What is Massage Therapy?
Who doesn’t love pressing pause on the stress of daily life to get a massage? Well, maybe not you yet, if you have yet to dip your toes in the water!
While massage therapy is undeniably relaxing, it comes with a boatload of other powerful benefits to your health and well-being. While we don’t offer spa-style massage here at Soul Sprout, that doesn’t make our massage therapy any less relaxing.
The practice of massage therapy is one of the oldest healthcare modalities known. References are found in ancient Chinese medical texts written over 4,000 years ago. In addition, massage has long since been advocated in Western healthcare practices, dating back to the time of Hippocrates, the “father of medicine.”
What is the difference between a medical massage and a spa massage?
Medical massage treatment is planned out with a specific goal in mind to tackle a health issue. Your massage will factor into a larger holistic treatment plan that is based on your current health needs.
Massage therapy will help with reducing stress, increasing relaxation while improving immune function. It’s delivered to improve the flow of blood and lymph (the fluid in lymph glands that are part of the immune system), to reduce muscular tension, to recalibrate the nervous system through stimulation, and to enhance tissue healing.
Therapeutic massage can deliver other benefits such as the following:
Relieving muscle spasms
Increasing joint and limb flexibility and range of motion
Promoting deeper and easier breathing
Relieving tension-related headaches and eyestrain
Promoting faster healing of soft tissue injuries, such as pulled muscles and sprained ligaments
Reducing pain and swelling related to injuries
Reducing the formation of scar tissue following soft tissue injuries
Improving posture by changing tension patterns that affect posture
As far as what to expect, your treatment will take place in a private massage room. We want to ensure you feel as comfortable as possible. You decide how much to undress for your massage. Your therapist will leave the room while you undress, and you'll cover yourself with clean sheets.
Afterwards, you may feel relaxed, and a little sleepy, or you may experience a surge of energy and concentration. Everybody is different! Massage helps to release toxins from your soft tissues, so we recommend that you drink plenty of water after to flush those gnarly toxins out of your system!
Massage therapy might not be the right choice for everyone
Massage therapy might not suit you if you have broken bones, severe osteoporosis, or contagious disease. Also, if you have intense adverse feelings around being touched and a massage honestly sounds like torture, other alternative medicine treatments may be a better fit for you.
At Soul Sprout, we are committed to building the right healing path for each individual. We specialize in various modalities to help empower your body’s ability to heal and restore itself, so trust your gut when exploring your options.
Massage therapy is a fantastic way to revitalize your mental and physical health. Choosing the right type of massage for you is very important, so during our initial consultation, we will discuss your medical history and current health concerns to create a plan best suited to address your needs.
