Massage Therapy and Touch

What makes the difference between “just massage”, and a unique massage therapy experience?

A Personal Touch

One of the most subjective expressions people use to describe a personal experience is “That is or was so touching”. The expression implies the range of emotions and inner state the person experiences when exposed to a nice gesture someone has towards them or in circumstances such as when in the theatre, watching a film or the television, one is able to empathise with a character who  just revealed their inner most feelings.

In many ways, this expression not only summarises what an important part the sense of touch of plays in our lives, but also what Massage Therapy can do for us.

Touch is a basic human instinct all of us are born with:

• A newborn baby gets the majority of useful information in the first several months of life through his or her skin. Current thinking defines touch as the primary organizer of normal human development when viewed at biological, psychological and even social levels.
  
• Reaching out and touching another person is a universal action that offers love and caring.
  
• A person's sense of self apparently originates in body awareness, body functions, and body activities that centre on the sense of touch.

The Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami School of Medicine has carried out more than 100 studies into touch and found evidence of significant effects, including faster growth in premature babies, reduced pain, decreased autoimmune disease symptoms, lowered glucose levels in children with diabetes, and improved immune systems in people with cancer.

The Institute also researched the effects of massage therapy at all stages of life, from newborns to senior citizens.  These studies show that massage therapy has many positive effects. For example:

• Facilitates weight gain in preterm infants
• Enhances attentiveness
• Alleviates depressive symptoms
• Reduces pain
• Reduces stress hormones
• Improves immune function

It may be that touch works, but it needs the right person, in the right mood, doing the touching. Here at BTS we provide therapists who are passionate about what they do and are client-centred, tailoring each treatment to the particular needs of each client, making each treatment a unique massage experience.

Antonio B, Massage Therapist