What Are the Benefits of Massage Therapy?

Massage therapy has been in existence for thousands of years with medical texts that mention massage therapy found that are over 4000 years old.  Hippocrates mentioned the art of "rubbing" in his early writings and

Massage Resources and Facts

teachings.  Today massage therapy is what Hippocrates called "rubbing."  Massage refers to many different techniques that manipulate the soft tissue and muscle structure of the body.  Massage applies pressure, either fixed or movable, vibration, rocking, compression and kneading of different parts of the body.

Massage therapists may concentrate on hands or feet reflex therapy.  A trained therapist is trained to use pressure on different parts of the body for the benefit of all the systems of the body.  Massage therapists believe therapeutic massage is the key to health and well being of the patient.

The physical benefits include relaxing the whole body, loosens tight muscles, and helps relieve muscles that are tired and aching.  Therapeutic massage can increase your range of motion, and flexibility, it can ease severe pain.  Julius Caesar used a massage therapist to help him with chronic neurology pain.  More benefits of therapeutic massage are the lowering of blood pressure and heart rate; it will even heighten skin tone. 

Massage therapy can strengthen the immune system and helps the body recover faster from injury and illness.  You can relieve tension headaches, stress, and helps promote restful sleep.  Do you want to improve your concentration and memory?  Try having a therapeutic massage by a well-trained therapist. 

There are over 100,000 massage therapists in the United States alone.  Training varies for certification from state to state and many private schools and universities are offering massage therapist classes with at least 500 hours of training.  At least 33 states have licensing procedures you must follow to become a massage therapist.  More states will be requiring this in the future.

Massage therapists must go through extensive training and study the body and musculoskeletal system to be accredited as a therapist.  It is much like the knowledge a cosmetology student must have to be licensed.  The massage therapist's students study various massage techniques including acupressure, aromatherapy, and many other forms of massage therapy.  If you are considering massage therapy as a career, you should look into the different educational programs in your area and find out what the requirements are in your state.  A therapist may specialize in areas of therapy that interest them personally.  They may choose sports therapy, geriatric massage, infant massage, and spa treatment massages.  These are only a few of the many forms of massage therapy.

The use of fingers to stimulate the body and promote the circulation of blood and life energy force has been practiced for many centuries.  The Western world is now making the practice of therapeutic massage part of an integrated medical treatment plan.  Medical doctors are seeing the benefits of using therapeutic massage therapy as part of their over-all treatment plan for some patients.  It is becoming an accepted form of complementary medicine.

Click to View Massage Videos