Massage Therapy

I've been a massage therapist for over four years now and I've grown accustomed to the raised eyebrows and suppressed chuckles I get from people when I tell them what I do for a living. It's a pity that these people don't know enough about massage therapy and the magical, pleasurable way it can improve their quality of life and overall well-being.

A massage can do wonders when applied properly to the soft tissues of the body, including muscles, connective tissue, tendons, ligaments, joints and the like. Therapeutic massage therapy can help greatly in healing injury, relieving psychological stress, managing pain and improving blood circulation.

I guess most people wonder about massage therapy because they don't know what happens behind the closed doors when the curtains go down. In communal settings, massage procedures and techniques are mostly the same. The client is brought to a communal area where he lies down on a massage table, massage chair or on a mattress on the floor. The massage subject is generally unclothed or draped with towels or sheets to keep warm. The massage treatment begins with the client either face up or down for the first part of the session and he rolls over for the second half of the session. The masseuse expertly needs every part of his body, with special emphasis on areas which are tensed up or painful. The customer must be totally relaxed so that the maximum therapeutic benefits can be achieved.

Professional massage therapists are trained to release all the stress and tension in a person's body, freeing him from physical burdens that he may have carried for years without even knowing it. A good massage relaxes the mind as well while a great massage, some people claim, can touch your soul.

Contrary to some misconceptions, a person need not necessarily suffer from a psychological or physical trauma that is manifested in his muscles to benefit from a therapeutic massage. Such a massage is beneficial to most everyone, including those who lack exercise, have poor nutrition and are generally weak and unhealthy.

There are over 150 types of massage therapy which offer their own unique benefits and health- and life-enhancing positives. One need only experience a therapeutic massage once to realize the tremendous benefits that it has to offer.