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Research, Energy Medicine, Reduce Stress

Tom Saulnier — Mon, 20 Jun 2016 21:01:14 +0000

Massage is Healing

What Research Says About the Bodywork You Receive

By Cindy Williams, LMT

For thousands of years, touch has been used as a therapeutic tool in communities around the globe. Why, then, do we need to conduct research to demonstrate that it works?

A primary reason for massage and bodywork research is to continue to scientifically verify all the good things therapists see happening anecdotally with their clients every day. With scientific validation comes greater acceptance by the medical community and a better understanding of the cost-effectiveness of this preventive care tool. Ultimately, massage research helps practitioners better serve their clients. And when it comes to pain, massage research continues to show us healthy alternatives for pain management.

BODYWORK FOR PAIN REDUCTION

Did you know that “chronic pain affects about 100 million adults in the United States, with an estimated annual cost of $635 billion,” which includes both direct medical expenditures and loss of work productivity.?1 With that many people in pain, massage and bodywork must come to the forefront.

The reduction or relief of pain is one of the many bene ts of massage. Add the effects hands-on therapies have on the immune system (your body’s defense, which can be weakened by pain) and the nervous system (which regulates digestion, sleep, and general outlook on life, and is also challenged when in pain), and massage is a clear recipe for a respite.

Documented research has been conducted on the eficacy of massage and bodywork for an array of pain conditions, including migraines, sports injuries, rheumatoid arthritis, post-surgical scars, and burn injuries. Let’s take a look at a few relevant findings for common pain challenges.

PAIN MANAGEMENT

A study at the Flagstaff Medical Center in Flagstaff, Arizona, looked at 65 in-patients who chose to participate in a pain-management study that included documenting pain levels from medical, surgical, and obstetric units before and after treatments using a 0–10 analog pain scale. Patients received a varying number of massage sessions depending on the condition being addressed, with each session averaging 30 minutes in length. Swedish massage, acupressure, craniosacral therapy, cross-fiber myotherapy, and pressure points were the techniques applied. Pain levels were reduced from approximately a 5 on the pain scale to approximately a 2. As a result, researchers concluded that the “integration of massage therapy into the acute care setting creates overall positive results in the patient’s ability to deal with the challenging physical and psychological aspects of their health condition. The study demonstrated not only a significant reduction in pain levels, but also the interrelatedness of pain, relaxation, sleep, emotions, recovery, and finally, the healing process.”2

CHRONIC NECK PAIN

In 2015, a study was conducted on 38 women with chronic neck pain to assess whether integrative muscle movement technique (IMMT) is an effective treatment option for improving cervical range of motion and associated pain. This study specifically…(to read “the rest of the story”, please click here) BSSummer-2016

Share Bodywork Benefits, Immune to Inactivity

Tom Saulnier — Wed, 12 Mar 2014 02:40:49 +0000

IN THIS ISSUE: * How to Introduce a Friend to Massage * What to Expect when Expecting * Be Immune to Inactivity

How to Introduce a Friend to Massage: Sharing the Benefits of Bodywork

When we experience something good, it’s natural to want to tell everyone about it. Massage is no exception. Here are some ways to share your enthusiasm for massage therapy.

Gifting Massage

Gift certificates are a great way to share massages with the people in your life. Looking for the perfect birthday present? Purchase an hour gift certificate for them with your favorite massage therapist. Thanking someone for pet sitting? Reward them with a half-hour reflexology treatment. If it’s your spouse or significant other that you’re hoping to get interested in this healing therapy, perhaps a couple’s massage, where two people receive massage in the same room, could be an anniversary gift.

Giving someone a gift certificate allows the recipient to experience massage without financially committing to something that they might not be sure about. After the initial visit, it is up to them to evaluate whether the experience makes them want to pay for another one.

Outline the Benefits of Bodywork

Most people are aware that massage is effective at relieving stress and promoting relaxation, but there are myriad benefits you can highlight depending on your audience. For those who suffer from low-back pain, a study by the Group Health Research Institute in Seattle has shown that massage is more effective than medication at reducing pain. Some massage therapists provide specialized sport massage, something that might appeal to your golfing buddy who needs to loosen up his swing and increase his range of motion.

In addition to helping people reduce pain or cope with physical injuries, the supportive touch of a massage therapist can be a powerful positive encounter during times of emotional distress. If someone in your life is dealing with grief or loss, you might recommend massage as a way for them to relax and be tended to without having to actively share their feelings, a welcome relief for many people.

Here are just some of the positives that massage and bodywork can provide. You can tailor your “pitch” to your audience by focusing on those specific to their situation:

–Alleviate low-back pain and improve range of motion.
–Enhance immunity by stimulating lymph flow–the body’s natural defense system.

–Exercise and stretch weak, tight, or atrophied muscles.
–Help athletes of any level prepare for, and recover from, strenuous workouts.

–Improve the condition of the body’s largest organ–the skin.

–Increase joint flexibility.
–Lessen depression and anxiety.

–Promote tissue regeneration, reducing scar tissue and stretch marks.

–Pump oxygen and nutrients into tissues and vital organs, improving circulation.
–Reduce post-surgery adhesions and swelling.
–Reduce spasms and cramping.
–Relax and soften injured, tired, and overused muscles.
–Release endorphins–amino acids that work as the body’s natural painkiller.

–Relieve migraine pain. …Click here for full publication Spring 2014

Stillness, Pregnancy, Skin Care

Tom Saulnier — Sun, 05 Jan 2014 00:38:18 +0000

IN THIS ISSUE: * Give In To Stillness – Enhance Your Massage by Completely Stopping * Pregnancy & Product Safety * Your Best Winter Skin Care

Give In To Stillness: Enhance Your Massage by Completely Stopping

By Jennie Hastings Stancu

We live in a culture that likes to go, go, go. It’s often difficult to find a place to step off and pause for a while, allowing your world to slow down just a little. One of the best antidotes to this constant, frenetic lifestyle is a good, old-fashioned massage.

STILLNESS DURING MASSAGE – You may come in wound up from the stress of being late, the crazy day you had at work, or just because life happens at ever-increasing speeds. When I have a client come in frazzled and spinning, I think of my massage table as the net that catches her, and my work as the anchor that holds her long enough to activate the nervous system’s parasympathetic response—the place where she lets her mind be still and her stresses float away. My suggestion to completely stop has to do with holding clients in stillness, just for a few breaths, a few times during the bodywork session. When clients come in for a massage, they are looking forward to me moving and manipulating their muscle tissue, and I respect this contract. However, I do think there is room in any good massage for all movement to cease, just for a moment, so that stillness can be experienced fully. I think it makes sense to have at least three moments of complete stillness in a massage: right at the beginning, at some point in the middle, and at the end. During a moment of complete stillness, I let my palms rest on my client’s body at whatever point I am working. For example, I like to rest at the head, hips, sacrum, knees, and feet. During the moment of stillness, I take three deep, full breaths. My clients pick up on the cue and deepen their breaths as well. Sometimes while my hands are still, I will feel twitches and adjustments in my clients’ bodies, and I may also be able to feel more clearly any lines of tension during these same moments. Thirty seconds of complete stillness may feel like a long time to you if you are used to constant movement during a massage, but even if I do this a few times, it is not taking much away from muscle manipulation, and it gives clients support in doing something we all need to do on a regular basis: completely stopping. Clients walk away from the massage with a little more bodily knowledge of what it feels like to be still, and this knowledge will support them later. …Click here for full publication Body Sense Winter 2013