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Massage Therapy
Massage is the manipulation of superficial layers of muscle and
connective tissue to enhance the function and promote relaxation and
well-being. The word comes from the French massage "friction of
kneading," or from Arabic massa meaning "to touch, feel or handle"
or from Latin massa meaning "mass, dough." In distinction the
ancient Greek word for massage was anatripsis, and the Latin was
frictio.
Massage involves acting on and manipulating the body with pressure –
structured, unstructured, stationary, or moving – tension, motion,
or vibration, done manually or with mechanical aids. Target tissues
may include muscles, tendons, ligaments, skin, joints, or other
connective tissue, as well as lymphatic vessels, or organs of the
gastrointestinal system. Massage can be applied with the hands,
fingers, elbows, knees, forearm, and feet. There are over eighty
different recognized massage modalities. The most cited reasons for
introducing massage as therapy have been client demand and perceived
clinical effectiveness.
In professional settings massage involves the client being treated
while lying on a massage table, sitting in a massage chair, or lying
on a mat on the floor. The massage subject may be fully or partly
unclothed. Parts of the body may be covered with towels or sheets.
Massage therapy is the most used type of complementary and
alternative medicine in hospitals in the United States.
People state that they use massage because they believe that it
relieves pain from musculoskeletal injuries and other causes of
pain, reduces stress and enhances relaxation, rehabilitates sports
injuries, decreases feelings of anxiety and depression, and
increases general well being.
In a poll of 25-35 year olds, 79% said they would like their health
insurance plan to cover massage. Companies that offer massage to
their employees include Allstate, Best Buy, Cisco Systems, FedEx,
Gannett (which runs USA Today), General Electric, Google,
Hewlett-Packard, Home Depot, JC Penney, Kimberly-Clark, Texas
Instruments and Yahoo!. In 2006 Duke University Health System opened
up a center to integrate medical disciplines with CAM disciplines
such as massage therapy and acupuncture. There were 15,500 spas in
the United States in 2007, with about a third of the visitors being
men.
The number of visits rose from 91 million in 1999 to 136 million in
2003, generating a revenue that equals $11 billion.*
For a FREE no obligation consultation or for more information, please
contact
Hopkins Clinic at 727-544-3330 today.
* source: Wikipedia
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