The Benefits of Massage Therapy

Originally posted on June 15, 2018

Therapeutic Massage involves holding, causing movement of the soft tissue, and/or applying pressure to the body. The American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA) defines it as the application of manual techniques with the intention of positively affecting the health and well being of the client.

Those qualified to practice Massage Therapy are known as Certified Massage Therapists (CMT), Certified Massage Practitioners (CMP), Registered Massage Therapists (RMT), or Licensed Massage Therapist (LMT), dependent upon the state in which they are practicing.

For those of us living in North America, “Western” styles of massage therapy are likely to be more familiar to us. A partial list includes:

  • Swedish Massage – Involves gentle and slow-moving strokes of varying pressure (dependent on the preference of the client)
  • Deep Tissue – Consists of deeper pressure with focus on the deeper layers of muscle tissue.
  • Sports Massage – Is custom tailored to address the muscle areas specific to a particular sport and for enhancing athlete performance.
  • >Neuromuscular Therapy (NMT) – Involves the use of concentrated pressure to painful and irritated areas. NMT is effective in breaking cycles of spasm and pain in soft tissue.

massageAll recognized styles of Massage Therapy provide a therapeutic benefit for the person receiving and all styles have overlapping benefits. All styles act upon the body’s central nervous system to elicit changes.

Commonly experienced benefits from nearly all Massage Therapist’s may include:

  • Relief or reduction in pain from tense or restricted muscle tissue
  • Healing or quicker recovery of injuries
  • Relief of or reduction of stress (either emotional or physical)
  • Reduction in soreness after exercise or physical activity
  • Reduction in fluid retention from injury or surgery
  • Flushing of waste products from cells as a result of physical activity

“The idea that touch can heal is an old one… and science is confirming what we knew in our hearts – that as psychiatrist James Gordon puts it, ‘massage is medicine.’” – Reader’s Digest

At Lafayette Physical Therapy we pride ourselves in our therapeutic approach to all services. Call our office or stop by the front desk if you are interested in trying massage therapy

Written by Joanne Cosgrove, CMT, Massage Therapist at LPT

Arranged and Edited by Zack Krumland, BSBA, Community Outreach Coordinator

Disclaimer: This article is intended as general health information and is not intended to provide individual specific medical advice, professional diagnosis, opinion, treatment or services to you or any other individual. Please consult your doctor or a medical professional before starting or changing a health, fitness, or nutrition program.

Quick Contact

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.