Three Last Minute Gift Ideas For Your Health-Conscious Friends and Family Members

While the holidays are traditionally the time we all think of gift-giving, the quest for the perfect gift comes up many times a year.  Birthdays, anniversaries, Valentine’s Day, office celebrations, and many other holidays celebrated by various cultures, many of which include the giving of gifts, come up throughout the year.  This handy list of five gift ideas may find usefulness at any time you are stumped for a gift idea for your friend or family.  Gift certificates are often the go-to choice for gift giving, but not every gift certificate is appropriate for everyone.  Here is a short list of gift certificates that will suit everyone on your list, and they are easy to get and easy to give, and are nearly always well-received. 

The first gift idea on this list is a massage gift certificate.  There are very few people who don’t love a session of massage therapy.  Massage means relaxation; it means calmness; it means the ability to take a break from one’s hectic and crazy schedule.  Add to these benefits the extra benefit brought about by a gift certificate for a massage in the home, and it becomes the ultimate soothing gift, most loved by those you care about the most. 

Massage gift certificates are easy to buy, and are just a click away.  Easily purchase a gift certificate online, and you can choose to have it printed and mailed, or emailed to you or the recipient for printing at home.  Then you loved one simply calls or goes online to book their session, and the massage therapist comes to their home to provide the massage. 

A second gift idea for the health conscious individual is a set of yoga classes.  If your loved one already takes yoga classes, you can either buy a group of classes at their studio, or give them a set from a new yoga studio, perhaps your favorite one.  If they love yoga, they may like your teacher better than their teacher, and will appreciate the opportunity to try a new class at a new studio.  Or, if they are particularly fond of their teacher, be sure to contact them to arrange the gift. 

A third gift, which is also specific to the health conscious individual, is a gym membership.  As before, if they have a preferred gym, be sure to get the certificate there so that they don’t have to change gyms to use your gift.  Perhaps there is a new aerobics class they have been wanting to try, in which case you can get them a gift certificate for aerobics classes at their favorite gym. 

Of course, my favorite gift from this list would be the Massage Gift Certificate.  An hour or more of relaxation, watching my stress melt away during the session, is the ultimate gift for me.  And it is probably the best gift for many of your loved ones.  So that may be your first choice for a gift idea for your sister, brother, best friend, mother, father, and anyone other special person in your life.  You can be sure it will be appreciated, and it may even lead them into a healthy habit of getting regularly scheduled massages at home, easily and conveniently booked.  Everyone can benefit from a massage, and your friends and family will love the chance to get one for themselves. 

I hope this short list is helpful the next time you are stumped for ideas for the loved ones in your life.  Health conscious or not, they are sure to appreciate these gifts. 

Study Shows Benefits of Massage Are Boosted by Frequent Sessions

A recent study published in the Journal of Alternative and Complimentary Medicine, and reported in the Emory News Center, which can be linked to here, has shown that the biological effects of massage therapy are boosted when multiple massage sessions are received. The effects of massage that have been studied previously are cumulative and sustained. The persistent effects can last from a few days to a few weeks, and are dependent on how many sessions a patient received.


Read more by clicking here.

Holiday Massage Gift Certificates Make A Thoughtful Gift

Massage therapy has long been recognized as being valuable for relieving stress, but it is only now becoming apparent how very valuable that actually is. Stress causes all kinds of disorders, from high blood pressure to migraine headaches, along with depressed immunity, frequent colds, and the flu. Massage therapy can help to address these conditions at their core, by reducing stress, as well as boosting immune cells and lowering blood pressure.

Perhaps you are seeking a unique and individual gift for your loved one this holiday season. The promise of stress relief offered by massage, and especially mobile massage, will bring a smile to anyone’s face. Imagine the joy and surprise when your loved one learns that not only do they get some well-earned relaxation, they also don’t have to travel anywhere to receive it. Their massage is given right in their own home, where they are most comfortable, most familiar, and perhaps most importantly, most able to relax.

