Benefits of Massage Therapy - Term Paper Example

Introduction Massage Therapy is a kind of body work that improvises any kind of function within the body by use of hand in different technical ways. Massage therapy helps in improvising the soft body tissues in order to enhance health of an individual. It is a very old form of medical art work that has cured many diseases and illness of human bodies. There are several types of massage therapy which includes different techniques however it is divided into two fundamental categories rehabilitative massage and relaxation massage. Rehabilitative massage is mostly performed by medical practitioners in medical offices or clinics. Most of the times massage therapy is useful for spinal manipulation which are rendered by massage therapists or chiropractors. Massage therapy is also rendered by physical therapists in many countries. However the other category of massage therapy which is relaxation massage is most commonly used by different type of massage parlors and spas. Both types of massage therapies have their own importance in order to improve physical health of humans. Massage therapy helps to reduce pain that is caused by over work. Massage therapy is also useful because it helps in reducing different type of stress that can cause disorders either physical or mental. Massage therapy was a common practice to treat illness in China and Japan and later on it spread in rest part of the world in different forms. There are some theorists who have given refuting statements regarding this therapy mentioning the usefulness of medicines however massage therapy has its own importance in human life. This essay supports the thesis statement. Thesis Statement “Massage therapy is the oldest and greatest treatment in medical science”. Discussion Massage therapy has come from Chinese health treating system. In early ages there were few methods of treatments and there were many deadly diseases because of which people used to lose their life. Massage therapy was introduced by Chinese priests in order to treat people from different type of physical and mental disorders. Massage therapy was used to treat chronic diseases, pain and cancer. It can boost up the working of different tissues so that organs can work properly. Before the invention of medicine and science, it was a very prominent method of medical treatment. Slowly the trend was discovered by Japanese and other part of Asian countries. Massage therapy was not valued much when the invention of medicine was in effect. Due to medicines people were cured easily and without much suffering hence medicines were appreciated more. No doubt medicinal science had many positive effects because the introduction of vaccines was a golden period in human history. After invent of vaccines many diseases disappeared from earth making life of people sustainable with less diseases. After development of different vaccines people were more interested towards pharmaceuticals instead of the early ways of treatment. However massage was still a part of treatment for many people who could not afford to buy expensive vaccines. It has been observed that many medicines have many ill effects as well. Because of the power of rapid treatment of diseases in human body medicines have a tendency to limit the formation of white blood cells which is important because it fights against different diseases internally optimizing immunity. The immune system in people in the modern world is weaker compared to people of older generations. Many scientists have also proved that natural way of treatment is the best way because it does not cause any problem to internal organs or tissues. Massage therapy in the modern world is considered to be an alternative to medicines because there are many diseases that medicines can-not cure (Wong 61). Massage therapy is used by many providers in the world. Mostly chiropractors are the person who needs to provide massage therapy because patient’s have a medical condition that ca- not be treated by medicines simply. In the modern world there are many people who doubt on the healing power of massage therapy stating that massage therapy can just provide relaxation. However it is not true massage therapy had been one of the most prominent healers in history and its effects are up to mark in the modern era as well. With the use of massage therapy to reduce pain by many doctors it already shows that massage therapy can-not be ignored so easily because there are certain diseases that medicines can-not take care of. In order to understand some important impacts of message therapy there needs to be proper trust towards this procedure. According to Diana Thompson, there is a debate within people regarding the effects of massage therapy. One of the important arguments presented was after massage exercise there is removal of lactic acid which causes joint pain in later ages. This argument is however not true, the reason being massage therapy is done in different body parts with certain techniques that can optimize muscular activity and blood cells can flow between complex regions. However the fact presented about lactic acid might be true but lactic acid regenerates in human body within 20-60 minutes. Hence the argument does not make any sense. Massage therapy if removes lactic acid from certain regions it also sends it back with proper technique. If it is not then also human body does not collapse because it is an automatic phenomenon of lactate to rejoin the place from where it is removed. Moreover fresh blood cells get to enter complex regions which make organs work better. Different tissues in human body also get stimulated in a proper way due to massage therapy. Massage is also responsible for lowering