Tag: depression

Massage and Diabetes

Massage continues to grow as a complementary therapy for everything from simple aches and pains to more serious illnesses. Despite stereotypical images of people experiencing a relaxing/spa type massage, nearly 75% of those who seek massage do so for a specific health complaint for which they have already consulted a physician. Diabetes is no exception.

Researchers at the CDC estimate that more than 29.1 million Americans (almost 10% of the population) have diabetes. About 27% of these are undiagnosed. While diabetes is more common in seniors (about 1 in 4 seniors are diagnosed with diabetes), the prevalence in youth is growing as well.

The good news is that diagnosis is getting more accurate and prevention and treatment options growing. So what role does massage play in those with diabetes? Turns out, there are several major benefits.

What massage can do for diabetes

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Massage As Substance Abuse Rehab Helper

While massage has been practiced for thousands of years, medical science and research really woke up to the benefits beginning in the 1990s. As more studies about substance abuse have emerged, it is clear from the findings that massage can have significant and lasting benefits for the body. Those benefits extended well beyond simple relief from aches and pains to dramatic positive effects on mental state and positive attitude. It was only a matter of time before massage became a tool for helping alleviate symptoms arising from depression. Recently, massage has begun to appear as a regular beneficial treatment for those who suffer from addictions.

How addiction works

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Fight Holiday Depression

Believe it or not, sometimes the “holiday season of joy” brings on a surprising sidekick. Stress and depression. It kind of makes sense… there are things to prepare for, shopping (and worries about money), entertaining, travel and many more behaviors that are confined to a very short time period once a year. Holiday depression is more common than you might think. It’s also something that, with a little forethought, you can eliminate or at least control holiday depression.

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Can You Find Yourself in these Massage Profiles?

couple runAll kinds of people seek massage therapy for all kinds of different reasons.  The end result is almost always pain relief and relaxation.

Here’s a snapshot of some of the most likely types of people who seek and benefit from  regular massage. Can you find yourself or someone else you know in this list?

  1. Betty/Billy Back Pain. Back pain comes from joints, muscles, joints in the spine, bones, and nerves around the back. The pain could be in one area or could have a wider spread effect on an individual. A massage helps this client feel and function better compared to friends who don’t receive any massage treatment. Studies show it improves range of motion and decreases discomfort, too. Continue reading “Can You Find Yourself in these Massage Profiles?”

Soothe Summertime Sadness

sad faceSummertime is a time of sunshine, renewal and activity. It’s a time to get outdoors and reconnect with nature. It’s time to be happy. Well, usually.

Depending on your current circumstances, sometimes summertime can bring on sadness. While others seem carefree, you’re feeling a little sad or stressed, or both. You wonder why you feel like you’re in a daze or just don’t feel like engaging with other people. Welcome to summertime sadness.

Causes of summertime sadness

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Wellness Check Up

It’s good to stop and take a look at yourself now and then. In addition to the good things in life, we all get a few challenges. Sometimes you get injured. Sometimes you become ill. Sometimes your work, your family and your relationships cause you stress. Sometimes your muscles ache. And sometimes, you are just tired and need a break from your insane schedule. There’s a growing base of research that suggests that regular massage can have a profound positive effect on most of the challenges you face.

Take a look at this list of common wellness issues and check any and all that apply to you, then check the list below to see how you can more toward more wellness:

___ I am under stress from a relationship, from work, or just life in general.

___ I am very active and sometimes experience aches and pains

___ I am not as active as I should be and sometimes experience stiffness and soreness

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20 Things Happy People Do

Happiness really is a state of mind. Everyone defines it a bit differently. For some, it’s contentment, others satisfaction, some pleasure, some joy, some well-being, and for others just “feeling all right”.

Your happiness is influenced both by your perception of what’s going on in your life and actual environmental occurrences. Happy people actually do things that keep them happy.  In other words, they actively pursue happiness, sometimes instinctively, sometimes because they’ve learned good habits, other times because they feel the need to be even happier.

