massage therapy – Shiatsu Massage Basics
February 9th, 2010 | 
Author: Ever since shiatsu massage therapy was brought into the healthcare market, many people has been benefiting from it. It is now popular worldwide and if you are reading this, you are probably interested to try it too. Why not? But first, let’s see how shiatsu will benefit you.
Health Philosophy
Shiatsu adheres to the philosophy that in order to have healthy benefits, the vital energy, ‘qi’ for Chinese people and ‘ki’ for Japanese people, should flow the entire body through its meridians, which are the series of pathways. Other oriental health massage or therapy practices, like the acupuncture, also use these meridians principle likewise believing that these can be blocked once energy is not allowed to flow freely, subsequently producing symptoms of some diseases.
How It Is Applied
In the case of shiatsu, manipulative technique and pressure are used to adjust your body and allow the vital energy to flow generously. The pressure is applied onto the acupuncture points together with manipulating and stretching the body.
The techniques include dynamic rotations, palm pressing and gentle holding on the elbows, knee, feet and knees on your meridians. Shiatsu massage does not utilize massage oil and performed on you with full clothes on.
It is believed that this therapy can benefit those people suffering with any of the conditions, such as: migraines, arthritis, joint problems, muscular pain, stress, chronic fatigue, digestive and skin orders.
The massage therapy typically lasts between 30 to 60 minutes. This is done via sessions, with the first expected to be longer than the succeeding ones since the shiatsu therapist requires medical history, lifestyle detail, and other health information from you.
You will be applied with the massage with you lying down whether on a padded mat, at a floor level, or on a couch. If not, a shiatsu massage chair will be used, which is now gaining popularity because of its convenience and benefits.
A combination of different treatment styles are often applied by the shiatsu practitioners.
These include Tsubo therapy, which uses methods like needles, electrical devices, massage, and moxa, focusing on the pressure point natures. The moxa is an herbal plant derived, believed to prevent and treat diseases via heat application.
Namikoshi Shiatsu is another style which emphasizes more on physical techniques like rubbing on specific body areas and pressing to assist to its healing.
Zen Shiatsu, on the other hand, is the third style, which as opposed to particular points used on other styles, concentrates on the entire meridian points and performed with both hands.
What Are To Be Expected After The Therapy
After the massage treatment, the clients are expected to find new sense of energy levels, as well as relaxed muscles while joints with improved mobility. It is also normal for them to experience muscle soreness and mild headaches after the treatment but should disappear only after a few hours of rest.
The application of Shiatsu massage therapy depends on the condition of the client. The normal course would continue with sessions lasting up to 6 or even 10 treatments. However, most clients who experienced the benefits of the therapy continue to avail even after the condition is gone.
This is not a problem since shiatsu massage therapy is safe as long as it is performed by only qualified practitioner or therapist. It is deeply relaxing and releases the tension all throughout your body that you can still continue especially on the rough days that you went through.
For more information about Shiatsu Massage and other health tips, check out my Health Tips for Moms site.
What is Strain – Counter Strain
Strain – Counter Strain is a manual massage technique for relieving musculoskeletal spasms and pain. It is also known as Positional Release. This technique was developed by Dr. Lawrence Jones, an osteopathic doctor in 1981. It is a gentle and safe technique that relieves spinal or other joint pain by passively shortening the affected muscle areas.
How does Strain – Counter Strain work
Our bodies are not designed to function optimally in the concrete jungles that we live in these days. Years of living in these conditions puts a lot of strain on our body parts due to unnatural movements and incorrect postures. This strain on our joints leads to the development of painful tender spots. Strain / Counter Strain identifies these tender points and helps to alleviate the pain that they cause.
During a session of therapy, the practitioner uses palpation to identify the tender points on the patient’s body. Once the practitioner has identified these tender points he or she corrects the dysfunction by using the appropriate strain/counter strain technique. The practitioner achieves this by gently holding the affected muscle in a passively shortened position for about ninety seconds. When the muscle is held in this position, it is gradually returned to its original resting position and length. In this condition, the muscle is stronger and less tender. The proprioceptor nerves register this change in the position of the muscle and enable it to remain at this neutral position even when the force applied by the practitioner has been removed. This system of strain / counter strain is continued until the affected area is in harmony with the rest of the body and the pain associated with this imbalance is gone.
Benefits of Strain – Counter Strain
Strain / Counter Strain techniques help to alleviate pain and discomfort in muscles and joints and help to restore full range of movement to these affected areas. They have been effectively used to treat post-injury pain and speed up the recovery process for professional sportspersons. Strain / Counter strain is also very useful for treating people with whiplash injuries. Due to its gentle and safe nature strain / counter strain has also been used to treat children and the elderly. It has proved to be very successful when used in conjunction with more traditional forms of medicine to speed up the long-drawn process of post-physical trauma rehabilitation and recovery. It is also widely used to treat conditions such as chronic back pain, neck pain, musculoskeletal pain, and fibromyalgia.
About The Author
Sharon Hopkins features articles in http://www.massagehealththerapy.com, your online massage guide to rejuvenate and revitalize your mind and body. She also writes for other sites on Yoga, Hair-n-Skin-Care, Massage Therapy among others.
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