10 types of massage therapy and their benefits!
Getting a massage helps you relax all the body tension and fatigue. Massages leave you feeling relaxed both mentally and physically. A good massage will keep you feeling good even after a few days. There are many types of massage therapy.
The massage therapies include Swedish, the aromatherapy massage, Thai massage, deep tissue massage and many others. All have their own methods and their own benefits. You can choose the one that you like the best but before that, you need to know about all the benefits and methods of the most popular massage therapies. It will help you make a better choice.
So, let’s start.
- The Swedish massage
The most popular and mostly the most standard form of massage is the Swedish massage therapy. Its services are available in almost all of the good clinics, spas, and gyms. Unlike the energy-centric styles of the other types of massages, it makes use of the anatomy and physiology. It is best known for relaxing the body and improving the blood circulation across the body. It can help you heal an injury by improving the blood circulation and healing the tissue scars.
The massage starts with soft hands and gentle strokes and gradually moves to the special strokes on the hurting areas. The strokes include the long and smooth strokes, the smaller circular strokes, and the shaking strokes. If you want to relax your muscles and heal some injuries, go for a Swedish massage.
- Hot Stone Massage
It is just what its name defines it to be, which means that it uses warm stones. The stones used in this massage are usually the basalt, which is the volcanic rock that has the capability to retain heat. In this massage, the therapist will use warm stones and these warm stones will be placed on the certain pressure points. The therapist will also do massage meanwhile, whilst lifting the stones.
The stones are warm enough to relax the muscles and loosen the tight muscles. You will feel the fatigue going away from your muscles. It is a great massage for letting the tension of the body just leave the body and you will feel very fresh and relaxed after this massage. However, if you suffer from any medical conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, or any heart disease you must consult your doctor before getting the hot stone massage. It is very important.
- Thai massage
Thai massage is like you being in a yoga class but there is someone else moving your body to do all the postures. It is a very relaxing, and very energizing massage. It makes use of the yoga, which includes some stretching and some massage movements. The only difference is that there is someone else who is making your legs stretch and doing all the other yoga movements. The therapist will be helping you with all the yoga pastures and all of this is done on a mat just like it is done in the classic yoga.
The good thing about this massage therapy is that if you are not comfortable in showing skin in front of someone else this massage will be perfect for you because it can be done fully clothed, just like yoga.
This massage therapy will energize the whole body and will improve the flexibility of your body. It works best for the back pains, stretched muscles, migraine, and other body fatigue.
- Deep tissue massage
Just as its name implies, this massage therapy goes deeper into the muscle layers. It targets the muscle knots and will liberate you from the pulled muscles and you will all the knots being unknotted slowly and very effortlessly. It is also very helpful in the problems with connective tissues. In this massage the therapist will use some slow strokes across the muscles and very slowly your muscles will start to relax.
If you have painful muscles, some postural problems or any injuries, deep tissue massage therapy can help you relive the pain.
It is a little more intense than the Swedish massage since it is targeting the deep tissues and the therapist needs to put some more pressure to reach the to the layers of the muscle. But this does not mean that this massage is painful. If you are feeling any pain that you should not be feeling just let you therapist know right away. This massage is meant to relax you not to increase your pain even more.
- Pregnancy massage
Its name says right away what it is meant for. Pregnancy is a very beautiful phenomenon; however, it can be very pressurizing and tiring for a women’s body and a good massage is very important for both the mental and physical health of the woman. Her body needs to relax so that the tension does not leave her feeling tired and full of fatigue.
The most common problem that pregnant women face is the lower back pains and swollen ankles due to the increased weight of the body. These problems become very prominent in the last months.
However, it is very important that you hire a professional for this massage because it is a very sensitive massage. It requires special training and experience to do the massage perfectly so that neither the mother nor the baby is affected by any of the positions or the massage strokes. Mostly there is a table that allows the women to lie down on it very comfortably without putting any pressure on the baby. Hence, look for a well-trained professional for this very sensitive massage.
- The sports massage
The kind of physical work that the body of a sportsman does, is found nowhere else. Therefore, the body of a sportsman also needs a special kind of massage because after all, every human body needs to relax.
This therapy is specially designed to prepare the human body to absorb the injuries by making the muscles strong. It also helps to recover from any injuries. It helps to increase the athletic power and improves the flexibility of body.
It is a lot faster massage than any other types of massages and makes use of the pressure points as a target. The therapist will do some strong, yet relaxing faster strokes and your body will feel tension and fatigue-free after the massage.
- Aromatherapy massage
Nothing is more relaxing than an aromatherapy massage. It just a treat for all of your senses. It is like a Swedish massage but the oils that are used in this massage are scented plant oils. These oils are extracted from flowers and they help in quick healing. These oils have a very pleasant and very relaxing smell so when you get out of this massage you will feel just happy and relaxed and full of energy. It feels like that there is no tension in your life, at least for some time.
This massage can help treat insomnia, digestion problems, back pains and other cramps. But one thing to check before is that you are not allergic to any of the flowers or the plants whose oil is being used in the therapy.
- Shiatsu massage
You might have guessed from its name that it is something from Japan. Well, you re very right. It is one of the Japanese bodywork and in this, the therapist makes use of his fingers to target the pressure points of body. Each pressure point is treated for two to eight seconds. There is no oil used in this massage. This massage can help regain the balance of the body and improve the blood circulation. It can also help relieve the neck and back pains, arthritis, and insomnia.
- Reflexology
It’s surprising to see how much connection your hands and feet have with the energy of your whole body. In this massage, the therapist puts pressure on the reflex areas, which is the hands and the feet. This is a very ancient technique of helping the body to relax.
This massage can help have a balanced nervous system and have a better blood flow. It reduces stress and improves the mental wellbeing. it helps stimulate endorphins which are very important for the mental wellbeing and the ability of mind to enjoy the pleasure.
Therefore, this massage will help you both mentally and physically.
- The trigger point massage
Trigger points are the certain points in the muscles that radiate the pain to other parts of the body. This massage therapy targets such as trigger points. These trigger points are the source of pain hence in this massage, you will be eradicating the source of pain which will leave you in a relaxed state for many days.
This massage will loosen up the muscles and make them even stronger. If you have any chronic injuries this massage will be very helpful to you and will also relieve the mental stress that is caused by such injuries.
Choose the massage therapy that best suits your body and your requirements.
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