Health Benefits of Massage Therapy

Everyday, Carl Balog MD works with his patients to help minimize their chronic pain issues. For some people, their only option is through surgery. For others, there are various forms of complementary alternative medicine treatments one of which is massage therapy. Depending on the type of pain you are in, there are various forms of massage to help ease your pain. Before you seek out a licensed massage therapist, speak with your doctor to be sure that massage is right for you. Although massage can help with a myriad of issues, it can also be a contraindication for some ailments including blood clots and high blood pressure. This is why it is recommended that you speak with your doctor before attempting a massage therapy program.

As stated earlier, there are a variety of different styles of massage. Each type of massage helps in a different way. Here are just a few.

• Swedish massage is great for relaxation and can help energize you. This is a gentle form of massage that uses long, smooth strokes, kneading, deep circular friction, vibration and tapotement.
• Deep massage is commonly used to help people with muscle damage from injuries. This type of massage technique uses slow, forceful strokes that target deep layers of muscle and connective tissue.
• Sports massage is similar to Swedish massage however, it is geared towards people who are actively involved in sport activities. Sports massage is commonly used to help prevent or treat sports injuries.
• Trigger point massage mainly focuses on areas of tight muscle fibers that can form in muscles after injuries or overuse.

Massage can help with a number of ailments including anxiety, digestive disorders, fibromyalgia, headaches, insomnia related to stress, myofascial pain, nerve pain, soft tissue injuries and much more.

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