Relaxation is an invaluable and quite rare in today’s fast paced world of 48 hour or longer work weeks, along with taking the kids to soccer practice, karate, and all sorts of other activities. Show your loved one that you truly care about their well being this holiday season by giving them the gift of relaxation: a mobile massage gift certificate.

For more information, or to purchase massage gift certificates for your loved one, please click here.

Massage Increases Immune Cells and Reduces Anxiety in Breast Cancer Patients

Massage therapy has been shown to have numerous beneficial effects on people suffering from cancer. From alleviating anxiety, pain, anger, and depressed mood, to more definable immune effects, massage therapy is an excellent adjunct care method for those suffering from cancer.

Several studies have demonstrated that individuals suffering from certain types of cancer including breast, lung, and stomach cancer, patients who were given massage therapy had a lower amount of nausea and vomiting following chemotherapy treatments. Additionally, these same patients reported have lowered anxiety, physical discomfort, fatigue, and mood disturbance when tested against a control group that did not receive massage.

Perhaps even more importantly than the outcomes mentioned above are the effects noted on cancer patients with regard to their Natural Killer (NK) cell activity. In two separate studies, one reported in Autonomic Neuroscience, and another reported in the Journal of Psychosomatic Research, (see references at the end of the article), massage therapy had a positive effect on Natural Killer cell activity.

Natural Killer cell activity can often deteriorate during radiation and chemotherapy, which has a negative effect on the body’s own ability to fight off infection. Oftentimes, people being treated with radiation and chemo will contract secondary infections in addition to the cancer, further complicating their medical treatment.

In the study reported in Autonomic Neuroscience in 2009, “massage decreased the deterioration of natural killer cell activity occurring during radiation therapy…” Since radiation therapy is so damaging to the body’s immunity, the fact that massage therapy can help to counter that negative effect is very important news for those undergoing this type of treatment.

In the study reported in Journal of Psychosomatic Research, a group of women with Stage 1 or 2 breast cancer were treated with massage or a control group receiving no massage therapy. At the end of the study, a subset of the women had their blood drawn to measure their immune system. The women had increased Natural Killer cell activity versus the control group after the massage intervention. Since cancer is a disease that has negative effects on overall immunity, and the treatments provided also decrease immunity while they are active, massage therapy shows promise as an adjunct treatment to help with these specific issues.

In conclusion, it appears from these and other studies published in the scientific literature that most cancer patients, whether in active treatment or just diagnosed with cancer, can benefit from massage therapy. To view more studies about massage therapy with regard to various conditions, please visit our studies page by clicking here. For information on booking a massage therapy appointment, or for our long term massage care packages for your loved one, please visit our website by clicking here.

References:

The effect of massage on immune function and stress in women with breast cancer--a randomized controlled trial; Billhult A, Lindholm C, Gunnarsson R, Stener-Victorin E. Auton Neurosci. 2009 Oct 5;150(1-2)


Breast cancer patients have improved immune and neuroendocrine functions following massage therapy; Hernandez-Reif M, Ironson G, Field T, Hurley J, Katz G, Diego M, Weiss S, Fletcher MA, Schanberg S, Kuhn C, Burman I. J Psychosom Res. 2004 Jul;57(1):45-52.

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.

Mobile Massage For Fibromyalgia Sufferers

Individuals suffering from fibromyalgia have a very difficult time functioning in this world. The excessive amounts of pain that they feel, along with a brain fog from the pain, can make it very difficult to function normally. Intense widespread pain in the body, as well as fatigue and sleeping difficulties, are common for fibromyalgia sufferers.

Although this disorder does not have a known cause, there are many things that can help a person with it. Massage therapy has been shown in studies to improve the amount and quality of sleep that people can have with this disorder. Also, levels of stress hormones were reduced, and anxiety and depression were also reduced among patients.

