Physical Benefits of Therapeutic Massage
(Source: AMTA)
"Often times people are stressed in our culture. Stress related disorders make up between 80 and 90 percent of the ailments that bring people to family practice physicians. What they require is someone to listen, someone to touch them, someone to care. That does not exist in modern medicine.
One of the complaints heard frequently is that physicians don't touch their patients any more. Touch just isn't there. Years ago massage was a big part of nursing. There was so much care, so much touch, so much goodness conveyed through massage. Now nurses for the most part are as busy as physicians. They're writing charts, dealing with insurance notes, they're doing procedures and often there is no room for massage any more.
I believe massage therapy is absolutely key in the healing process not only in the hospital environment but because it relieves stress, it is obviously foundational in the healing process any time and anywhere."
Joan Borysenko - Massage Journal Interview, Fall 1999
Aromatherapy involves the use of aromatic essential oils extracted from plants, trees and flowers that are believed to provide therapeutic benefits. The theory is that the olfactory system (associated with the sense of smell) converts scents into signals that travel to the portion of the brain known as the limbic system. The limbic system is a very primitive portion of the brain and is involved in generation of emotions and primal urges. These signals provide a pathway to our emotions and memories, along with affecting physical changes in our body such as appetite and stress level. The ability of fragrant oils to induce relaxation is widely accepted.
Several oils are frequently used in aromatherapy. Lavender oil has been incorporated into many topical products for its ability to induce relaxation. A variety of pure essential oils is used at Aubergine & Spa to insure your wellbeing : lavender, rose, bergamot, orange, lemon, rosemary, thyme, cedarwood, marjoram, tea tree and more.
Each essence has a different property and effect eg tea tree oil is antiseptic, anti-fungal and antibacterial and is used to treat respiratory and women's problems as well as skin conditions. There are many such oils in use all with their own distinctive properties. The oils can be mixed in a base and used for massage, or can be inhaled. They affect mood and stress levels as well as physical and emotional well being.
Thalassotherapy, derived from the Greek word thalassos meaning "sea", involves treatments that incorporate the use of seawater and seaweed. It includes seawater baths, algae masks and wraps. Seaweed is believed by some to be nature’s source of complete and balanced nutrients, containing many elements that are essential to the human body. The chemical composition of seawater is similar to human plasma, however the protective nature of the skin does not allow most of these ingredients to penetrate to the lower living layers of skin cells. At spas, the seawater bath is usually heated to approximately 105°F. It provides relaxation and often soothes sore muscles.
Body Wraps involve applying a substance such as clay, an essential oil, or as we do at Aubergine & Spa; a substance of algea and pure French mud and then wrapping the body in hot linens, plastic sheets or blankets. The heat induced sweating that occurs can stimulate metabolism and then release toxins and receive the minerals of the substance applied.
Balneotherapy refers to therapy associated with bathing. Balneotherapy usually incorporates the use of substances found in nature, such as sea or mineral water and peat substances in heated submersion baths. They have been used for their ability to relieve pain and improve the general sense of well being. They are relaxing and provide relief for sore muscles. Bathing is commonly viewed in our society as source of relaxation or rejuvenation.
A whirlpool bath, being a type of balneotherapy, involves soaking in a tub or pool of circulating, warm (or hot) water containing air bubbles. It increases circulation and causes relaxation and a general feeling of well being. Many people claim a therapeutic benefit of easing soreness in the muscles or pain in the joints.
Ceremonial bathing has existed for thousands of years and has many forms, one of which is the sauna. The Finns have perfected the steam bath, or sauna, which may be taken, usually in an enclosed room, by pouring water over hot rocks or as a dry heat bath. The Japanese, Greeks, Turks and Russians as well as Native Americans have forms of the sweat bath in their bathing rituals. Dry heat and steam baths had advocates in ancient Rome and pre-Columbian Americans used sweat lodges.
Saunas offer a heat treatment in a wood lined room to make the body perspire. The air can be relatively dry, or water can be sprinkled on the walls or over the stones in the sauna to increase humidity. Since the skin is an excretory organ, sweating causes the elimination of some waste products, which causes many to claim that saunas have a detoxifying effect.
Saunas are relaxing and stress relieving. Those with muscle aches or arthritis may find that the heat relaxes muscles and relieves pain and inflammation. Asthma patients find that the heat dilates air passageways of the lung and facilitates breathing. Saunas do not cure the common cold but they may help to alleviate congestion and speed recovery time. The body's core temperature usually rises a 1-2 degrees while in the sauna, thus imitating a slight fever. The sauna could be considered to follow the old adage "starve a cold, feed a fever". The regular use of a sauna may decrease the likelihood of getting a cold in the first place.
Sauna is good for your skin as the blood flow to the skin increases and sweating occurs. Adults sweat about 2 lbs or water per hour on average in a sauna. A good sweat removes dirt and grime from pores and gives the skin a healthy glow. The loss is water weight is temporary as the body's physiological mechanisms will quickly restore proper volumes. The cardiovascular system gets a work out as the heart must pump harder and faster to move blood to the surface for heat exchange. Heart rate may increase from 72 beats per minute on average to 100-150 beats per minute.
