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Massage Therapy
Added: (Thu Aug 25 2005)
FACTS / STUDIES
STUDIES:
~German emperor Frederick II, took a number of newborns from their mothers and gave them to nurses who fed them but did not cuddle or talk to them. All of the babies died before they could talk. Fredrick concluded "They could not live without petting."
~In the early 1990's, Romania, thousands of infants were put in orphanages, they were left in their cribs for two years, all alone. They were found to be severely impaired.
~Duke Professor Saul Schanberg found that rat pups separated from their parents for 45 minutes underwent major internal changes including a large drop in growth hormones. Injections of growth hormones didn't help. But when someone stroked them with a wet paintbrush-- mimicking their mothers tongue--the hormone levels went back up.
INTERESTING FACTS ON TOUCH:
~Touch is the first sense to develop in humans, and may be the last to fade
~there are approximately 5 million touch receptors in our skin-- 3000 in a finger tip
~a touch of any kind can reduce the heart rate and lower blood pressure
~touch stimulates the release of endorphins (the body's natural pain killers) which is why a mother's hug for a child's skinned knee can literally make it better
~people with eating disorders who receive massage three time a day for ten day's, gain weight faster and got out of the hospital six days sooner than those who don't
~elderly people who massage surrogate grandchildren report higher-esteem and better moods
~massage before an athletic event, makes the athlete more flexible, enhanced speed and power, and less prone to injury
* One in five Americans have had a massage from a massage therapist in the past five years and 13% report receiving one in the past year. This is up 8% from 1997.
* Today, there are more than 60,000 Nationally Certified practitioners that serve millions of consumers.
* Nationally Certified practitioners provide expertise in various areas of therapeutic massage and body work; Nationally Certified practitioners provide expertise in various areas of therapeutic massager and body work, including Swedish massage, shiatsu, polarity therapy, RolfingŪ, TragerŪ techniques, reflexology, neuromuscular therapy and many more.
* In 1996, massage therapy and bodywork was officially offered for the first time as a core medical service in the Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta. At the Games, Nationally Certified practitioners were providing key medical services.
* Thirty-one states and the District of Columbia now regulate the practice of therapeutic massage and bodywork. Of those, twenty-five states, in addition to the District of Columbia, now use the NCBTMB examination as meeting (in part or in whole) the requirements of regulation.
* NCBTMB currently has over 600 Approved Providers of Continuing Education.
* Consumers spend between $2 and $4 billion dollars annually on visits to massage and bodywork practitioners, totaling approximately 75 million visits each year.
* The three most often cited reasons for getting a therapeutic massage are relaxation (27%), relief of muscle soreness, stiffness or spasm (13%), and stress reduction (10%).