Think about Scrat, the squirrel from the Ice Age films. He’s oh so happy when he finally gets his tiny hands on his beloved acorn. But think also that Scrat goes to great lengths to move toward his goal. As long as he is moving toward the goal, actually taking steps forward, he’s moving closer to his nut every moment. Luckily, you don’t have to scale icebergs or slide off cliffs to be happy, but you do have to work at it. Here are twenty things, in no particular order, that you can do to help yourself move your brain toward a happier perception of yourself and your world.

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Massage Can Significantly Reduce Anxiety

Anxiety disorders affect almost 7 million American adults–about twice as many women as men. Anxiety comes on gradually, typically between childhood and middle age. A Surgeon General’s report on Mental Health revealed that 16% of adults between the ages of 18 and 54 suffer from various anxiety disorders for at least one year.

Causes of anxiety

The causes of anxiety are many, which is one of the reasons it’s so common. Anxiety is produced when you are overly concerned about relationship or job issues, many, your health, and lots more. These concerns blend into negative, fearful thoughts about the future or debilitating guilt about the past.

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Is Holiday Stress Real?

The holiday season can be one of the most joyous times of the year. Festive decorations, gifting, renewed connections with friends and family, and a chance to reflect on the year behind and the year to come. All around you there are reminders of the season, the Christmas tree lots, travel, schedule changes, and a barrage of retail advertising.

There are also plenty of reasons to be stressed. Obligations, office parties, and keeping up with family traditions, spending money, and worrying about how it will all work out.  Holiday stress is very real and can have a huge impact on how you experience and feel the holiday season. If you’re prone to stress, have had depression in the past, or are fighting clinical depression now, this can be a tough time if you don’t take control.  In a study by the American Psychological Association, fully eighty percent of Americans anticipated stress during the holiday season.  Another study suggests a whopping 69 percent attribute their stress to money related concerns.

Five ways to fight holiday stress Continue reading “Is Holiday Stress Real?”

The Link Between Acne and Stress

Stress does crazy things to us.  Stress can make us irritable and short tempered, put us in a bad mood and send us off for a fast food frenzy.   Stress can also have some pretty wide-ranging physiological effects too.  High stress has been linked to hair loss, memory problems, poor judgement, negativity, constipation, dizziness, loss of sex drive, moodiness, agitation, feelings of loneliness and isolation, eating too much or too little, procrastination, nail biting and and yes, acne outbreaks. Wow.

The good news is that if you focus on treating symptoms of the stress, and if that focus leads to taking steps to reduce the cause of the stress, you’ve taking the first steps to dialing down the stress in your life.

Are you stressed?

Stress is anything that adversely effects our emotional or physical wellbeing.  Emotional stress is very common, and very often triggered by life events like:

  • relationship problems
  • overwhelming workload or issues with your boss/manager/coworkers
  • loved ones who have declining health
  • a big event, like a final exam, wedding or presentation
  • being bullied
  • academic pressures

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Six Life Hacks for Wellness

earbudmomLife hacks are a strategies or techniques adopted in order to manage your time and daily activities in a more efficient or more ingenious way. Here are six of our favorites, mostly because they’re so practical, so easy to do, and have such a great impact.

1. Eat an orange before your next workout or hike

Oranges are a quick energy source and are a a solid source of simple carbohydrates. They’re also packed with vitamin C, fiber, potassium and electrolytes. Research studies also suggest oranges are good for immune support and everything from protection against arthritis to preventing ulcers.

2. When you feel depressed, try housecleaning

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Massage Helps Build Positive Attitude

positivethinkingDid you know optimism combats stress? That’s right, having a positive attitude actually reduces stressors in your life.  You worry less. You believe that things are going to work out and stress less about the small things. Positive thinking also helps stop “negative self-talk”–those little voices telling you to expect the worst.  This is all a conscious decision.  And positive thinking positively works.