Fibromyalgia can be a torturous disorder for some, and it is not surprising that it leads to greater levels of anxiety and depression. The inability to function can be very frustrating, as the body is unable to do what the mind want it to do. Instead, people often find that they need to just lay in bed all day. Thus, this is a population that would be prone to depression and anxiety, especially because there is no cure and many of the treatments are only marginally effective.

Based upon the studies of massage with fibromyalgia, it would also appear that the pain causing substance, known as Substance P, can also be reduced in people who receive massage therapy. Since many people with fibromyalgia find ordinary activities draining, including walking and driving, having a mobile massage at their home would probably be best for people in this population.

If you have fibromyalgia or care for someone who does, please click here to find more information about having a session of mobile massage. To find the studies referenced above, please click here.

References:

J Clin Rheumatol. 2002 Apr;8(2):72-6. Fibromyalgia pain and substance P decrease and sleep improves after massage therapy. Field T, Diego M, Cullen C, Hernandez-Reif M, Sunshine W, Douglas S.

J Dermatol Sci. 2000 Feb;22(2):138-44. Firm stroking of human skin leads to vasodilatation possibly due to the release of substance P. Morhenn VB.

J Clin Rheumatol. 1996 Feb;2(1):18-22. Fibromyalgia benefits from massage therapy and transcutaneous electrical stimulation. Sunshine W, Field TM, Quintino O, Fierro K, Kuhn C, Burman I, Schanberg S.

Mobile and Chair Massage for the Elderly and Infirm

Perhaps you have never considered providing mobile massage for your elderly patients or those you give care to. It is actually a very worthwhile consideration for many reasons.

(Photo from YODCOX! on flickr)

First of all, elderly patients, especially those in assisted living and nursing home facilities, tend to be very lonely. They may go for many days or weeks without being touched in a meaningful way, either by loved ones or by the nursing staff. At most nursing homes or assisted living facilities, nurses provide the care necessary for their elderly patients, but that more often than not does not include touch of any kind.

Touch can include hugging the person, holding them around the shoulders, and other gentle types of touch. Consequently, the loneliness that many of the elderly already feel can be intensified by the fact that they are not ever touched. Mobile therapeutic massage can provide that kind of meaningful and therapeutic touch that we as humans all crave.

(Photo from quinn.anya on flickr)

As an example of the need for touch, there is a now famous study using rhesus monkeys who never received touch from anyone, compared to a control group that was given normal touch and care by their mothers or handlers. The monkeys who were not touched exhibited aggressiveness, anger, rage, and other abnormal social behaviors. This study, as well as others that have been done in recent years, have shown that touch is essential to mental and physical health in humans.

Second, many elderly patients experience pain of varying types and intensities. Many of them have tense shoulders, arms, and hands, which can lead to thoracic outlet syndrome and other conditions. They may have tension and pain in their lower backs, which is one of the most common types of pain that people experience. Mobile massage can help with both of these conditions, as well as many others. Many elderly patients suffer from pain and numbness in their extremities, which when left untreated, can become debilitating.

Third, and perhaps the most important, many elderly patients are homebound. That means they cannot travel to the spa or to a chiropractors office to get a massage. These people, perhaps more than any other population, would benefit a great deal from having mobile massage at their nursing home or assisted living facility.

There are many other benefits from massage therapy aside from pain relief, many of which can be found on our massage benefits page, by clicking here. If you are interested in scheduling a mobile massage session, you may visit our website by clicking here.

Mobile Massage in NYC: About As Hip As It Gets

Mobile Massage in New York City is definitely considered ‘cool'. The ‘thing to do'. New Yorkers, always at the edge of the wave of trendiness and what's nouveau, have already decided that yoga is only so hip. In the defense of Yoga, it's a practice that is thousands of years old, and seems to benefit just about everyone. But still, it's been decided: Massage Therapy, and Massage in your home or apartment, is the absolute coolest thing to do these days.

