Massage Therapy
We often recommend massage for physical as well as mental illnesses. It is an optional treatment available at our clinic.
Massage is one of the oldest healing arts: Chinese records dating back 3,000 years document its use; the ancient Hindus, Persians and Egyptians applied forms of massage for many ailments; and Hippocrates wrote papers recommending the use of rubbing and friction for joint and circulatory problems. Massage was however unknown in American society until the 70′s brought it back as a legitimate way to treat physical ailments or just to relax.
Massage therapy has proven beneficial for many chronic conditions, including low back pain, arthritis, bursitis, fatigue, high blood pressure, diabetes, immune suppression and infertility. It has proven beneficial for smoking cessation, depression, negative body image, stress management, and more. Millions will attest to the benefits of massage for the stress and tension of everyday living that can lead to disease and illness.
Massage is particularly useful for the treatment of eating disorders and addiction.
Massage and bulimia
Therapeutic massage can be an effective part of a bulimia treatment plan. In one study, adolescent women with bulimia were assigned at random either to receive massage therapy for 5 weeks or be in a control group who did not receive massage therapy. The 24 women receiving massage improved immediately, while the control group did not improve. Women in the massage group were less anxious and depressed right after their initial massages. They also had better scores on the Eating Disorder Inventory, which helps providers assess psychological and behavioral traits in eating disorders. It appears that massage is instrumental in forming a positive relationship with one’s body.
Massage and addiction
Massage has been shown to be useful in drug rehabilitation.
The Touch Research Institute in Miami, Florida has performed scientific research documenting the physiological effects of massage on the body. Joni Kosakoski’s 2003 findings indicate that massage is beneficial for decreasing pain, reducing autoimmune responses, enhancing healthy immune responses, increasing alertness and enhancing performance. The Touch Research Institute’s studies furthermore document the ability of massage to decrease anxiety, depression, agitation, and cravings. These effects appear to be related to the ability of massage to reduce cortisol, a stress hormone.
In order to understand the connection between massage therapy and its benefits in addiction treatment, Kosakoski, explains the neurological biochemistry of addiction: “Much attention has been directed to the mesolimbic reward system, the so-called ‘pleasure pathway’ of the brain. The area is activated in part by the release of the neurotransmitter dopamine, the chemical messenger responsible for making us feel good when we engage in any pleasurable activity. It is well known that dopamine is significantly involved in addiction and that dopamine levels are lower than average during the withdrawal process and into early recovery until brain chemistry normalizes.”
In 1998, the Touch Research Institute published the findings that a regular massage regimen produced increases in dopamine levels. The fact that massage naturally increases dopamine levels, and decreases cortisol levels makes it a perfect addition to a standard detoxification program.
The neurochemistry of an addict takes time to get back into balance, so massage treatments after the initial detoxification phase is crucial. When a person uses a substance to feel good, his/her body stops manufacturing its own “feel good” chemicals, (endorphins), and the substance takes over that task. Therefore, when a person quits using an abused substance, they lose their source of feeling good. Since it takes time for the body to start manufacturing its own endorphins again, this is a challenging interim to endure. This interim is the recovering addict’s most vulnerable time to relapse.
http://www.integrative-healthcare.org/mt/archives/2005/05/massage_the_mis.html
Bodywork techniques
There are many types of massage techniques. Two examples utilized by our practitioners are Myofacial release and Craniosacral therapy.
Myofascial Release
Myofascial Release, a soft tissue therapy, includes structural assessments and manual massage to stretch the fascia and release bonds between fascia, integument, muscles, and bones. It is applied to eliminate pain, increase range of motion and balance the body. The fascia is manipulated, directly or indirectly, which allows the connective tissue fibers to reorganize themselves in a more flexible, functional fashion. In addition, Myofascial Release may be considered a general manual massage technique any “lay person” can use to eliminate general fascial restrictions on a living mammalian body.
The Myofacial system is composed of muscle and fascia. Fascia is a web of connective tissue that covers muscles, organs, and skeletal structures in our body. It is located between the skin and the underlying muscle and bone. Injuries, stress, inflammation, and poor posture can cause restrictions in fascia. Since fascia is an interconnected web, restriction or tightness at one place, with time can spread to other places in the body like a pull in a sweater. When the restriction is released tissue health is restored.
In medical literature, the term ‘myofascial’ was first used by Janet G. Travell M.D. in the 1940s referring to musculoskeletal pain syndromes and trigger points. In 1976 Dr. Travell began using the term “Myofascial Trigger Point” and in 1983 published the famous reference “Myofascial Pain & Dysfunction: The Trigger Point Manual”. Some practitioners use the term “Myofascial Therapy” or “Myofascial Trigger Point Therapy” referring to the treatment of trigger points.
The term Myofascial Release has been loosely used for different manual therapy, soft tissue manipulation work (connective tissue massage, soft tissue mobilization, Rolfing, strain-counter strain etc). There are two main schools of myofascial release: the direct and indirect method.
http://www.myofascialrelease.com/
Craniosacral therapy
Craniosacral therapy is a subtle energy method that involving very light touch, whereby the practitioner becomes attuned to the subtle rhythms of the clients body. “At a deep level of our physiological functioning all healthy, living tissues subtly “breathe” with the motion of life – a phenomenon that produces rhythmic impulses which can be palpated by sensitive hands.”
Craniosacral therapy was developed by Dr. William Sutherland, an osteopathic physician who developed methods to understand the restrictions that occur in the energy flow of the body and its relation to the subtle flexiblity that occurs in the bones of the skull.
“Contrary to popular belief Dr Sutherland realized that cranial sutures were, in fact, designed to express small degrees of motion. He undertook many years of research during which he demonstrated the existence of this motion and eventually concluded it is essentially produced by the body’s inherent life force, which he referred to as the “Breath of Life.” Furthermore, Dr Sutherland discovered that the motion of cranial bones he first discovered is closely connected to subtle movements that involve a network of interrelated tissues and fluids at the core of the body; including cerebrospinal fluid (the ‘sap in the tree’), the central nervous system, the membranes that surround the central nervous system and the sacrum.”
