Massage Therapy Research Paper

Healthcare in today’s society focuses on a reactive frame of mind; providing care to those who are already ill or injured instead of a proactive approach to prevent healthy individuals from needing care. Massage therapy takes a different approach to health than the rest of the health care system, physiotherapy and chiropractic included. While most other practitioners are trained to get an injured individual back to their daily activities, massage therapists not only have the ability to prevent a healthy individual from getting injured but also maintain and improved their daily lives.

One of the most common goals of massage therapy is to decrease or maintain muscle tonicity. By manually working soft tissue structures, massage helps to keep

Paralysis, broken, immobilized limbs or individuals with sedentary lifestyles can benefit from the passive mobilization of immobilized structures. Veins, arteries and lymphatic outflow do not operate via a pump system, and therefore, rely on the muscular structures to pump fluid around the body. When tissues are immobilized, venous flow does not occur efficiently as the structures are unable to move and push fluids in and out of tissue structures. By passively moving these structures, massage increases this flow and therefore, provides nourishment to the immobilized structures. This passive movement also flushes out accumulation of fluids and decrease edema; the swelling of a tissue caused by an accumulation of said

Stress has been proven to raise blood pressure, suppress the immune system and decrease mental clarity. More specifically, stress has been known to contribute to heart disease, asthma, obesity, diabetes, headaches, depression, anxiety, gastrointestinal disease, Alzheimer’s and ultimately, premature death. Stress is caused by an increase in the sympathetic nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system is engaged when the body is in a state of “fight or flight”. When the body is under shock or a circumstance of distress or fear, the sympathetic nervous system is engaged. The sympathetic nervous system increases heart rate, increases rate and force of the respiratory system, dilates pupils and decreases blood flow and motility in areas which it is not needed, such as the gastrointestinal system. Massage has the ability to decrease the sympathetic nervous system by calming the body and putting it into a state of relaxation. In doing this, the parasympathetic system is increased. The parasympathetic system is engaged in scenarios of rest and digest. This is engaged when the body enters a state of relaxation. The parasympathetic nervous system decreases heart rate and blood pressure, and decreases respiratory system and rate of breathing. Regular massage therapy can aid to regulate stress by maintaining a balance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems. A body that is able to come down from a sympathetic state and into a