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Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Post Natal Massage to Address Common Complaints Following Pregnancy

Post Natal Massage is recognized as beneficial in many cultures around the world. In countries such as India and China, post natal massage is a normal part of after birth adjunctive medical care. Most women who live in India have two or more massage therapy sessions a week for several weeks after the birth of their baby. The reasons for this are two fold.
First, there are many areas of tension and soreness that were caused by carrying the baby, and then by pushing during labor. Muscles that are most affected by the pushing include the quadratus lumborum, which is on the side of the body, and the lower abdominal muscles. The muscles of the lower back and hips are also affected, although they are primarily made sore by the pregnancy itself.

Post natal massage therapy is quite effective in addressing these common concerns after pregnancy, especially the very common muscle soreness that develops during pregnancy and labor. Other areas of tension and soreness that are often present are in the hip area, especially the gluteus maximus, minimus, and piriformis muscles. Piriformis syndrome can also develop after delivery as well as before, and can be addressed by deep tissue post natal massage.

Another common complaint for post natal women are the issues that occur from nursing. When nursing, the new mother holds her newborn up on one side of the body, and cranes her neck to see her baby to assist with bonding. This position causes tension in the side of the neck and in the shoulder area, especially the top of the shoulders such as the trapezius.

Post natal massage therapy is very effective in addressing all of these muscular related tensions and other issues caused by pregnancy, labor, and nursing. It is most beneficial to find a therapist certified in pre and post natal massage, since there are a number of issues specific to pregnancy that continue for several months after the baby is delivered. If a massage therapist is not experienced in post natal massage, they can unintentionally cause harm to the new mother.
For more information, or to schedule a session of post natal massage, please visit our pregnancy massage page at postnatal-massage.njmassage.info by clicking here.

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Massage For Children Suffering From Autism Shows Promise As An Adjunctive Treatment

Children suffering from autism and the autism spectrum disorders are often in a very lonely and vulnerable place. They are unable to communicate with their peers, parents, or other adults who are trying to help them. Autism is a disorder that is characterized by brain development issues, where social interaction, intellectual ability, motor coordination, and other aspects of the person’s development are affected.
Oftentimes, the child suffering from Autism Spectrum Disorder will excel in creative activities such as art and music. Naturally, parents of these children, who are often also extremely gifted and highly intelligent, are looking for ways to help their children to develop into healthy and well-adjusted adults. Autism has increased in frequency ten fold over the last forty years, with improved diagnostics and testing having been determined not to be responsible for this increase.

So, more children are suffering around the world with this disorder, for which parents are justifiably lead to seek out alternative treatment options to help their children. Most of the treatments offered for children on the autism spectrum center around behavior therapy and behavior interventions. There are many different types, but most of them have been proven to be effective.

There are, however, additional methods that can be used in the treatment of autism and related disorders. Massage therapy, for example, has been shown in various studies to be effective in reducing stereotypical autistic behaviors in children when compared with a control group. Stereotypical behaviors are those such as touch aversion, off task behavior, orienting to irrelevant sounds, and withdrawal. In three studies on the effects of massage therapy on these children, these behaviors were significantly reduced.

For those seeking to add more help for their children with autism, massage therapy holds definite promise. Another modality that has been shown to be effective in the treatment of autism is CranioSacral Therapy. Having been studied primarily in a case study environment, there are no studies that have been performed with a control group. However, an article on autism which can be linked to here, publishes the conclusions of John Upledger, who has worked with many children with autism spectrum disorders.

He concludes that in many cases of autism, membrane tensions of the craniosacral system due to inflammation may be a significant causative factor in the development of autism. He additionally recommends that those receiving craniosacral therapy for autism continue to receive it throughout their growth period, as their growth spurts can create additional membrane tensions as they grow older.
If your children are suffering from autism or from autism spectrum disorder, and you are interested in learning more about how massage therapy can help, you can visit our website by clicking here. You can also visit our massage benefits area for autism by clicking here. Pediatric massage for kids is available from Mountainside On Site Massage Therapy.