How Can Massage Therapy Help You?
Many of today’s health problems arise from stress. Because stress upsets the delicate integral balance of all your body’s functions, regaining this balance requires a holistic approach.
Massage therapy not only treats those parts of you which are a problem, but also affects the whole of your metabolism through normalizing your circulatory, muscular and nervous systems and their interdependent functioning.
Massage therapy is safe and effective if used for stress management, but it is also widely used to help patients obtain relief from many specific problems, including the following:
- migraine
- post injury rehabilitation
- whiplash
- respiratory problems
- arthritis
- circulatory problems
- frozen shoulder
- neuritis/neuralgia
- tendonitis/bursitis
- neck and shoulder tension
- low back pain
- digestive/lower bowel problems
- muscle spasm
- pseudo-sciatica (leg aches)
Massage can benefit people of all ages and conditions – babies, children, pregnant women, the elderly, those in chronic care and those who need palliative consideration.
What can I expect at the Massage Therapy Clinic?
Massage therapy is the manipulation of the soft tissues of the body to gain a therapeutic response. Soft tissue includes muscles, skin and connective tissue, tendons, ligaments and membranes. Swedish massage is currently the most common form of therapy practiced; however, massage therapist may use a variety of therapies and techniques, depending on your needs and their specialties, including hydrotherapy (hot and cold packs, ice, etc), remedial and postural exercise recommendations.
On your first visit, you will be asked for a confidential medical history, which will help your therapist form your assessment and treatment plan. Massage therapy should take place in an atmosphere of safety and confidence. It is a partnership between you and your therapist, who will help you understand the processes behind your pain and how you can work together to alleviate it.
You should not be asked to expose yourself beyond the point at which you are comfortable, nor should you be asked to accept any treatment which has not been explained to you or which you do not choose to accept. You may need to undress for therapy, but massage therapist are required to drape you with a sheet so that they expose only that portion of your body on which they are working. It is quite possible to work on a patient who is dressed; while this will obviously restrict the type of therapy you receive, you have a right to be respected in your choice. You will never be made to feel uncomfortable.
