high blood pressure, heart disease, peptic ulcers, depression, and other disorders.

MASSAGE CAN BREAKE THE STRESS-CYCLE –

The key mechanism through which massage improves health is stress reduction. One thread running through the various approaches to massage and bodywork is the guiding principle that too much stress suppresses your immune system, threatening your health and well-being. The touch provided in massage and bodywork can break this potentially devastating stress cycle.

MASSAGE REDUCES STRESS –

Research has shown that massage can provide relief from both the physical and mental symptoms of stress. In numerous publications, including Prevention Magazien (Dec 1990), massage is referred to as a proven technique for the reduction of both physical and mental stress. If stress causes illness and massage reduces stress, then it logically follows that massage can be used as a legitimate preventive and healing adjunct to medical treatments.

Scientific studies conducted at Touch Research International demonstrate the relationship between massage and stress reduction by measuring changes in physiological and biochemical indicators before and after massage. Stress reduction via massage has been proven by massage receivers decreased pulse rates, lower levels of the stress hormones (cortisol and nor-epinephrine), and more efficeint functioning of neurotransmitters, including dopamine.

Therapeutic, Nurturing Touch Sends Positive Messages to the Brain –

Massage has this powerful positive impact because the soothing physical sensations produced by these professional hands-on procedures feed back to the brain and reduce mental stress. Once mental stress is reduced, the brain sends signals to the adrenal glands to stop releasing stress hormones and signals the muscles to unwind. This feedback loop between the mental and physical manifestations of stress explains why massaging one area of the body can produce a feeling of relaxation throughout the entire body.

Massage Reduces Stress and Improves Health by Promoting Circulation –

Massage also relieves both physical and mental stress by improving circulation. In massage, the practitioner’s strokes relax the tense muscles that may have interfered with efficient blood flow. The direction and rhythm of the strokes encourage blood to flow through the veins and back toward the heart. When your circulatory system is working optimally, sufficent oxygen and nutrients will be able to reach and nourish the cells throughout your body.

In addition to improving blood circulation, the benefits of massage extend to improving the flow of lymph through the lymphatic system, which rids the blood and body tissues of toxins and waste products. When the lymphatic system becomes constricted and inefficent the accumulating waste products take the body out of a balanced state and create physical stress, discomfort, and eventually health problems. When your blood is flowing freely through arteries and veins and your lymph is circulating properly, you experience renewed energy. Your immune system functions more effectively to prevent disease and to heal the body from illness and injury.

Massagae Reduces Stress by Triggering the Release of Endorphins –

The touch of massage can reduce stress and produce feelings of well-being by triggering the release of endorphins by the brain. Research has shown that endorphin levels increase with the application of massage. Endorphins are considered as such potent painkillers that they are known as natural opiates. An increase in endorphin production leads to a more pleasurable body state, a higher energy level, and greater physical and mental endurance. Stronger ongoing touch can have a more lasting impact.

Massage Reduces Stress by Relieving Physical Symptoms –

Massage can provide relief from the pain and soreness of muscle tension. The massage and bodywork modalities vary in their techniques of addressing the tension and pain. The approaches are based on different theories of the origin of pain and how to treat pain symptoms. What they have in common is the goal of alleviating chronic physical symptoms, which also relieves chronic stress.

CONTRAINDICATIONS –

In your decision process regarding massage and bodywork, it is important that you consider any possible contraindications. A contraindication is a condition that makes using a particular treatment inadvisable. For example being pregnant may make it inadvisable for you to take certain medications or be exposed to certain medical procedures. Reasons for postponing massage and bodywork include having a fever or an acute infectious disease. Specific contraindications vary from one modality to another. The massage thearpist or bodywork practitioner will ask you questions to rule out contraindications. Sometimes only certain areas of the body will be contra-indicated, for example – a rash on your arm or leg might mean avoiding lubrication or pressure on those areas. Always consult your physician if you are unsure. For most people, massage is a safe, beneficial piece of the fabric of health care.

THINK ABOUT YOUR HEALTH GOALS –

Has your doctor recommended that you reduce and stabalize your high blood pressure? Do you have an old sports injury that still bothers you ? Are you seeking relief from muscle spams, soreness, or tension? Do you want to improve your flexibilty and move more easily? Are you trying to get your energy back? Is it better skin tone you are after? Do you want to improve the quality of your sleep? Is your goal to alleviate anxiety or depression? Or do you feel Okay but want increased vitality or deeper feelings of well-being?

There are many different massage and bodywork approaches that can help you achieve one or more of your health goals. That is why we consider to guide you to improving your physical and mental health through the healing power of touch.