What the effects of massage and what can massage do for you??

The skin is our largest sensory organ; covering the entire surface of the body.
A baby recieves important information about his environment as a result touching and being touched long before it can hear and see. Deny him or her the touch and he or she loses the will to live.
Adults too need touching. Insufficient touch and you may become tense, feel your muscles tighten. This tension, when the nerve signals become stronger, it is percieved as pain.

The Effects of Massage
Areas around pain sites contain reflexes, which, when stimulated can reduve pain with out working directly on the pain site.
Improves circulation, a stimulating massage increases blodd flow in the the area causing a complete filling and emptying of blood vessels, thus allowing a greater amount of blood to be brought the the area.
A deep massage effectively increases oxygenation or tissues and removal of waste products.
Improves skin by stimulating nerves and capillaries, loosens tissues and reduces scarring.
Increas the rate of metanolism and stimulates increased output of urine and excretion of nitrogen aas well as hastening the emptying of the contents of the intestine.
An increase in blood flow due to a massage can produce a temporary decrease in blood pressure. The slowing of the pulse rate promotes relaxed breathing. These are two indicators of reduced stress. Massage, apart from ridding the body of lactic acid, also affects the skeletal system by massaging around the area of retention of nitrogen, sulphhur and phsphorus necessary for the repair of injured tissue.
Massage can help back and muscoskeletal pain by breaking the pain cycle - a Mechanism where by the intial cause of pain triggers muscle spasm that impairs circulation and in turn produces more pain.
Massage helps to break the cycle and thus relieves the pain. For athletes, in conjunction with warm up techniques, it is an effective physiological and psycological preparation to sports activities.
Sports Massage is valuable in assisting athletes to recover from injury or the effects of vigorous training. Some doctors prescribe back and chest massage to patients with chronic bronchitis and asthma.
IF YOU HAVE A CHRONIC ILLNESS, IT IS BEST TO CHECK WITH YOUR DOCTOR BEFORE GETTING A MASSAGE.