With no break in the cycle and personal and vacation days at our jobs not adding up, many consumers have found other ways to sneak moments of relaxation into their lives. One of the more popular ways to deal with stress and other problems has always been with a massage. But as massages and their treatment procedures began to grow, so have the reasons why many of get massages.
In order to better deal with the aches and pains that every body will face, massage therapy has become a reasonable and affordable means of relaxing and treating the body. Greg Smith is the Director of Information and Outreach at the Colorado Institute of Massage Therapy. Smith has been practicing massage therapy for the last seven years and also serves as a fitness therapist and personal trainer. Smith knows exactly what massage therapy is and how effective it can be for everyday regular people.
"Massage therapy is a manual treatment where trained therapists are working towards relaxation, injury, injury prevention and rehab or pain reduction," he said. "There are hundreds of massage techniques. An injured person may have a massage three times a week for two weeks and then reduce from there."
Massage therapy is defined as a process of manual manipulation of the body's muscular and soft tissue structure through a variety of techniques ranging from relaxation to clinical and therapeutic applications. The benefits from having massage therapy range from increased flexibility, improved circulation and stress reduction. Smith and other experts agree that the effectiveness of each individuals massage therapy session will range on a variety of issues. But of all those issues, none is more important and vital than the amount of visits one takes to the massage therapist per week.
"The average massage client comes between once a week and once a month," Smith said. "The average massage price is between $40 and $80 per hour depending on your area. Some therapists now go with 30 minutes massages or hour and a half massages, but an hour is average."
One of the biggest issues revolving around massage therapy is that a client is able to give themselves a productive massage. As most experts will tell you, giving yourself a massage is possible, but for best results, you should always consult a licensed massage therapist.
"There are techniques, tools, and books out there that can help you give yourself a massage," Smith said. "One of them is called a theracane. It's a trigger point therapy massager where you apply direct pressure to sore areas of the body. It can be extremely therapeutic."
"I think one of the downsides to self massage is that you are doing all the work," Smith added. "One of the goals is relaxation. I have used a theracane between massage sessions, but I still like having someone else perform the massage."
