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MASSAGE
THERAPY
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General
Information
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| Massage
therapy includes the therapy and treatment based on massage. Its goal
is
to maintain and improve the customer's general well-being, to prevent,
maintain, and/or promote the customer's health. Massage affects
corporal
structure, physiology, senses and psycho-motion, as well as
psychological
and emotional being of a person.
Massage
is probably one of the most popular forms of health activity today. It
is used in relaxation groups and workshops, in leisure centers, and as
a form of natural therapy for injury and the wear and tear of daily
life.
Whether
performed by a trained professional or a gifted amateur, it offers the
experience of touch, movement, and energy, qualities that are
associated
with well-being of the whole person, and the act of giving massage has
deep significance for both the giver and the receiver.
Origins
of Massage
The Physical
and Psychological benefits of massage have been recognized and valued
since
ancient times. Early physicians were able to use massage very
effectively
in the treatment of fatigue, illness and injury. In the fifth century
B.C.E. Hippocrates
described anatripsis
- literally, "rubbing up"- as having a more favorable effect than
rubbing
down on the limbs, although the understanding of the blood's
circulation
was at that time incomplete. The ancient Greeks
associated physical culture with the unfolding of mental and spiritual
faculties, and set up massage schools in their beautifully built health
centers known as gymnasiums.
In the Far
East, performing musicians and actors have
always learned massage practices as aids to their artistic development.
Exponents of kathakali,
an early dance form originating in South
India,
are treated with deep massage from the feet of their teachers. In some
societies, massage has even been uised socially as an act of
hospitality.
In Hawaii,
for
example, passive movements called lomo-lomi are traditionally bestowed
on honored guests.
In Europe,
massage remained an important flement of healthcare throughout the
duration
of the Roman Empire
and is widely referred to in the literature of the era. The development
of massage in the West
seems to have been interrupted by the disintegration of the Roman
civilization, although an unbroken
tradition
continued in the East.
It is not until the sixteenth century, at a time when relatively
sophisticated
surgical techniques were being developed in France,
that we hear of massage reemerging in Europe
in connection with healing.
In the
late nineteen century,
the demand for Therapeutic Massage led to the formation of societies of
therapists. In the twentieth century,
the great strides made by conventional medicine have tended to eclipse
traditional therapies, even though - or perhaps because! - they
have been practiced for centuries. Dazzled by the achievements of
science
and technology, most people in the developed world all but ignored (not
in Europe!) the therapeutic value of human
touch until a few decades ago.
Today
many people yearn for an approach to healthcare that is based, not on
drugs
and technology, but on the healing value of physical contact. There
is nothing mystical or romantic about this idea. The human body is a
physical
object that responds to physical influences,
and a grasp of human anatomy is central to any understanding of the
role
of massage.
.
To be
continued...
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O
U R W O N D E R F U L B O D I E S
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THE
MUSCLES Every part of the body that
moves is muscular - the skin, the organs of digestion and breathing,
the
heart and of course the fibers of the musculo-skeletal system. |
| THE
HEART AND CIRCULATION Although the
circulatory
system contains only ten pints of blood, the powerful muscle of the
heart
pumps it through thousands of miles of blood vessels. |
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THE
BONES The 206 bones of the skeleton
provide vital scaffolding for the body, yet the variety of ways they
are
joined together enables an extraordinary range of movements. |
The
Main Types of Massage
Swedish
Massage works on cutaneous and
sub-cutaneous
layers, muscles and circulatory system. It brings a number of effects
such
as toxin elimination, better skin nutrition and complete relaxation.
Swedish
massage is a dynamic and stimulating approach that is applied either
globally
or to specific body parts.
.
To be
continued...
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 The
Laws of Massage Therapy
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Everything
is connected.
-
Shortened
muscle
tissue can do no work.
-
Bones go
where
muscles put them. Bones stay where muscles keep them.
- The
soft tissues
of the body respond to touch.
Taken from OrthoDoc Massage Therapy
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A
Massage Therapy Fable
Three
families decided to go camping together for the first time. They went
out
to the campsite, found a suitable spot, and the fathers (naturally)
pitched
the tents. They were brand-new tents; it was the first time they had
been
erected. The moms and kids took a look at the tents and noticed that
they
had a tendency to lean just a bit - or perhaps more than just a bit.
And
when the slightest breeze came along, the tents seemed to sway
precariously.
Finally one kid spoke up:
"I'm
not going in there," she said.
"Neither
am I," said her mom. And now all the moms and kids voiced their
agreement.
"Well,
what are we going to do?" said the dads to each other.
