improving cognitive function in elderly patients suffering from Alzheimer disease, as these are populations that may not be able to rely on language to communicate. Some populations can be deprived of touch as a matter of circumstance, like adults or elderly people who live alone, and therapeutic massage can offer touch in a safe, healthy way. When combined with purposeful and skilled therapeutic protocols in massage, the effects of human touch can also be tremendous for relieving stress. We see this in the difference in our clients’ posture and energy between when they walk into our office and when they walk out, but this also has a positive effect on our clients’ ability to handle stress over time if they are consistent with their care. The long-term effects will be discussed further in Section 4 of this course. Seven 60-minute sessions were recorded with the fitness tracker device over the six-month period, and a journal was kept noting any life events surrounding each session. The data recorded for each session showed a notable reduction in heart rate, respiratory rate, and stress level across the board, while also showing an increase in her “body battery.” The recorded results were consistent from session to session with only minor variations. The best result was achieved (meaning the greatest increase in “body battery” and reduction of stress level) in the session shortly after returning from a week-long work trip. During this session, the client reported that she thought she had fallen asleep, but the device did not record it as sleep. It was recorded as very deep relaxation. (She was in what many therapists refer to as “the zone.”) The least “recharging” result was achieved in the session a few days before the client’s wedding. However, upon seeing the data, she commented that she did not feel particularly stressed before the wedding, she was simply excited about the upcoming event. What a useful tool it is to have the technology to record biofeedback and confirm what we already know, which is that devoting the time and money to consistent therapeutic massage is good for our physical and mental health. getting caught in a traffic jam because of a car accident up ahead or running late for an important meeting, and chronic stress is a response to repeated exposure to a consistently high level of stress over time, like being caught in the same traffic jam every day as part of your morning commute to a job that you absolutely abhor. How we approach our sessions with our clients is different for each of these two types of stress, as the same protocol might not be equally effective for both. As professionals, it is imperative that we know when and how to apply our skills for the best possible outcomes on a session-by-session basis. A brief conversation with the client before they get on the table should provide you with enough information to proceed. Even a regular client that you see every week can have acutely stressful days, so it is important to check in at the start of each session. Don’t assume that you should take the same approach every time. Acute stress puts the client in a state of heightened tension because they are in the thick of the stress response. If, for example, your client was caught in an unexpected traffic jam on their way to your office, they are going to be more tense than usual when they are getting on your table. If the stressor was a minor situation like traffic, it might work well to start the session with some lighter relaxation work before diving in to deeper, more therapeutic trigger point work
your muscles relax. The relaxation response also seems to increase the available level of serotonin, which is a chemical in the body that positively affects emotions and thoughts” (Burgan, 2016). All these elements combined are a recipe for reducing stress symptoms and attaining better health. The other important element that therapeutic massage can provide is human touch. As discussed in Section 2, touch is vital to humans as a species, and therapeutic massage harnesses the power of touch for targeted therapeutic purposes. As we saw previously, touch triggers chemical changes in the body by raising levels or oxytocin, dopamine, and serotonin, which can have a positive impact on the body and brain in a way that nothing else can. Numerous studies have shown the power of touch for assisting the development of preterm babies, as well as Case study A 53-year-old professional woman who is a regular therapeutic massage client (meaning she gets a massage approximately once per month and has been seeing the same therapist for a number of years) is tracking her health data through a wearable fitness device. As an athlete, she uses this device to track heart rate, respiratory rate, and what the device software refers to as the “body battery” to determine if the body has had sufficient rest and recovery following a workout or athletic event. In this case, the client is primarily a runner. She also uses the device to track her sleep, as it can measure the quality of sleep. She has no specific injuries or illnesses, only areas of chronic tension due to lifestyle and exercise. She has received therapy to work on body tension and to help with postural training in the past. However, she continues to experience intermittent tension pain that is best relieved by soft tissue work. During a six-month period during which she was planning a wedding, traveling for work, and considering a job change, she wanted to track her fitness data with this device during her sessions to see how therapeutic massage impacted the data recorded by the device. Sessions were kept consistent as a combination of relaxation work for the entire body with some more specific and deeper work in problem areas. experience of stress can be misleading. Doctors at Columbia University Irving Medical Center describe the difference as such: Imagine one stressful week at work or school with three particularly difficult days. On each of these days you feel moderately anxious, have a headache, and bodily and mental fatigue that makes you consider canceling your evening plans. However, you feel relatively replenished and back to normal physically and mentally on most mornings after these difficult days. In this case, you are probably experiencing instances of typical stress. Now imagine many weeks in a row of difficult days and feeling emotionally overwhelmed. You are consistently depleted to the point of exhaustion, often feel your heart beating quickly even when sitting still, or you are developing a mysterious, debilitating pain in your lower back that is getting progressively worse. In this case, you could be experiencing the effects of chronic stress. (Columbia University Irving Medical Center, 2023) Because there is a difference between acute stress and chronic stress, the type of therapeutic massage we would apply would be different in those two situations. Acute stress is a response to a sudden or dramatic situation, like
Effect of therapeutic massage acute stress versus chronic stress What is the difference between acute and chronic stress, and which is worse for our health? Our day-to-day
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