Massage for Your Health - Hometown Focus

[massage]

By Susan Santi

HTF Columnist


Have you ever wondered what all the hype about receiving a massage is? Besides the fact that people you know rave about getting them, with an exclamation of, “Oh, my gosh, you have to get one, they are wonderful,” massage has helped people with many different ailments. Those that benefit can be anyone that has stress at work, repercussions from car accidents, sports injuries, depression, anxiety, loneliness, or hospice patients – anything that causes a person to suffer from physical or mental distress.

Stress appears to be one of the main reasons people do get a massage, as it can cause so many different health issues with our bodies. Massage is relaxing to the body and mind, helping to make life more manageable. The healing may begin in the form of mental relaxation of the body, as you get on the table, and as you prepare to receive the manual manipulation of your muscles. As soon as the massage therapist begins the massage, you can feel your body relaxing, releasing any pent-up tension. If you are a veteran of massages, you know how good this is going to feel. If you’re not a veteran, you are about to find out how gratifying massage can feel. Massage helps your body to release stress, and you find out how mentally and physically your body can become one with the table.

Massage can also have a transformational effect on people who suffer from pain and discomfort. I recently acquired a new client who was plagued with headaches, to the point that she had to miss work whenever they flared up. She has been in to see me once a week for four weeks straight and all I ever work on is her neck and back. After the last visit she looked at me and thanked me for helping get rid of her headaches and then proceeded to ask me if I could work on feet. She told me that when she spends too much time on her feet, one foot really throws a hissy fit, making walking on it difficult, so now we will see if massage can help there too. She has also decided that, since she is doing so much better, she would schedule her appointments every two weeks rather than once a week.

I had another client who wasn’t feeling quite right in her digestive area although she told me nothing about her discomfort until after the massage. She had this theory that when a person has tight muscles, it can affect the internal organs they surround, for her it felt like the digestive tract. She said when I was working on her back muscles they relaxed, in turn,so did her digestive system. To be honest with you, I had never thought of it that way before and at the same time it makes a lot of sense. I love it when clients share with me their thoughts about what they think is going on and how the massage has helped them. As we all know, knowledge is power, and this understanding helps me help those that come to me, and I am thankful that I am able to offer this comfort to them.

Susan Santi is a certified massage therapist and owner of Ahhh Massage in Virginia, MN. Feel free to contact her with questions at 218- 410-2144.

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