down muscular pain caused by muscle strain. These are some of the common symptoms that is very much observable in favor of massage therapy. Massage therapy does not have any negative impacts on muscle or tissues. It instead boosts up the movement of body fluids which in turn helps to keep body healthy and fit. Muscle therapy also has a positive impact on any kind of stress of brain. Because of massage negative stress can be minimized and ability of brain to work properly grows. Another argument that has been among people against massage therapy is that massage is not of any use in medical terms, it is just brought forward by elite people for relaxing. This argument is completely false because it has been proved by scientists that massage therapy has been one of the major methods for treatment for more than 2000 years. More over massage therapy has much positive significance. This therapy in massage psrlours andspas also has important significance. Undoubtedly massage therapy is used to make people relax however it helps people to get rid of stress which can be dangerous to brain. Headache and pain are some of the signals generated by the brain which communicates that stress can lead to mental and physical imbalance. In massage parlors stressed out people can relax and obtain proper massage therapy which can reduce the amount of stress possessed by a person. It helps in maintaining the chemical balance in the brain which makes the brain work properly and brain gets ready to take more stress. Hence massage therapy is important in parlors as well as spas. Massage therapy is not only limited to spas it is also applied by many physicians in their clinics. Medicine alone is of no use because medicines can reduce the amount of illness however massage can help to extract the entire illness without any negative symptoms. Massage therapy is used widely by different physicians like chiropractors, health care physicians, massage-therapists and by some physical therapists as well. Hence it proves that massage therapy has a positive significance in medical terms. There is another argument among people stating that the treatment rendered by acupuncturist and chiropractors via massage therapy loses its effectiveness after few visits. This argument is very common among people receiving treatments. However the good fact about the therapy always remains hidden from patients. Massage therapy when provided in the initial period looks like great help because patients can feel the reduction in pain after one or two visits. During the initial visits though patients might feel god but the therapy actually works after a few visits. After certain visits massage actually heals the internal strains and wounds that are caused to patients. But because of the expenditure behind the therapy people might gain an impression that it does not work after certain visits. Massage therapy always benefits because it has a direct impact on the brain and neurological systems. Massage therapy helps blood to flow in veins properly and it also helps to control heart beat (Dupuis 474). This process improvises the neurological system and tissues of body. Different organs of body can get fresh blood because of massage. Moreover it also helps in proper circulation of lymph in the body. These procedures are very effective in maintaining a balance in the body and different organs. It also helps to gain energy. Many people have tendency to get tired early without much work, this is a symptom of weak heart. Massage therapy is helpful in minimizing the ill effect of heart and optimizing life. It definitely has many positive effects and hence it has been used in history and it is still a useful treatment in the modern world. There are many studies and observations made by different group of people regarding massage therapy. It has always been observed that massage therapy apart of reducing stress is also helpful to reduce anxiety. This is very important. High anxiety in some people can be the reason of heart problem. Hence regular massage can help in reducing the tendency of anxiety and in term can optimize the work of heart. Massage therapy also helps in building immune system in the body. Immune system consists of white blood cells and it helps the body to fight against different germs and diseases that goes inside the body via different mediums. Massage therapy has the ability to build up white blood cells so that human body can provide enough resistance against external germs and diseases (Bausell 81). Moreover stress and anxiety can also lead to fatigue. Proper treatments can always benefit human body against the adverse challenges that human body has to face every day. Relaxing is also an art of meditation. Massage therapy builds self resistance and provides mental peace, which in terms help human body to sustain against high pressure and work load which are the two main reasons of many diseases in the modern world. Another reason for refuting against massage therapy is insurance policies of people that do-not cover massage therapy but they cover medicines. There is a perception built in people that medicines heal quickly but massage therapy takes longer time to cure and it is expensive. Though it is true many insurance do not cover massage therapy and massage therapy takes long time to cure a disease but it is one of the safest treatments and healing via massage is a natural process so it does not have any side effects. Because of the insurance policies that do-not cover massage therapy people are led to believe that medicines are better than massage therapy. But the real fact is that because massage therapy is expensive that is why insurances do-not cover massage and supports the cheaper treatment methods (Smith 