A normal heart can handle these stresses but those with heart trouble wishing to begin to use a sauna should seek a doctors advice. The elderly and those with diabetes or circulatory conditions should check with their doctor prior to beginning to take saunas. Pregnant women should not take saunas, particularly in the first trimester. In deed, everyone just starting out should take short sessions at first to acclimate. Also, those with weak health should avoid intervening dips in very cold water or rolling in the snow. These practices put undue stress on the cardiovascular system, and while said to be enjoyable, are undertaken at some risk.
Heavy meals and alcohol should be avoided prior to entering the sauna. Digestion requires a good deal of blood flow to the gastrointestinal system and therefore limits the heat exchange capability of the blood vascular system. As a depressant, alcohol can dull the senses so that you don't realize how hot you are getting or may cause you to fall asleep. Drinking water is not a bad idea in the sauna as it replaces fluids lost via sweating.
At the beginning of the sauna the temperature is roughly 70-90 °C (dependent on personal preference) and the humidity level is very low, perhaps 5-10%, As the occupants begin to sweat and it evaporates the humidity rises within the stove room.
At first, these sweating sessions should be limited to 5-15 minutes. A cool dip or dry cool down in the outside air is next in the sequence. This sweat/cool cycle is repeated 3 times as a guideline, but is really up to the bather and his/her comfort. Following the final cool down, the bather should wash and scrub with a washcloth or loofa to exfoliate. The bather then enters the relaxation room to stop sweating and dry off naturally.
Imagine how it began. Perhaps an ancient Australopithecus discovered the healing effects of drinking from a mineral spring. Maybe wandering humanoids soaked their tired feet in the steaming pools of an ancient geyser. All we know is that from a very early time our ancestors enjoyed the benifits of hot mineral springs and hydrotherapy was born.
Spas have been associated with relaxation and renewal for centuries. The word "Spa" (originally Hungarian) became a generic expression used to refer to natural mineral springs and the surrounding areas where people come to relax and take "The Cure". Spa-goers have for centuries soaked in baths from the hot springs, imbibed the mineral waters and used the enriched mud for cosmetic and therapeutic treatments. More recently clay, seaweed and herbal wraps have become popular to tone the skin and detoxify the body.
In Roman times, three or so millenniums ago, spas were elevated to an artform. Roman baths included private rooms with tubs as well as steam rooms and public bathing areas. Saunas and stone bath tubs were serviced by elaborate aqueduct systems carrying the mineral waters throughout the complex. The oldest Roman spa still in existence is in Merano, Italy where there is evidence of organized use of the springs dating back 5000 years. As the Roman Empire spread accross Europe many new spa centers were constructed.
In the town of Bath, England the revitalizing qualities of hot springs were known long before the Romans. Generating over one million gallons of mineral water per day, the waters of Bath are 120°F and contain some thirty elements including magnesium, potassium, sulfur, and calcium. The water also has a slight radioactive background reading. Visitors today can see the inner workings of the ingenious facility including well preserved steam rooms and the subterranian fire chambers used to produce the steam.
The town "Spa" in Belgium drew people from many areas to its healing waters during the 16th century.
Many of the European spas built in the 18th and 19th centuries were set in majestic surroundings with panoramic views of mountains and lakes. These mountain retreats were staffed by medical practicioners who prescribed and monitored the treatments. Over time, some of these grand spas added world-class restaurants, symphonies, gambling casinos and even race tracks to please the sophisticated clientele. For the royal, the rich and the celebrated, this was "the good life." Indeed, in those times, spa-going had as much to do with social intrigue as with the treatments. State dinners, royal weddings and affairs were conducted at the best spas, and as one spa became "passe" the clientele would move to another. After the departure of Imperial families, the aristocracy and the rich socialites from a particular spa, there came composers, artists, writers and their groupies. European spa treatments and techniques have evolved over centuries and remain today as sophisticated as their establishments.
North American spas are still young by spa standards. The oldest, Saratoga Hot Springs in New York State was known to the Mohawk Indians for many centuries before it was seen by any white man. (Saratoga means "the place of the medicine waters of the great spirit" in the local indian dialect.) Begining in 1790, the natural hot springs at Saratoga became a commercial enterprise offering first rate accommodations and spa treatments.
In modern times the term "Spa" has liberally been used used to describe anything from a Jacuzzi bath, to neighborhood hot tub establishments, to deluxe resorts. In the twentieth century the first superspas were built catering not just to the rich, but also to families, overstressed executives, and young professionals.
Now, at the turn of the 21st century, spas are changing with public awareness, graduating from hedonism into an age of holistic awareness. Quality of life, life balancing, and inner awareness are now viewed as equally important contributors to wellbeing as exercise, healthy diet and relaxation.