What is Massage Therapy?

After a hard work-out or a hard day sitting in the office desk chair people often exclaim, “Oh, I need a massage!” Massage therapy can work wonders for our physical health and mental outlook. Most people are unaware of massage’s wealth of techniques and healing benefits. A good massage can help relieve stress, anxiety, depression, and may even help you sleep.

Massage therapy is a manipulative complementary therapy using an assortment of techniques to manipulate the soft tissues of the body through pressure and movement. Massage offers many benefits, from relieving sore and over-worked muscles to increasing oxygen flow throughout the body to facilitate healing. Touch is another important factor in the benefits of massage. Touch is considered an important part of overall health and well-being, and the caring touch of a massage therapist is thought to help the healing process by creating a sense of emotional security. While massage therapy is not considered a cure, it can be an element in the healing process when a person is recovering from an injury or illness. Massage therapy can help people release the emotional tension associated with anxiety and depression. It’s also a great way to just relax and relieve stress, which will improve the quality of life and perhaps prevent disease and discomfort from becoming an issue.

Author: Nan Little