22). Massage therapy is one of the best way of treatment because it not only heals an individual body part that causes people to suffer in-fact it heals the entire body and any hidden disease that might not show itself also gets cured via massage. There are many massage therapists who are world-wide known for their ability to heal people it is because of the strong significance of this therapy. There are many reasons to stand in support to massage therapy because it has the ability to cure many types of diseases including cancer. Cancer patients undergo treatments like chemo-therapy which is painful and it causes many organs to deteriorate. Instead patients can undergo massage therapy which has natural treatment power and it may not be as quick as chemo-therapy in terms of healing but it minimizes any unfortunate counter of other diseases in the body. Moreover it helps people to get rid of extreme pain under certain circumstances. The major effects of massage therapy in human body is relaxation of deep tissue which helps to boost up the working of immune system and helps to remove dead cells from body parts. Massage also helps to reduce stress which in terms makes brain functions active and working and it also reduces the chances of any psychological disorder by maintaining chemical balance in the brain, Massage therapy helps to reduce pain, in case of any muscular strain massage therapy helps to reduce the pain by providing proper healing. The best advantage in this type of healing is that the internal wound is cured from inside leaving no threat to human body. Massage therapy also improves blood circulation in the body. Blood is pumped out from heart in order to circulate everywhere around the body but human body structure is very complex and due to this reason some organs do-not receive fresh blood in time hence it can be a problem. Massage therapy helps in circulation of blood in appropriate way. Massage therapy helps in proper and deep breathing which is necessary for human body so that organs can work in a proper way. Massage therapy promotes overall health and helps to maintain body fitness without any disruption. Massage therapy is very useful for energy balancing. Energy balancing is a method of maximizing the healing or warming touch between a therapist and a patient (Fadlon 141). This form of massage therapy is performed on patients with slow movement of hand in order to relax the working activity of the brain. This process helps to relax and breathing is lowered. It is almost equivalent to meditation and there is cosmic energy that flows within the body from brain to nerves creating a healing atmosphere overall inside the body. Aromatherapy is also an important type of massage therapy. This kind of therapy is done with the help of different type oils obtained from plants which is curable for many diseases. Aromatherapy massage helps to cure skin problems, inhalation and infections in lungs. It has a very positive impact of diseases that is emerged in lungs including lungs cancer. Massage therapy is also useful for treatment of many diseases that arises in the glands. It stops excess secreting of hormones and controls the coordination between the glands and the organs so that proper and controlled secretion of hormones can happen inside the body. Massage therapy is a very old and prominent method for treatment in the world. Though its effects are recognized less in the modern world it still is one of the most important mode of treatment from many illness and diseases. Conclusion Based on the information and evidences obtained from the discussion it is clear that massage therapy is an essential mode of treatment for human body. It has many features that is helpful and keeps body fit, fine and disease free. Massage therapy has many forms and types and there are many medical advantages of massage therapy over medicines. Massage has been a form of treatment from very beginning of human society, these days it is less appreciated by people but its effect are very significant and helps to form different organs of a body in a perfect shape. There are many people who are against massage therapy as a medical treatment because it is very commonly seen in massage parlors and spas. However the arguments are not true because massage therapy has many forms. The purpose of massage therapy in spas and parlors is relaxation of mind and body and relieving stress out of body. However massage therapy has many medical advantages as known from certified massage therapists and chiropractors who are the practitioners of the therapy. According to them massage therapy is one of the oldest and prominent ways of treating people and it has many advantages over pharmaceuticals. Massage therapy helps in regaining energy in mind and body. This therapy has shown effect in many countries starting from China and Japan. Undoubtedly massage therapy is above many other treatments if compared in general. Medicines and modern medical science has its own importance but massage is helpful in many ways to treat illness and build up immune system in human body. Hence this essay provides supportive arguments against the thesis statement “massage therapy is the oldest and greatest treatment in medical science.” Works Cited Bausell, Barker. Snake Oil Science. New York: Oxford: University Press, 2007. Print. Dupuis, Jennifer. First Stop for Jobs and Industries. New York: gale Group, 2000. Print. Fadlon, Judith. Negotiation the Holistic Turn. New York: SUNY Press, 2006. Print. Smith, Alan. Unbreak your Health. New York: Loving Healing Press, 2007. Print. Wong, Kiew. The Complete Book of Chinese Medicine: A Holistic Approach to Physical, Emotional and Mental Health. Beijing: Cosmos, 2002. Print. Read More