Benefits of Massage

Massage therapy is based upon the fact that our soft tissues respond to touch. Our soft tissues include our muscles, tendons, ligaments and our fascia. Fascia is the linings and coverings for everything in our body. It surrounds, among other things, every bone and every muscle. It is what connects our bones together and what allows our muscles to attach to our bones. Because of this, it plays a critical role in our musculoskeletal health. When this tissue becomes shortened or damaged, our muscles pull our bones out of alignment and become inhibited from doing their job to their full potential. The reason may be due to an acute injury or chronic stress. Regardless of the reason, massage can help to correct these imbalances, bring the body back into alignment and restore health.

The therapeutic effects of massage have been known for centuries. In fact, massage is considered to be among the oldest of all treatments used in medicine. Chinese records dating back 3,000 years document its use. Hippocrates wrote papers recommending the use of rubbing and friction for joint and circulatory problems.

Today, massage is part of many physical rehabilitation programs and has proven beneficial to many conditions. The following is a list of many benefits of massage. It is by no means all-inclusive and many of these benefits fall into different categories of people: infants/children, adolescents, athletes, healthy adults, pregnant women, anyone with stress and tension, people with chronic conditions, geriatric populations, etc.