Massage for Stress

Getting regular massage for stress is one of the biggest uses of massage that you might want to be aware of if you are thinking of becoming a massage therapist.

Stress really is anything and everything that causes a person's system to be out of balance. Stress is one of the biggest causes of disease and health issues. Stress can be caused by the food you eat that is not good for you, the environment and pollution and other things like how a person reacts or acts in response to what is happening in their lives. How a person handles stress depends on how they were brought up and how well attached they were in their early childhood. People who are not securely attached often have low self esteem and will have financial and relationship issues that cause them to feel stressed.

Stress will show up in tight muscles which is what a massage therapist will be dealing with. When you work on the muscles of the body you are actually also working on the mind and the whole body. People's beliefs get hardwired into their bodies and every thing that a person does is a muscular response.

Getting regular massage can help people heal their early attachment issues and reduce stress.

The Effects of Stress are many. Stress is handled by the stress response system which is made up of the HPA axis. The HPA axis refers to the connections that exist between three key structures: the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland, and the adrenal glands. The hypothalmus is the part of the brain that helps in controlling homeostasis or balance in the bodies systems. The pituitary gland is often commonly referred to as the master gland. The hypothalmus controls the pituitary gland. The adrenal glands secrete adrenaline and cortisol. The pituitary controls the adrenal glands.

When our body is functioning normally and responding to stress normally everything just goes fine in the HPA axis. When you are under a constant amount of high stress the body keeps secreting adrenaline and cortisol but the body does not burn it up. High levels of cortisol create excess inflammation which is really at the heart of most diseases and conditions.

Adrenalin is for that short term 'in your face' type of stress such as a car accident or physical threat. It prepares the body for 'flight or fight' in response to the threat (stress). Adrenaline is usually burned up after such an immediate threat. You will see it in the form of shaking after an accident or physical threat.

Adrenaline jumpstarts the heart increasing the blood pressure in preparing for the stress. Adrenaline causes the liver to dump sugar into the bloodstream, high blood glucose damages blood vessels, and it forces the pancreas to secrete extra insulin -- paving the way for type 2 diabetes.

Cortisol dissolves connective tissue and suppresses inflammation. Excess cortisol increases inflammation, reduces the effectiveness of the immune system and leads to chronic diseases such as fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue.

A prominent researcher on the topic of stress is Robert Sapolsky who is featured in the PBS Special "Stress:Portrait of a Killer". In it his studies of baboon tribes show clearly that stress does kill. A tribe that he studied for 30 years contracted tuberculosis. The baboons that survived were the less aggressive, more socially connected members. These baboons participated in more grooming and physically connecting activities reducing their stress hormones.

Take that information and apply it to the current stressful lives that everyone is currently experiencing with losing jobs, losing their houses and struggling to get buy.

What helps reduce the effects of stress and reduce harmful adrenaline and cortisol levels is .... you guessed it... massage or touch.

So getting regular massage through such stressful periods can only help in our economic recovery.

For more on the stress response system see also:"Jangled" Adults" Touch and the Stress Response System By Ruth Werner at massagetherapy.com

Depression and the Stress Response System: Part I of III By Ruth Werner, LMP, NCTMB

Soothing touch, whether it be applied to a ruffled cat, a crying infant, or a frightened child, has a universally recognized power to ameliorate the signs of distress. How can it be that we overlook its usefulness on the jangled adult as well? What is it that leads us to assume that the stressed child merely needs "comforting," while the stressed adult needs "medicine"?

-- from Job's Body: A Handbook for Bodywork by Deane Juhan

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