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Therapeutic Massage


An Overview of Massage Therapy

Many of the alternative systems of medicine have mass appeal nowadays. Today, massage therapy is a fully accepted mode of treatment and relaxation so much so that the mainstream medical world is incorporating massage therapy practices into their methods of treatment. This has increased the demand for practitioners with a valid massage therapy license. Massage therapists are, in general, expensive and as such patients require help in paying for massage therapy services.

More and more insurance companies are today willing to pay for expenses of treatment by alternative systems of medicine. Massage therapy is one of them. Massage therapy has become an accepted mode of treatment for healing things like injuries, back pain etc. and also as a form of prophylactic health care.

Different types of massage therapy are used by practitioners of mainstream medicine and chiropractics, in combinations with their regular methods of treatment. Body massage has always been popular with athletes, and also the general public interested in physical fitness. Different types of spas have been catering to people’s needs of massage therapy all along. Even animal massage therapy is prevalent today and people bring their pets to get a good massage.

The better known massage therapy benefits are the following:

* It improves blood circulation
* It helps in reducing and getting rid of stress
* It has a calming effect on the mind
* It helps in increasing muscle flexibility
* It is an excellent healing aid

The full list of benefits of massage therapy, resulting from different massage therapy techniques, is much longer. An exhaustive search based on your needs may yield the required data. Meanwhile, the more common methods of massage therapy are the following:

* Deep tissue massage
* Light and long Swedish style massage
* Shiatsu massage that is a combination of massage and pressure

There are yet other types of massage therapy. Often it is specific requirements like an illness or injury that will make a person go in search of different massage therapy treatments like sports massage therapy or massage therapy for pain control or massage therapy for anxiety.

Medical massage therapy is used in the intensive care units of some hospitals. It is sometimes used in combination with the administration of drugs. Massage therapy for pain control is used in many hospitals, though some people also have a doubt that massage therapy can itself cause some pain.

None of the massage therapy techniques directly result in pain. But it could result in muscle soreness, which will disappear on its own after a few days. Sufficient fluid intake is important during the days immediately after a massage therapy. Massage therapy unleashes the accumulated body toxins and the system requires large quantities of water to flush out these toxins.

The therapeutic effect of massage therapy is undisputed. It is a holistic system of healing. A massage therapy session can be a massage therapy for pain control or a massage therapy for anxiety, or a combination of both.