Holistic Healing - Chicago

Mothers-to-be can greatly benefit from pregnancy massage. It's worthwhile considering this as a baby shower gift for you or a friend to ease those backaches and swollen ankles. It can help a mother's changing posture and possibly the positioning of the baby in the womb. The beneficial relaxation chemicals a mother's body releases when getting a massage also flows to the baby. When the exciting time comes for the baby to join the world, massage can be wonderful support that eases and shortens labor,  reducing mom's pain and anxiety. Once the baby is born, massage can help bring mother's strained body structure and physiology back into alignment. Massage can also soothe shoulders sore from holding and breast-feeding the little one. Mother's emotions can be volatile while hormones are still running amok; studies indicate massage may be helpful in regulating stress and mood chemistry.

¹ - Brunner, N. (2008). Body Sense: Bodywork

Athletes, coaches, and professional trainers use massage. Massage therapy is used at sporting event to help athletes performance and to help prevent injury. Massage may improve muscle recovery and decrease muscle soreness after exertion. Athletes also benefit from the therapy's positive effects on heart rate and blood pressure, and the general relaxation response that reduces anxiety and improves mood.

¹ - Sports Medicine, (2005);35(3):235-56

Massage therapy studies have shown positive results in boosting the body's own natural cellular immune response, decreasing pain by pumping up the body's levels of endorphins and decreasing the blood levels of cortisol which is a hormone related to stress. These beneficial results are proving helpful for people with critical illnesses like cancer and HIV infection and for those who suffer from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia.

There are many applications for massage therapy for the elderly. Many seniors grew up during the Depression and think of many grooming and self-care activities as impossible self-indulgent. They might be more receptive to the notion that massage is good for their health. You can do a favor to the aging members of your family by knowing two of the biggerst reasons first-timers generally try massage: a medical professional recommends it, or they receive a gift certificate. If you want your loved ones to benefit form massage when they are older, there's no time like the present to acquint them with the joys of professional massage therapy. 

¹ - Brunner, N. (2008), Body Sense: Bodywork

Massage therapy is one of the oldest methods of healing, as the practice of therapeutic massage can be traced back nearly 4,000 years. Statistics from both Health Canada ¹ and the American Massage Therapy Association ² show that millions of North Americans use it today.

Massage therapy refers to a comprehensive health management strategy focusing on the application of various techniques to positively affect the soft tissues and joints of the body. Massage techniques most commonly include pressure and compression, kneading, frictioning, and mobilizing to improve the health and condition of the muscles, tendons, skin, fascia or connective tissue of the body.

Today massage is thought of as a holistic therapy that complements medical treatment. The "Physician's Guide to Therapeutic Massage" shows that massage can decrease pain, improve range of motion, improve mood, aid in the circulation of blood and lymph flow, reduce muscle and joint soreness, and improve sleep.

¹ Health Canada (2003)Health Policy Research Bulletin. Retrieved May 10, 2005, from http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/iacb-dgiac/arad-draa/english/rmdd/bulletin/mainstream.html#page6
² American Massage Therapy Association. (2001). Massage Therapy Consumer Fact Sheet