Massage has been applied for hundreds of years. Today, if you want or need a massage, you can decide on about 80 massage therapy styles with a large number of movements, approaches, and pressures. These all involve rubbing, pressing, or manipulating soft tissues and muscles with hands and fingers. In some cases, elbows, forearms, or feet can be used. Increasingly more people, especially baby boomers, identify the health benefits of massage. They select from among a large number of massage styles to get alleviation from signs or to cure injuries, to assist with particular health conditions, and to enhance overall wellness.
Here is information on different massage styles you can consider that will give you best results and also improve your overall health and wellness
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Which Massage Styles Are Best?
You might have seen that varied
massage styles are well-known at different times. And you might have thought
about whether each was just part of a passing fad or the most recent, perfect
massage approach? Even more essential is how can you make sure that the most
recent technique will, in fact, help you?
Techniques used in massage therapy include smooth, long strokes to short,
percussive strokes. Many massage therapists use lotions and oils, but some do
not. Many massage therapists have customers unclothe for a massage, but some
people don’t like the idea of taking their cloth off for a massage session. The
time of the massage session can be 5 minutes and may last for 2 hours in some
cases.
Before you can make a decision which massage approach is best for you, you have to ask yourself a question. Do you simply need a massage for stress control and relaxation? Or do you need help with a specific health disorder or want symptom relief? Before booking a massage, allow the massage specialist to know what you require and ask which approach the therapist uses. A lot of therapists work with more than one technique. Or the therapist might modify your message, based on your condition, age, or any particular goals or needs you have.
Below is a list of the top famous massage therapy techniques. The first four are very popular:
Swedish Massage
The most popular kind of massage is Swedish massage technique. It includes long, soft, kneading strokes, and also rhythmic, light, tapping strokes, on top layers of muscles. This is as well coupled with the movement of the joints. By reducing muscle stress, Swedish therapy could be both energizing and relaxing. In addition, it might even help after a personal injury.
Four wide-spread strokes of Swedish massage are:
- Effleurage: a gliding, smooth stroke useful to calm soft tissue
- Petrissage: the kneading, rolling, or squeezing that comes after effleurage.
- Tapotement: an alternating, short tap carried out with the edge of the hand, or cupped fingers, and hands.
- Friction: circular and deep movements that is a reason layers of tissue are rubbing against each other and helps to boost blood circulation and improve scar tissue.
Thai Massage
In this style, the specialist engages his hand to move the customer into different positions. This kind of massage contains acupressure, compression of muscles, and mobilization of joints.
Sports Massage
Designed to assist with muscle tissues used for a specified sport, sports massage incorporates a number of techniques to support sports athletes in training — before, during, and after training or sports events. You may apply it to enhance overall flexibility and help protect against injuries. Or, it might help muscle strains, helping recovery after a sports injury.
Shiatsu Massage
Shiatsu means, In Japanese, “finger pressure.” For shiatsu massage, the massage specialist uses rhythmic, varied pressure on precise specific spots of the body. These spots are known as acupressure spots, and they are thought to be crucial for the flow of the body’s necessary energy, named Chi. Proponents state that shiatsu massage will help reducing obstructions at these acupressure spots.
Hot Stone Massage
For this style of massage, the specialist used warmed stones on particular parts of the body, including acupressure spots. The stones may be the massaging tools or be temporarily left in place. Used besides other massage styles, hot stones could be relaxing and soothing as they transfer heat deep into the body.
Pregnancy Massage
While being pregnant, your body experiences the main changes. Pregnancy massage may assist with these changes by minimizing stress, reducing leg and arm swelling, and reducing joint and muscle pain. Massage might be especially helpful in a time when medicine and other medical solutions might be more limited. By using specially fabricated massage pillows, the massage therapist can help get you into a relaxed position for this kind of massage.
Deep Tissue Massage
Deep tissue massage is perfect for giving focus on particular stiff, painful “trouble spots” in your body. The massage specialist uses deliberate, slow strokes that direct pressure on layers of tissues deep under your skin, tendons, or layers of muscles. Although this massage type is less rhythmic than other styles of massage, deep tissue massage might be extremely helpful — reducing chronic patterns of stress and assisting with muscle damages, just like a back sprain.
Chair Massage
Have you ever gone to a music festival, or county music, conference, and found some people are getting chair massages? Read a sign in an airport where it directs you to the chair massage section? Or, might be you’re a lucky person to work at a company that gives 10- to 20-minute massages as a standard reward. Onsite, chair massages are carried out while sitting with your full cloth in a especially portable engineered chair. They generally entail a massage of your hands, arms, back, shoulders, and neck.
Lymphatic Drainage Massage
A lymphatic drainage massage is a soft massage of your tissues, which will help boost the flow of lymph fluids in the body system. Lymph is a protein-rich liquid that circulates all over your system in lymph veins. It scoops up things like viruses, waste, and bacteria, and brings them to your lymph nodes. The lymph nodes are then filtering the fluid to take the impurities out of your system. The massage is always carried out with light pressure with long, soft, strokes along the skin to boost the mobility of lymph through your body.
Reflexology
Reflexology uses finger, thumb, and hand styles to activate particular spots of the feet. These spots are thought to correspond to many parts of the body. The massage, therefore, is likely to enhance well being and health.
What Are the Health Benefits of Massage?
Health benefits of massage therapies are numerous, which are beyond simple
relaxation. Listed below are just some of the health challenges that might
benefit from massage. Consult your doctor before applying massage for any
health issue.
Headache: Some studies suggest headaches respond to massage therapy. Massage therapy may decrease the number of migraines a person gets and as well boost sleep.
Cancer: Used as a complement to regular, Western treatments, massage can improve relaxation and decrease cancer signs or side effects of the cure. It might help lessen fatigue, pain, swelling, depression, or nausea. It can also improve the efficiency of your immune system. Nevertheless, there are particular spots that a massage specialist should avoid when working with a cancer patient, and even times when massage must be avoided altogether. Consult your doctor before having a massage therapy if you have cancer.
Back pain: More than one research has proven the efficiency of massage therapy for back pain.
Depression: A review of 17 clinical test revealed that massage therapy might help decrease depression. But for generalized depression, was no more practical than offering a relaxing environment and deep breathing exercises.
Arthritis: In the first clinical trial taking a look at the efficiency of Swedish massage for knee arthritis, participants who got a one-hour massage a couple of times a week had improvements in stiffness, function and, pain. The control group had no such change.
Article Source
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine: “Massage Therapy as CAM” and “Massage Therapy for Health Purposes.”.
U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics: “Massage Therapists.”
“National Multiple Sclerosis Society: “Massage and Bodywork.”