For thousands of years, massage recipients have known that therapeutic massage reduces stress and people who get regular massage are generally much happier.  It turns out that there is evidence that massage also helps you have a more positive outlook on life and helps you cope better with the things that make you stressed.

Massage calms the mind

Massage can help you feel better about yourself and the relaxation can help with focus after your session. Anyone who has had a relaxing massage knows that when you finish, you feel peaceful and even a little “foggy”.  This “fogginess” is a true sign that for the time you were on the table you experienced “physical ease” which your body carries over into emotional ease. And while your mind and all your thoughts were focused on the quiet stillness of relaxation, your stress melted away.

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Childhood Trauma and Massage

Trauma is a “stressful event or events that are ongoing or unpredictable that result in overwhelming feelings of fear, anxiety, and helplessness”. Trauma can be caused by natural disasters/events (like tornadoes, earthquakes, fire, flood, explosion) or physical, psychological or emotional injury caused by abuse, neglect and/or willful misconduct.

Everyone responds to traumatic events differently.  Children, for example, sometimes deal with trauma is they simply freezing and become unresponsive, their “fight or flight” basic instincts are engaged.  Hearts pump, breathing goes rapid and shallow, hands perspire, stomachs tighten.  Children lack the ego strengths and cognitive emotional inhibitors necessary to cope with trauma, so they respond with physical hyper-arousal (like ADHD), emotional numbing or reactivity, startle responses, all which can lead to neuro-endocrine abnormalities and developmental delays.

In adults, response to trauma can include aches and pains like headaches & backaches, sudden sweating or heart palpitations, changes in sleep patterns, enhanced startle reflex, fear, anxiety, grief, hyper-alertness, irritability, mood swings, shame, guilt and more.  It’s pretty clear that trauma has significant impact on physical and emotional wellness.

Long term effects

In some cases, in both children and adults, trauma can lead to PTS (Post Traumatic Stress) which manifests itself in flashbacks, intrusive thoughts or nightmares, avoidance and emotional numbing, and physical symptoms like elevated heart rate. Those symptoms can be long lasting.

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ADHD: Why Massage Works

adhdlogoAttention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) affects about 3-5 percent of children and it’s known that symptoms carry on to adulthood affecting about 4% of adults.  ADHD affects males at higher rate than females in childhood, but this ratio seems to even out by adulthood. While medication is often used to treat the condition, research suggests that periodic massage can have some profoundly positive results with dealing with the symptoms and helping sufferers clear their head, calm themselves, and focus.

ADHD condition is characterized by inattention, hyperactivity and impulsiveness.  Adults with ADHD may have difficulty following directions, remembering information, concentrating, organizing tasks, or completing work within time limits. If these difficulties are not managed appropriately, they can cause associated behavioral, emotional, social, vocational, and academic problems.

Besides well documented symptoms like hyperactivity, other symptoms may include stubbornness, having a “short fuse” when it comes to temper, defiance, and a strong tolerance for very loud music or other noise. ADHD sufferers may also seek physical stimulation, including touch. It’s not uncommon to see a strong liking for very hot or very cold showers, back rubs, and activities that stimulate any of the senses, such as video games, sports and most any kind of exercise.  It’s that touch-seeking behavior, and lack of focus demonstrated by some with ADHD that drove researchers to see if massage could help. Continue reading “ADHD: Why Massage Works”

Massage Therapy Can Help Depression

 

depressionblogDepression is a huge public health issue, and treatment ranges from pet therapy to heavy-dose medication. A research report published by the American Journal of Psychiatry indicates that massage may help.

While massage can ease stress and tension and may have emotional benefits, studies of the use of massage therapy in depressed patients were lacking.

 “Overall, the studies showed that massage therapy had “potentially significant effects” in alleviating symptoms of depression” (American Journal of Psychiatry, March 2010)

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