What is Therapeutic Massage?
Therapeutic massage is used for pain release and healing purposes.
It has evolved over time and its continuous use turned it into what we today know as therapeutic massage.
Both eastern and western cultures accept massage as treatment and recognize the therapeutic benefits that human beings can obtain through this manual practice.
Technically speaking, it is a manual method that is applied to the external parts of the body, affecting the soft tissues like skin, muscles and connective tissues.
Objectives of Therapeutic MassageThere are different objectives that can be reached through the therapeutic massage treatment. Basically we think of massage and associate it with muscle tension relief and stress. Alone or combined with other therapies like aromatherapy or music therapy, traditional or modern type of therapy, massage is turning into a normal resource for well being.
Therapeutic massage is used to improve blood flow, recover motor skills between harmed tissues, pain relief of nerve stimulations. But, bearing in mind that massage brings mental relaxation and a sensation of wellbeing it also helps to reduce stress and its benefits affect both mental and physiological aspects. Therefore it becomes a therapeutic act.
Therapeutic Massage TreatmentWe have to consider that when we talk about therapeutic massage as a treatment for medical conditions, it is referring to a technique that consists of manual manipulation of certain areas of the body that have been previously diagnosed by a medical doctor. Therefore, therapeutic massage is done under medical prescription and must be performed by a specialized and certified therapist, or physical therapist.
Therapeutic effect is one of the most valued properties of the different massage therapies but it is important to insist that even though different massage therapies claim having therapeutic benefits, the definition of truth therapeutic massage always involves a physicians prescription for treating a clearly determined condition or injury and the therapist will always work in coordination with your medical doctor. It does not exclude that other massage techniques can have a therapeutic outcome without it being the main purpose.
There are massage therapies focused on sports performance, there are aesthetical massage therapies used for cellulite reduction, fat melting and skin appearance. There are other massage therapies that focus on energy chakras, and many more approaches, but there is a common point in which all massage therapies converge and it is that they produce -after all- a mental relaxation that, even if it was not the primary purpose of the therapy, is undeniable. Mental relaxation helps reducing stress, anxiety, even depression. Mental health reflects in physical health, so, one way or the other, there is a real therapeutic massage effect generated by the practice of any type of massage. |
