Many health benefits of massage therapy are well known, including increasing range of motion, improving coordination, and reducing stress and anxiety but many people don’t know that massage for wellness also serves as an important immune system booster. People who receive massage can experience measurable changes in their immune and endocrine response, making massage a…
[Read More...]All About Deep Tissue Massage
Deep tissue, a popular massage modality, involves applying firm pressure and slow strokes to reach deeper layers of muscle and fascia (see my Myofascial blog post). It’s used to release tight, contracted areas of muscles, as well as medical massage which is a specific and targeted style of deep tissue. Deep tissue massage usually focuses…
[Read More...]Massage Therapy and Improving Sleep
With up to 70 million Americans suffering from chronic sleep disorders and countless experiencing occasional insomnia, we need to start thinking multidimensionally in order to get adequate rest (Institute of Medicine. (2006). Sleep Disorders and Sleep Deprivation: An Unmet Public Health Problem. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.). Studies show that massage therapy is an…
[Read More...]Massage and Fibromyalgia; What Can We Do?
Pain can make it difficult to enjoy everyday activities, but for people with fibromyalgia, pain can be constant- interfering with sleep, work and daily tasks. Fibromyalgia is a disorder characterized by widespread muscle pain and tenderness. Other common symptoms associated with FM include fatigue, intolerance to cold, tension headaches, cognitive difficulties, sleep difficulties and irritable…
[Read More...]