Alchemy Massage and Bodyworks January 2015

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What Massage Can Do For YouBeyond Pain Relief, Massage is Valuable for Preventive CareKarrie Osborn

Massage helps you maintain a healthy body.

To improve isto change; tobe perfect is tochange often.- Winston Churchil

Office Hours and Contact

Alchemy Massage and BodyworksLisa M Franklin, LMT, NCTMB267-446-3778Call to schedule an appointmentSaturday appointments availablewww.alchemy.massagetherapy.com

In this Issue

What Massage Can Do For YouMassage for Your Teenager? Massage for Old Injuries

This article first appeared in the Summer 2013 issueofBody Sense.

Whether it is an aching back, recoveryfrom an injury, a case of carpal tunnelsyndrome, or a host of other debilitatingphysiological conditions, there's nodoubt massage and bodywork works torelieve pain. But once your therapist hashelped you tackle your pain, do you quitcalling? When the pain is gone, are yougone, too?

Massage therapy is highly effective forpain relief, but it is an amazingpreventive therapy as well. Massage helpsbuild and maintain a healthy body (andmind), it combats stress, and it works to

keep the immune system strong. Inshort, massage can keep on working foryou, even after the pain is gone.

MASSAGE FOR WELLNESSIf it's been a while since you bookedyour last massage--because your pain isno longer an issue or your injury is fullyrehabbed--you might want to considermassage for preventive care.

Massage can play an important role in agood health-care regimen. Just as youeat healthily, exercise regularly, and takeyour vitamins to ward off illness andmaintain a fit body, you should considermaking frequent massage a part of yourwellness lifestyle.

According to Benny Vaughn, a sportsmassage expert in Fort Worth, Texas,one of the benefits of consistent andregular massage therapy is betterflexibility. "This happens becauseregular and structured touch stimulusenhances the nervous system's sensoryand spatial processing capacity," he says."That is, the person becomes moreaware of her body's movement in spaceand becomes more aware of tightness or

pain long before it reaches a criticalpoint of mechanical dysfunction."

As a preventive measure, frequentmassage puts you more in tune with yourbody. "The consistency of massagetherapy over time creates a cumulativestress-reduction effect," Vaughn says.

Regular massage helps reduce stress and improve your quality of life.

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"The person becomes acutely aware ofstress within her body long before it cancreate stress-driven damage."

And the more massage you receive, themore benefits you reap. "Massagetherapists know that people who getmassage regularly demonstrate greaterimprovement and notice a reduction inpain and muscular tension, as well as animprovement in posture," says AnneWilliams, author ofMassage Mastery: From Student to Professional(Lippincott Williams Wilkins, 2012).

"People regularly make a commitmentto fitness," Williams says. "Peopleregularly make a commitment tochanging their diet. The differencethey'd experience if they regularly madea commitment to massage ismind-blowing."

STRESS IS A KILLERStress is more than just a word we throwaround to describe the nature of ourhectic day. Today, we understand thatstress kills.

According to the Benson-HenryInstitute for Mind Body Medicine,60-90 percent of all US medical visitsare for stress-related disorders. Chronicpain, headaches, heart disease,hypertension, and ulcers can all bewrought from stress. Many would arguethat the best benefit of massage is itsability to reduce the stress in our lives.

From the perspective of daily living,think about the stress you felt at today'smeeting--now it's hiding in your neck.Tomorrow that can turn into stiffnessand eventually begin to affect other partsof your body. If you see your massagetherapist for your regular session thisweek, the chances are good you won'treach the tipping point. Think ofmassage and bodywork as a way torebalance your body.

Noted researcher Tiffany Field and hercolleagues from the Touch ResearchInstitute at the University of MiamiSchool of Medicine report that massagecauses positive biological changes whenit comes to stress. Through the course ofmore than 20 studies, these scientistsfound that massage decreases cortisol (astress-derived hormone that negativelyaffects immune function and kills ourimmune cells) and increases dopamine

and serotonin (the neurotransmittersmost associated with emotionalwell-being).

Add to this the research that showsmassage can lower your heart rate anddecrease your blood pressure, and youhave a mighty effective,nonpharmacological, stress-fightingtool that's about as natural as natural canget.

A ONE-HOUR VACATION AND SOMUCH MOREYou may no longer need to rehab thatknee or work the scar tissue from yoursurgery, but don't forget abouteverything else massage can do for you.Massage is the entire package, helping toheal body, mind, and spirit. Think of itas a one-hour vacation with amazingreturn on investment.

Whether it be maintaining joint

flexibility, managing blood pressure, orenhancing immunity, massage works.From repair to relief and from recoveryto relaxation, massage is a magnificentpiece of natural medicine you shouldalways have as part of your health-careroutine.

