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Love cures people – both the ones who give it and the ones who receive it
– Dr. Karl Menninger

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The Essence Of Massage Therapy

What is the essence of massage therapy that helps improve your body's function? Many effective massage therapist have several things in common, three of which I will discuss in this article. Massage therapy is part education, part intuition and part artistic license.

Education

Education is the first key to being able to effect sustaining change in an individual’s physical movement. The therapeutic practitioner understands that knowing anatomy is not enough. The therapist who is able to bring about enduring change in their clients not only have an understanding of basic anatomical structure but how that structure is created to function, how the individual in question physically functions and how to effectively aid the individual in realigning their body for optimum strength, flexibility, balance and usage.

Intuition

Intuition is the second key for massage therapist to aid individuals in creating and maintaining a life style that will help them function in the most complete and healthy manner possible. The intuitive therapist observes the way their client uses their body, follows up their observations with questions to elicit information on how the individual functions that creates the observed problems and from that develops the plan for the session to address and eventually resolve the soft tissue problem. An example of this is if a client presents with stiff neck and shoulders. Follow up questions may be along the line of if the person is daily engaged in an activity in which they much hold their shoulders stiff for long periods of time such as a desk job or studying. Further questions would be such things as if they routinely carry a heavy back pack, do a lot of lifting, walking large dogs and so on until the therapist and client arrive at a regular behavior that is creating the clients soft tissue problem. Once the problem is determined a plan for the session in constructed as well as possible suggestions for the client to follow such as monthly massage in conjunction with simple stretches, lightening the back pack, training the dogs not to pull on the chain and so on.

Artistic License

Artistic license is the third key to an excellent therapist. The ability to take the tools that one is given in schooling and adjust them to affect positive change in individual client is essential. Given the fact that each body has undergone a myriad of different experiences the ability of the therapist to adjust pressure and techniques, in effect take advantage of ‘artistic license’ with the knowledge and experience they have gained is important to bring about healing to nearly every form of soft tissue condition.
In conclusion massage therapy in a mixture of education, intuition and creativity to aid the therapist in bringing about the most benefit for each individual client.

Health And Wellness

Welcome! Many Americans are frustrated by the current health care system. As good as our current system has been at helping to improve the health of Americans, sometimes people need a different approach to be healthy and well. Does that include you? Maybe you feel fine and want to feel healthier. You may want to be more energetic. Or perhaps you have a specific complaint that doesn't seem to be helped by conventional medicine.

You're not alone. About 4 out of every 10 adults in American use complementary or alternative healthcare.*1 By complementary and alternative healthcare we mean health care that isn't provided as doctors traditionally practice in the United States.

Articles here at YourHealthDestination.com can help you learn more about complementary and alternative medicine and may help you to make an informed decision about your health care. We're adding articles on a regular basis including topics from prevention to therapeutic massage, from supplements to healing.

Access articles by clicking on links to the right to search by article title or category, or use the search function by typing in words about what brings you here.

At the top of each article is a link to the health provider's profile. On their profile pages, you can check out their practice and any licenses or certifications.

Complementary or alternative health providers generally will not make claims about the effectiveness of what they do. This is because the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has a complex set of rules governing what claims may be made.

NCCAM, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, is the United States' lead agency for funding scientific research on alternative medicine. They classify alternative medicine into several categories:

Natural Products

Vitamins, minerals, herbs, supplements and other natural products are included here along with other foods such as some yogurt, fish oil and echinacea. Of all complementary and alternative medicine, these are the most popular in the US.

Mind-Body Medicine

Meditation, yogo, acupuncture and acupressure are all about how the mind, body and spirit can work together to promote health. Hypnosis and biofeedback are also about the mind and the body together. Deep breathing exercises is the popular mind-body medicine in America.

Manipulative And Body-Based Practices

Chiropractors, osteopaths and physical therapists are the best known practitioners in terms of body manipulation. Massage therapy is also part of this.

Other Practices

In other practices, movements like Pilates develop health.

Traditional healers, including medicine man or folk remedies, belong in this category.

Energy healing, such as reiki, magnet therapy and qi gong fit this miscellaneous category.

Finally there are entire medical systems that NCCAM slots into the miscellaneous category. These include homeopathy, naturopathy, Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Alternative or complementary health providers are selected for inclusion in YourHealthDestination.com, or not, in part according to how they fit on of the NCCAM categories.

Health information offered on these pages is not a substitute for medical advice. Statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, mitigate, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or health condition. This information is US-based. Legalities vary among countries. For more information, please see our Terms Of Service.

This is a gated site, meaning that only alternative health providers who are serious about their practice are involved. Also, we edit their articles to make them more easily read. We do not edit for content that relates to your health – that is up to each practitioner. We believe that these practices increase the quality of what you find here. Feel free to find more information about this website or contact us for more information. And good reading!