Massage is the manipulation of soft tissue, which in turn effects a change in the surrounding tissues and has been practised since Egyptian times. A special massage oil, massage cream or talcum powder will be used as the medium.
The Physical Effect
Our bodies are held upright and in position, not by our skeletal system, but by our muscles, tendons and ligaments. If any of these become tight or injured, this will cause imbalance to our posture. This has a knock-on effect of causing other muscles to compensate to try to correct the imbalance, through working and tensing. Over time, it will take a therapy such as NST to correct this seemingly permanent imbalance. The mind will become accustomed to this, and will not realise there is a problem until the body tries to do something requiring a full range of movement for that joint. In this state, Sports Therapy may be required for deep tissue release techniques.
Massage therapy works by loosening and stretching tight muscles and toning loose muscles.
This is the main physical effect of massage, and it does have a pronounced effect on all systems of the body, not to mention mental relaxation and the reduction in emotional turmoil.
The Psychological Effect
Having an hour to yourself of total physical relaxation causes the mind to switch off, thus de-stressing the psyche. A de-stressed body and mind is less prone to illness and has more energy for the things you really want to be doing.