And there's certainly a reason. After a session of Therapeutic Massage, most people feel better. A lot better. Reducing stress is one of massage therapy's most well-known benefits. After a session of yoga, we feel likewise calm and serene, but yoga takes work. And consistent work. You really do have to keep at it to experience all of those wonderful benefits, whereas with a session of Massage Therapy, it doesn't matter if you go once a year or once a week; you'll still feel relaxed and reborn afterwards.

Many clients of Mobile Massage just happen to be practitioners of Yoga. They find that a massage session helps them with their yoga and meditation, helping them get past stuck-points, mentally, physically, and some even say spiritually. It seems most are in agreement that Therapeutic Massage in the 2010s is what Yoga was to the 1990s. It isn't that Therapeutic Massage is more hip, cooler, or in some way ‘better'; it's more like this is the decade that it's finally catching on.

When something is new, it's a curiosity that we all want to get to know better. But when it's something that's new and wonderful, and makes us feel better, helping us with our issues, both mental and physical, we take notice. And in the 1990s, yoga did just that for a good percentage of then-hip New Yorkers, many of them young professionals working in the fields of design, finance, and banking. It's probably good so many learned to be so balanced and stable; the decade that followed was not as easy, in terms of finding a good means to earn a living.

With fewer opportunities, the workplace has become ridiculously competitive. And surely, that will lead to greater stress. It's really no surprise that in these stressful times, Therapeutic Massage is thriving. Mobile Massage in NYC is specifically experiencing a surge in popularity, likely because everyone is so tired from work that they can't spare the time to drive, or even walk, to the local Day Spa and sit in a waiting room. What's cool usually becomes so because of some good reason. Yoga was cool because it worked. And now, it's the same thing with Therapeutic Massage.

© 2013 H Miller, NJMassage.Info, Mountainside On Site Massage Therapy

Latest Mobile Massage Blog Posts

For those interested in learning how simple lifestyle changes made outside the massage therapy session can help to enhance and increase the benefits of the massage therapy session, please check out our website's blog.

Discussion about diet, exercise, and balancing your time between work and play are discussed, along with other suggestions about how to get the most out of using massage therapy in your life.

By using mobile massage therapy instead of making a trip to the spa, individuals can significantly increase the number of massages they actually book, as opposed to simply wishing there was more time to visit the spa. Most everyone can find an extra hour in their day to have a massage at their home, while far fewer can devote two to three hours to pursuing a therapeutic massage at a spa.

Our site's blog offers information for those seeking to be healthier in their day to day lives, integrating massage, diet, exercise, and other possible lifestyle choices.

Mobile Massage RSS Feed From Mountainside On Site Massage Therapy

We have created a brand new RSS Feed for our website at njmassage.info. This feed covers all of the topics on our website. Our RSS Feed is an easy way to link to various pages on our site. You can find our RSS feed at the following URL: http://njmassage.info/feed, or through feedburner by clicking here. Here, you can view our mobile massage page, detailing the mobile massage services available in NJ and NYC. You can also view our At Home Massage Blog feed, which contains interesting articles about massage at home, as well as massage and society and other topics.

You can also link to the Massage Benefits section of our website through the Massage and Health link on our RSS feed. New benefits pages are being added all the time. You can visit the Massage Studies section, which contains abstracts on studies in medical literature about the health benefits of massage. Quackery in massage and various conditions are also explored in this section.

Through our RSS feed, you can visit the Massage Specials section of our site, where we detail various special discounts you can receive when you purchase specific items on our site, such as mobile massage at home, hotel massage, or a massage party or kids spa party.

You can link directly to the Kids Spa Party page on our website through the RSS feed page. This section details the services provided in our kids spa parties, which are a mobile service. The treatments that are available, the crafts, additional items, and the benefits to the children participating are all explored in detail.

Our RSS feed was crafted to make the experience of exploring our site easier for our users. You can navigate to several sections of our site through the RSS feed, and explore various site topics.