Tag - muscles

Can Massage Improve Brain Function?

Brain health is a primary focus of well-being. Your brain chemistry and function improve as you learn a new language, take up a new activity, stay socially engaged or when you commit to new experiences on a daily basis. Another significant way to maintain brain health is through regular physical activity. Here are two ways that exercise supports optimal cognitive function: Besides helping the body maintain good health, physical exercise is also known to increase the size of the brain’s hippocampus, [...]

Can Massage Help Your Migraine?

Migraine headaches are one of the most common disorders affecting approximately one billion people worldwide. A migraine is characterized by debilitating moderate to severe pain and throbbing in the head (usually on one side), and can be accompanied by nausea, sensitivity to light, smells, sound, as well as visual disturbances called an ‘aura’. These symptoms can worsen with any exertion and are sometimes preceded by neurologic signs such as seeing flashes of light or noticing blind spots in vision [...]

MASSAGE FOR IMMUNE SYSTEM HEALTH

The immune system is the body’s defense mechanism that is responsible for preventing infections and disease. It is a complex system of antibodies, white blood cells, chemicals and proteins that attack and destroy bacteria and viruses when such threats to the body are present. The immune system also includes tonsils, thymus, spleen, bone marrow and the lymphatic system as part of its defense network. Symptoms of a Compromised Immune System  When your immunity is not operating at full capacity, there are [...]

Why Some Areas Hurt More than Others During a Massage Treatment

You may have scheduled your massage treatment for a number of reasons: perhaps you just want to experience relaxation after a stressful day, you might have a sports injury that requires attention, or you are preparing for an event and want your muscles at peak condition. However, you may well find that your body is responding to the massage with varying levels of pain. The type of massage you receive will also have relevance as regards pain levels. Swedish massage [...]

What Are the Benefits of Prenatal Massage?

While pregnancy is a wonderful time as the expectant mother thinks about the upcoming birth, there is also no denying that being pregnant also means being uncomfortable in one way or another. Increasing size can often challenge the fittest of mothers-to-be, but many have found relief from some of pregnancies side effects through massage. Massage is now considered to be a wonderful way to help make the mother more comfortable, even in the third trimester, and also make delivery easier. [...]

Massage and Sports Injuries

Massage and Sports Injuries Every single sport, from football to golf to swimming to ping pong, carries with it the potential for injury. Any time you move your body, especially in a way that is somewhat challenging, you increase the possibility that a tendon, muscle, ligament, or joint will be hurt. Pain and injury can interfere not only with your ability to enjoy the sport, but with everyday life as well. Massage therapy can help to lessen or cure many [...]

Massage and Stress

The advances of today’s world have benefited mankind in numerous ways, but modern society is also responsible for a very dangerous condition – stress. It would be a rare person who has not felt rattled and pressured at some time during the day, and for many of us, these incidents are a near constant to our lives. Pressures at work, troubles with family members, and worry over finances can all cause stretched nerves and an overall negative outlook on [...]

Pregnancy Massage

  gravidez_080829_046.photo by Veka de Oliveira via Flickr. licensed under creative commons Pregnancy is one of the best times for a woman to use massage. Although expecting a baby is a joyous time as you wait for the new family member to arrive, pregnancy also puts a number of strains on the body and is also responsible for emotional fluctuations. The use of massage, during every stage of pregnancy and after the baby is delivered is a wonderful way to keep [...]

What Is Trigger Point Therapy?

Trigger points might well be considered the hot spots of muscle pain. Existing as small, hard nodules, they produce pain completely out of proportion to their actual size, especially if they are sitting right on top of a nerve. Trigger points will often radiate pain out from their point of origin to cause discomfort at a spot separated from the actual trigger point. Trigger points can actually be felt during massage and pressure on them will cause an electric [...]

Massage and Migraines / Headaches

Although headaches can range from slightly irritating right up to headaches that feel as though your skull was bursting open, they all have one thing in common – we want them to go away as quickly as possible and stay away. When you get a headache, it’s not the brain itself that hurts; it will be the structures surrounding the brain that are actually the source of pain. Headaches are considered to fall into two basic categories – primary [...]