Massage Therapy Defined
Massage Therapy is one of the oldest health care practices known having roots in both ancient Egypt and ancient China. Worldwide it is still one of the most popular healing modalities. The definition of Massage Therapy according to the medical dictionary is; “A scientific manipulation of the soft tissues of the body for the purpose of normalizing those tissues which consists of manual techniques that include applying fixed or moveable pressure, holding and/or causing movement of the body”.
Massage therapists manipulate the soft tissues of your body which include muscle, connective tissue, tendons, ligaments, fascia and skin affecting the muscular, skeletal, circulatory, nervous systems of the body, and to improve immune and lymphatic systems functions of the body.
Communication via touch is crucial and is the Massage Therapist’s primary tool to assess their clients’ tissues, which provides useful information to the therapist as they work with the client to affect change within the musculoskeletal system. The benefits with Massage Therapy are endless. Benefits include working with techniques very specific to each individual to manually manipulate soft tissues to improve circulation, promote relaxation, relieving stress and fascial tensions, increasing range of motion, improve pain management and work with many types of injuries to restore normal function. Massage therapy treatments can also aid in promoting our mental wellbeing. There have been many studies contributing to the realization that Massage Therapy treatments are very beneficial to aiding in reducing the use of opioids for chronic pain management while simultaneously increasing one’s quality of life.
Massage is generally considered a part of an integrative medical approach. It is used for a wide range of medical conditions and there is great benefit that can be found in collaborating with other health care professionals such as chiropractors, physicians, psychologists, and physiotherapists to assist with treatments and develop client treatment plans.
A Registered Massage Therapist has a great foundation in providing treatment that can be expanded with advanced skills. There are numerous learning opportunities for Registered Massage Therapists and each therapist has the ability to become more seasoned in their specific area of interest.
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