The demonstrated and documented benefits of massage therapy are numerous and significant. Therapeutic massage therapy incorporates touch therapy from Western and non-Western traditions. Practitioners incorporate knowledge of anatomy, physiology, and pathology to address soft-tissue dysfunctions and stress-related conditions. Therapeutic massage can provide dramatic results for many problems, including:

• Arthritis
• Back Pain
• Stress and/or Tension
• Circulatory Conditions
• Depression
• Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) Disorder
• Post Operative Pain (Helps Decrease Scar Tissue)
• Work Related Muscle Pain
• Cancer (Helps Alleviate Side Effects Of Cancer and Cancer Treatments)
• Fibromyalgia
• Insomnia
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
• Sports Injuries
• Migraine Headaches
• Gastrointestinal Disorders
• Myofascial Pain
• High Blood Pressure
• Asthma

Getting a massage can do you a world of good. And the benefits of massage increase more with frequency. This is the beauty of bodywork. Taking part in this form of regularly scheduled self-care can play a huge part in how healthy you’ll be and how youthful you’ll remain with each passing year. Budgeting time and money for bodywork at consistent intervals is truly an investment in your health. And remember: just because massage feels like a pampering treat doesn’t mean it is any less therapeutic. Consider massage appointments a necessary piece of your health and wellness plan, and work with your practitioner to establish a treatment schedule that best meets your needs.

Up to 90% of illnesses may be stress related. Massage therapy can help reverse the damaging effects of stress and aging by lowering blood pressure and heart rate. Massage has been proven to do the following functions:

• Promote general relaxation
• Increase flexibility and joint movement
• Relieve muscle tension
• Stretch weak, tight, or atrophied muscles
• Assist with shorter, easier labor for expectant mothers and shorten maternity hospital stays
• Help athletes of any level prepare for or recover from strenuous workouts
• Improve the condition of the body’s largest organ which is the skin.

There’s no denying the power of massage therapy. Regardless of the adjectives we assign it (pampering, rejuvenating, therapeutic) or the reasons we seek it (a luxurious treat, stress relief, pain management), massage therapy can be a powerful ally in your health-care regimen. Many hospitals and health-care organizations have begun recommending and offering massage as an adjunct treatment for many conditions.

• Massage therapy is a safe and effective way to reduce pain and improve function in adults with osteoarthritis of the knee, reports a 2006 study in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
• The Annals of Internal Medicine reported in 2003 that massage therapy was effective for treating persistent back pain, as did a 2000 report by the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
• Research has shown massage therapy reduces carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms. The Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies, 2004.
• Premature infant massage in the NICU was reported in Neonatal Network to be effective in increasing weight gain, improving developmental scores, shortening hospital stays and improving parent-baby bonding (2003).
• Pediatric healthcare staff report increasing hospital use of complementary and alternative medicine, including massage and energy work (Advance for Nurses, April 2007.)

Touch Therapy Institute at the University of Miami reports its massage therapy studies indicate effectiveness in:

• Reducing mothers’ risk for premature delivery and postpartum depression; improved sleep for babies.
• Reduced pain from migraines and arthritis.
• Reduced aggression in adolescents and less hyperactivity in adolescents with ADHD.
• Greater alertness in autistic children.
• Better lung function in asthmatic children.
• Decreased glucose levels in diabetic children.
• Less stress and improved performance for employees receiving work-site massage.
• Massage therapy has been shown to strengthen the immune system, according to research published in the Journal of Neuroscience, 1996, and Psychosomatic Medicine, 2000.
• In 2005, Cancer Control reported massage therapy effectively reduced stress and anxiety in cancer patients, with a promising outlook for pain control and management of other symptoms.
• Oncology patients show less pain, fatigue, nausea, anxiety and depression following massage therapy, according to a study by Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, 2004, and a report in the Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 2002.
• Women with lymph node dissection receiving arm massage had less pain and surgery-related discomfort, according to a 2004 Cancer Nursing article

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