Just
then three campers came walking down the path toward the campsite.
"Having
troubles?" one of the three asked the dads.
"Yeah,
we never put these tents up before," replied a dad, "and they're just a
little... shaky. Our families won't go inside."
"I'd
be glad to help," said one of the three, and went into the nearest
tent.
"Here's your problem. This tent pole needs adjusting.
He
began to move the tent pole back and forth until the tent stood up
straight,
then went outside brushing his hands together. But as he stood in front
of the tent talking with the family that was to occupy it, the tent
began
to sag again.
"Well,"
he said, "I think it will be OK to sleep in, but I'll have to come back
several times and readjust it."
The
second of the three had gone into the second tent and had been studying
the pole very closely, rubbing his chin. Finally without a word he
walked
off a short distance into the woods and came back with a piece of a
tree
limb about the same circumference as the tent pole.
"We'll
fix you right up," he said. He cut the limb carefully down to size,
then
sawed the tent pole right in half, pushed up the top part of the
severed
tent pole, stuck in the piece of wood, splinted and bandaged it up
tightly,
then stood back to look The tent was perfectly straight.
"There
you go," he said, "just don't bump up against that pole too hard, and
you'll
be in good shape."
He
third of the three had been sitting on the grass watching all the
proceedings
with interest. Finally she stood up and walked slowly around the third
tent. She reached down and retired one of the ropes that led from the
top
of the tent pole to a stake in the ground, leaving a little slack in
the
rope. She walked around to the other side of the tent, untied a rope
there,
pulled it tighter and retied it, too. The tent stood up perfectly
straight.
A breeze came along; the tent didn't budge. One of the children ran up
and put her arms around her.
"How
did you do that?" she asked.
"Well,
maybe those other guys were just too intense," she replied.
I want
to emphasize here that I do not mean to belittle any genuine health
professionals.
The work of every type of practitioner is important, and sometimes
essential.
I intend to make only two points in this story:
1.
We should always look for the simplest solution first. Massage therapy
is the least risky, least invasive, least expensive treatment for pain,
dysfunction and misalignment of the musculo-skeletal system.
2.
Bones go where muscles put them. Bones stay where muscles keep them.
©
The above story is copyrighted
1966 by James Clay. However, anyone
wishing
to use the above story for the purpose for which it is clearly intended
may do so, orally, in print, or in other media, provided they use it
without
change, including the final italicized paragraphs, with credit to me.
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Sexuality
and Massage Therapy
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Because
Massage Therapy involves unclothing and touching the body, and because
the very natural human act of Massage has a perfectly appropriate and
legitimate
place in sexual relationships between lovers, and because Massage has
found
a place in the sale of sexual favors, and because Massage so often has
associations with luxury and self-indulgence, the issue of sexuality
has
to be addressed in any consideration of Massage Therapy as a legitimate
health procedure.
Human
sexuality is not like an umbrella, which we can take with us when it is
needed and leave at home when the weather is dry. It is a part of us at
all times, and we cannot simply turn it on and off at will. Sexual
thoughts
and feelings have a way of coming unbidden into our minds. Yet sexual
behaviors,
whether overt and unambiguous or merely hints and implications, need to
be under our conscious and deliberate control. It is universally
accepted
among the health professions that sexual behavior has no place in the
professional
relationship. But the reason this must be stated, as with all rules,
laws
and ethics, is that it is sometimes violated, not only by massage
therapist,
but by doctors, dentists, counselors, teachers - in short, in every
field
in which one person is assigned the care of another. It is doubtful
whether
it is more prevalent in any one field than another, or that there is
any
correlation with the degree of exposure or touching involved - for
example,
there is probably no more sexual abuse committed in the field of
gynecology,
where exposure and touching are intimate, than in the fields of law or
counseling, where no significant degree of exposure or touching takes
place.
In any case, we are convinced that the vast majority of professionals
in
every field are responsible and worthy of trust of those they serve.
There
are
the principles of control:
- Attention
- Intention
- Responsibility
That is:
although our sexuality is always a part of us, we choose where we will
direct our attention, we choose what intention we bring with us into
each
situation, and we are responsible for our words and deeds. If attention
is directed to the work at hand, and if the intention is to meet the
expressed
needs of the patient, then sexual behavior overt or covert, will find
no
place in any professional dealings.
Overt
sexual actions or suggestions should be reported and dealt with through
whatever professional and legal channels are available; and if you feel
that any health professional brings a covert sexual agenda into the
treatment
room, you shoal seek services elsewhere!
Taken from
OrthoDoc Massage
Therapy
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