Massage Therapy for Seasonal Allergies

Cool Stone Relief and Reflexology - This treatment begins with Hot Towels and Chilled Marble Stones to massage the face/neck and an aromatherapy massage for the scalp. The second part of this massage is a Reflexology treatment focused on the pressure points for the Lung, Sinus, Nose, Throat, Eyes and Lymphatic System. This treatment will reduce puffiness and inflammation, soothe sinus issues,seasonal allergies, and alleviate headaches and migraines.

What Are The Effects of Massage on Parkinsons Disease?

             

Parkinson's disease is a condition in which the central nervous system begins to deteriorate. The University of Maryland Medical Center explains that when nerve cells die, a person's movement is affected. In the case of Parkinson's disease, movement can become uncoordinated, unusually slow and shaky, with the presence of tremors. Medications can be used to control the abnormal movements of Parkinson's disease. Alternative therapies such as massage may also have a beneficial effect on Parkinson's patients.

Reduction of Muscle Spasm

Muscle spasms and rigidity are symptoms common to people with Parkinson's disease, and they may be alleviated to some extent through massage. According to the Institute for Integrative Healthcare Studies, massage therapy, or body work as it is sometimes called, is not enough to completely relieve abnormal muscle activity, but it can be a natural way to improve function. Studies performed jointly by the University of Miami and Duke University showed that participants who underwent a 15 minute massage while lying on their stomachs, followed by another 15 minutes of bodywork while lying on their backs, showed a reduction of muscle spasm and less tremor activity.

Increased Circulation

The Edgar Cayce Association for Research and Enlightenment (A.R.E.) studies the effect of holistic health care on particular illness, including Parkinson's disease. The association explains that massage can effectively increase blood circulation throughout the body, which can in turn have a positive effect on the nervous system.

More Restful Sleep

Improved sleep is a beneficial effect of massage on Parkinson's disease patients, reports the Massage Therapy Foundation. The decrease of tremors and less tension in the muscles from massage therapy sessions were observed in a 2002 Miami-Duke study. The same research also showed a decrease in stress hormones when measured through urine tests. Study participants also reported less wakefulness or restlessness during sleep and a more restful sleep for longer periods of time, up to 10 hours in some cases.

More Benefits Of Massage - Changes Gene Expression and Reduces Inflammation

What’s the News: If you’ve ever been told been that a massage is good for “releasing toxins”—or to sound more scientific, “lactic acid”—from your muscles, then you’ve been told wrong. Turns out muscle cells do like a good massage, but it has nothing to do with lactic acid.
In the first study on the cellular effects of massage post-exercise, researchers found that massage bolsters chemical signals reducing inflammation and promoting repair of muscle cells.
How the Heck:

• Strenuous exercise actually tears your muscle fibers; that’s why an intense workout can leave you sore for days. (Don’t worry—it’s normal and it generally heals fine.) The researchers wanted to study how massage affects this muscle damage, so they made 11 healthy young men cycle to the point of exhaustion.
• Then, finally, relief! Sort of. One leg on each man was randomly chosen for a 10-minute massage. Unfortunately more pain was then in store for these volunteers. A tissue sample was taken from the quadriceps muscle (often known simply as “quad”) of each leg 10 minutes and 2.5 hours after the massage.
• Researchers looked at the level of different mRNA, or messenger RNA, transcripts in these tissue samples. mRNA carries the information for building proteins in the cell, so the level of a particular mRNA molecule can tell you how much of its corresponding protein is being made.
• Compared to unmassaged muscle cells, the tissue from massaged legs had different levels of two key proteins: less NFkB and more PGC-1alpha. Lowering NFkB levels reduces inflammation and increasing PGC-1alpha levels leads to the creation of more mitochondria that generate energy for cell growth, so both these massage-induced changes are good news for healing muscle cells.

What’s the Context:

• Massage is one of the most common forms of “alternative” medicine, and it’s been proven to reduce pain. Before this paper though, there was surprisingly little science on how massage actually works. And this study might finally kill the lactic acid myth that has persisted for so long.

Reference: Justin D. Crane et al. “Massage Therapy Attenuates Inflammatory Signaling After Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage.” Science Translational Medicine, published 1 February 2012. DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.3002882

Craniosacral Therapy

What is CranioSacral Therapy?

Craniosacral therapy, (CST) is a gently, hands on method of evaluating and enhancing the functioning of a physiological body system called the craniosacral system-comprised of the membranes and cerebronspinal fluid that surround and protect the brain and spinal cord. 

Using a soft touch generally no greater than 5 grams, or about the weight of a nickel, practitioners release restrictions in the craniosacral system to improve the functioning of the central nervous system.

By complementing the body’s natural healing processes, CST is increasingly used as a preventive health measure for its ability to bolster resistance to disease, and is effective for a wide range of medical problems associated with pain and dysfunction.

 

Study Shows Massage Therapy Could Reduce Inflammation

Study Shows Massage Therapy Could Reduce Inflammation

 

While most people are aware of how beneficial massage therapy can be to relieve stress, the effects of massage on reducing inflammation isn’t as well known.
Why is it important to reduce inflammation? Because it is linked to contributing to most of the major diseases, including heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer’s.
The following excerpt is from DoctorsHealthPress.com:

Need an excuse to get a massage? A new health breakthrough in the area of natural health news has proven that this alternative therapy could reduce inflammation in the body. Since inflammation is implicated in a wide swath of chronic diseases, it seems that seeing a massage therapist might not be just about stress relief.
On a cellular level, massage lessens inflammation and promotes the growth of new mitochondria in skeletal muscle. Mitochondria are the energy center of every cell in the body. The research appears online in the journal “Science Translational Medicine.”
The potential benefits of massage are vast. Massage could be useful to a broad spectrum of individuals, including older adults, those suffering from musculoskeletal injuries, and patients with chronic inflammatory disease. Massage could be used as actual medical practice in these cases.
Read the full article here.