Genesis Therapeutic Massage

   By now most people know some of or all the benefits of massage and how it effects different systems in our body, but for those that don't know, I listed many of the benefits and some history of massage.

Massage is a "hands-on" therapy in which muscles and other soft tissues of the body are manipulated to improve health and well-being. Varieties of massage range from gentle stroking and kneading of muscles and other soft tissues to deeper manual techniques. Massage has been practiced as a healing therapy for centuries in nearly every culture around the world. It helps relieve muscle tension, reduce stress, and evoke feelings of calmness. Although massage affects the body as a whole, it particularly influences the activity of the musculoskeletal, circulatory, lymphatic, and nervous systems.

The use of massage for healing purposes dates back 4,000 years in Chinese medical literature and continues to be an important aspect of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) today. A contemporary form of massage known as Swedish massage was introduced to the United States in the 1850s. By the end of the 19^th century, a significant number of American doctors were practicing this manual technique and the nation's first massage therapy clinics opened its doors to the public.
In the early 20^th century, the rise of technology and prescription drugs began to overshadow massage therapy. For the next several decades, massage remained dormant and only a few therapists continued to practice the "ancient" technique. During the 1970s, however, both the general public as well as the medical profession began to take notice of alternative medicine and mind-body therapies, which thrust massage therapy back into the limelight. Today, there are more than 125,000 massage therapists practicing in the United States and their numbers are growing rapidly to keep up with the more than 80 million massage therapy appointments made every year.

Here's a link where this info was taken from and has a wealth of info you may be interested in

http://www.massagelotion.net

The Benefits of Massage
  
General Benefits:
• Massage feels good, it is pleasurable.
• Increases body awareness and sensitivity.
• Reduces stress.
• Calms the nervous system and has a centering effect.
• Relaxes and clears the mind.
• Relieves tension-related headaches.
• Helps to improve posture.
• Massage helps to fulfill the need for caring and nurturing touch.
• Promotes self-esteem and a feeling of well-being.
• Massage reduces levels of anxiety.
• Increased the awareness of the body-mind connection and emotional awareness.

Circulatory System's Benefits:
• Produces a dilation of the blood vessels thereby improving circulation.
• Reduces the lack of blood, reduces pain due to the irritation of free nerve endings.
• Speeds the elimination of the waste products of metabolism.
• Massage helps to reduce swelling.
• Massage increases the number of red blood cells in circulation.
• Massage has the overall effect of lowering blood pressure.
• Facilitates tissue healing through the enhancement of circulation.
• Massage reduces the pulse rate.
• Massage can break the cycle of spasm and pain by decreasing both.

Musculoskeletal Systems' Benefits:
• Increases the blood supply and nutrition to the muscles.
• Helps muscles recover more quickly from exertion and fatigue.
• Relaxes muscles, reducing spasm, tension and cramping.
• Reduces adhesions (knots) and fibrosis.
• Improves the circulation and nutrition of the joints and can increase joint range of motion.
• Helps to reestablish proper tone in muscles.
• Reduces muscle and soft tissue pain.
• Reduces joint strain and compression through releasing tight muscles and tendons.
• Increases ease and efficiency of movement.
• Supports increased work capacity and metabolism.
• Massage can stimulate muscle contraction.

Nervous System's Benefits:
• Massage stimulates the touch, pressure and proprioceptive receptors of the skin and underlying tissue.
• Massage can have a sedative, stimulating or even exhausting effect on the nervous system depending on the type and length of treatment given.
• Massage reduces sympathetic stimulation and helps to balance the autonomic nervous system.
• Massage relaxes the muscles and helps to reestablish proper tonus through its effect on the neuromuscular reflex pathways.
• Known to affect the neurotransmitters of the brain and increase endorphin secretion in particular.
• Massage can reduce nerve entrapment through the release of soft tissue or muscular binding.
• Massage can reduce nerve root compression caused by muscular tension.

Lymphatic System's Benefits:
• Massage increases tissue fluid and lymphatic circulation thus reducing swelling and enhancing the immune and filtering activities of this system.
• Massage increases venous and lymphatic flow.
• Massage reduces swelling by enhancing lymphatic circulation.

Excretory System's Benefits:
• Massage increases the excretion (via the kidneys) of fluids and waste products of protein metabolism, inorganic phosphorous and salt in normal individuals.
• Massage can facilitate elimination through the large intestines by mechanically stimulating peristalsis and improving tone.

Skin's Benefits:
• Helps to reduce tension in the skin and adjoining tissues as well as increasing its circulation and improve its nutrition.

Respiratory System's Benefits:
• Massage deepens and normalizes the breathing pattern through relaxation, and release of tension in the breathing structures, both the rib cage and the muscles of respiration.
• Massage can be used to relieve congestion in the lungs through percussive and compressive movements.

Digestive System's Benefits:
• Massage stimulates peristalsis and can reduce cramping or spasm in the digestive tract.
• Massage supports healthy digestion through its stress releasing effects.

Genesis Therapeutic Massage   1058 E. Sahara Ste. A   Las Vegas, Nevada 89104  (702) 312-1046