Karrie Osborn is senior editor for Body Sense.Contact her at karrie@abmp.com.

Massage eases teen depression and anxiety.

Massage for Your Teenager? Bodywork Can Ease Adolescent Angst

Massage for Old InjuriesAncient Injuries Don't Have to Make You Feel OldArt Riggs

While teens may be less likely than theirparents to go to a massage therapist,there are plenty of reasons why this agegroup should be encouraged to give it atry. The benefits of massage are welldocumented, among them relief ofmuscle tension, lowered stresshormones, increased sense ofrelaxation, improved immune function,and even a heightened ability toconcentrate, according to studiesconducted by the Touch ResearchInstitute at the University of MiamiSchool of Medicine. But for teenagers,there's an additional payback.

The teenage body is in the midst oftransformation -- exponential growthand development in a rapid period oftime. On the physical side, teens may beat increased risk for aches, pains, andinjury. Many teens strain their bodieswith competitive sports, get erraticsleep, and consume a less-than-optimaldiet. Massage can help muscles recoverfrom overuse, and help balance the bodyand maintain that stability.

Perhaps even more crucial, teen massagecan help improve body image and sleeppatterns, and contribute to decreaseddepression, anxiety, and stress. Thiskeeps a teen connected to her body, evenas it morphs in confounding ways."Many teens are self-conscious, and nothappy with their bodies," says EerisKallil, massage therapist and shiatsuinstructor at the Boulder College ofMassage Therapy, in Colorado."Massage can help teens stay grounded."Bodywork has also been reported to helpmediate eating disorders, a growingconcern among teens.

Another potential plus: A beneficial,therapeutic relationship can developbetween bodyworkers and teenagersduring the years when adolescents needadult confidantes, but keep parents at adistance. The practitioner can become asupportive, trusted adult in a teen's life.And the session itself, according toKallil, can be a way to deal with all thephysical and emotional turmoil of thistender age.

Injuries such as chronic back pain, trickknees, and sticky shoulders are notnecessarily something you just have tolive with. Massage techniques might holdthe key to unlocking this old pain.

Will Massage Help?The benefits of massage will depend onthe extent of the injury, how long ago itoccurred, and on the skill of thetherapist. Chronic and old injuriesoften require deeper and more precisetreatments with less emphasis on generalrelaxation and working on the wholebody. Massage works best for soft tissueinjuries to muscles and tendons and ismost effective in releasing adhesions andlengthening muscles that have shorteneddue to compensatory reactions to theinjury. Tight and fibrous muscles notonly hurt at the muscle or its tendon,but can also interfere with proper joint

movement and cause pain far away fromthe original injury.

Therapists who perform such work oftenhave specialized names for theirwork--such as orthopedic massage,neuromuscular therapy, myofascialrelease, medical massage, etc.,--butmany massage therapists utilize aneclectic approach combining the best ofthe specialties.

It Works!A recent Consumer Reports article ranthe results of a survey of thousands of itsreaders and reported that massage wasequal to chiropractic care in many areas,including back and neck pain. Massagealso ranked significantly higher thansome other forms of treatment, such asphysical therapy or drugs.

If that nagging injury persists, considerbooking a massage. Be sure to discussthe injury with your practitioner: Howdid you receive the injury? Have youreinjured it? And what exactly are yoursymptoms? Often, the bodycompensates in one area to protectanother that has been traumatized, andthis can create new problems.

Discuss the issues with your massagetherapist. (Sometimes just talking aboutold injuries can play a significant role inthe healing process.) Together, the twoof you can work to determine atreatment plan.

When we are nolonger able tochange asituation -weare challenged tochangeourselves.-Victor E Frankl

SATURDAY HOURS

STARTING IN JANUARY, 2015, ALCHEMY MASSAGEAND BODYWORKS WILL BE OPEN ONE SATURDAYEACH MONTH FROM 8AM TO 2PM.

CALL TODAY TO SCHEDULE YOUR APPOINTMENT FORJANUARY 27th 2015. SATURDAY APPOINTMENTS GOQUICK!

JANUARY SPECIAL

BUY A SIX PACK OF GIFT CERTIFICATES AND PAY $300- THAT'S ONE MASSAGE FOR FREE!

BUY A TWELVE PACK OF GIFT CERTIFICATES AND PAY$600 - THAT'S TWO MASSAGES FREE!

OFFER DOES NOT APPLY TO HOT STONE MASSAGES

OFFER GOOD FOR MONTH OF JANUARY 2015 ONLY. CERTIFICATES GOOD FOR ONE YEAR FROMPURCHASE.

Alchemy Massage and Bodyworks

901 Carriage Way Lansdale, PA 19446-4440