General Benefits of Massage Therapy

• Massage increases circulation, allowing the body to pump more oxygen and nutrients into tissues and vital organs.
• Massage relieves pain for migraine sufferers and decreases the need for medication.
• Massage promotes deeper sleep.

Medical Massage Therapy Is A Scientifically Based Manual Therapy System That Finds And Treats The Cause Of Your Pain.

Over the years there has been a large amount of scientific research supporting the beneficial physiological effects of massage therapy. They include but are not limited to;

• Increases circulation and allows the body to deliver more oxygen and nutrients to tissues and vital organs.
• Stimulates the lymph system the body’s natural defense against toxic invaders. For example, in breast cancer patients, massage has been shown to increase the number of cells that fight cancer.
• Relaxes and softening injured, overused and tight muscles.
• Reduces muscle spasms and muscle cramps.
• Increases and restores joint motion and joint flexibility.
• Reduces recovery time from strenuous athletic workouts while eliminating "next-day" workout pains.
• Releases endorphins, the body’s natural painkiller. For this physiological reason medical massage is being included into treatment plans for chronic pain, acute injury and recovery from surgery.
• Reduces post-surgery adhesions, scarring and swelling.
• Improves joint motion and flexibility by stretching and stimulating weakened and tight muscles while lengthening shortened muscles.

Surgeries / Illness

• Massage stimulates the lymph system, the body's natural defense, against toxic invaders. For example, in breast cancer patients, massage has been shown to increase the cells that fight cancer.
• Massage releases endorphins, the body's natural painkiller. For this reason, massage is being incorporated into treatment for chronic illness, injury and recovery from surgery to control and relieve pain.
• Medical Massage reduces post-surgery adhesions and edema and reduces and realigns scar tissue after healing has occurred.
• Medical Massage improves range of motion and decreasing discomfort for patients with low back pain.
• Massage contributes to shorter labor and reduced tearing for expectant mothers, as well as lessening the need for medication minimizing depression and anxiety, and shortening hospital stays.

Research Studies in the Benefits of Massage

• Medical school students at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-New Jersey Medical School who received massage therapy before an exam showed a significant decrease in anxiety and respiratory rates, as well as a significant increase in white blood cells and natural killer cell activity, suggesting a benefit to the immune system.
• Preliminary results suggested cancer patients had less pain and anxiety after receiving therapeutic massage at the James Cancer Hospital and Research Institute in Columbus, Ohio.
• Women who had experienced the recent death of a child were less depressed after receiving therapeutic massage, according to preliminary results of a study at the University of South Carolina.
• Studies funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have found massage beneficial in improving weight gain in HIV-exposed infants and facilitating recovery in patients who underwent abdominal surgery.
• At the University of Miami School of Medicine's Touch Research Institute, researchers have found that massage is helpful in decreasing blood pressure in people with hypertension, alleviating pain in migraine sufferers and improving alertness and performance in office workers.
• An increasing number of research studies show massage reduces heart rate, lowers blood pressure, increases blood circulation and lymph flow, relaxes muscles, improves range of motion, and increases endorphins (enhancing medical treatment).
• Although therapeutic massage does not increase muscle strength, massage can stimulate weak, inactive muscles and, thus, partially compensate for the lack of exercise and inactivity resulting from illness or injury. Massage can hasten and lead to a more complete recovery from exercise or injury.

Research has verified these benefits of massage therapy

• Office workers massaged regularly were more alert, performed better and were less stressed than those who weren't massaged.
• Massage therapy decreased the effects of anxiety, tension, depression, pain, and itching in burn patients.
• Abdominal surgery patients recovered more quickly after massage.
• Premature infants who were massaged gained more weight and fared better than those who weren't.
• Autistic children showed less erratic behavior after massage therapy.

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