Learn About Thai Massage

woman lying on a mat doing thai massage with therapist

What Is Thai Massage & How Does It Work?

The technique of Thai massage differs from traditional massage by its use of the body’s energy line system, known as Sen lines. The massage involves deep massage and stretching, and it happens on the floor on a firm mattress or a mat.

Thai massage is a therapeutic procedure that provides relaxation and restores healthy blood circulation. It can also treat energy blockages, weak or dysfunctional organs, aches and pains, stress and tension, paralysis, and nerve problems, and improve flexibility and posture.

Understanding Thai Massage & Sen Line Therapy

You may be wondering, “What is an energy line?”. Energy lines are invisible and cannot be verified anatomically – they are perceived to circulate throughout the body to maintain health and vitality. There are said to be 72,000 Sen lines.

Thais believe 10 main lines are sufficient to treat the whole body and its internal organs. When this energy flow is blocked or restricted, it creates sickness or disease. To clear these blockages, Thai massage combines the application of pressure with manipulation, counter-pressure, gentle adjustment, and muscle stretching in full-body work to improve overall health and well-being.

Don’t shy away from the unknown, rather experience the benefits of a Thai massage.

Benefits of Aromatherapy During Your Massage and Facial

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Before we can discuss the benefits of aromatherapy, you may be wondering “what is aromatherapy?”. Aromatherapy incorporates the use of scented essential oils.

The essential oils are 100% natural, highly concentrated plant essence, they will be diluted before use and are applied along with lotion during the massage or facial. The massage involves alternating between gentle and harder pressure while using essential oils.

Not only is your body benefiting from the direct contact with the essential oils, but the oils are alleged to have specific healing properties upon inhaling after exposure.

Aromatherapy can reduce stress, relieve anxiety, increase calmness and relaxation, increase contentment, decrease muscle tension, provide pain relief, and reduce the symptoms of depression.

Benefits of adding aromatherapy to your massage and facial

Essential Oils are Harmless

Your therapist will evaluate your skin type and discuss any issues you have or what you need to work on and use a selection of oils that will benefit your skin. If you do not have any healing requests such as nerves, muscles, or joints, you can ask for a more general essential oil such as energizing, uplifting, relaxing, or decongesting.

Stress-Relief

Receiving a massage or facial is a way to relax and ease your emotions, by adding essential oils to your massage or facial your experience and results will be enhanced because these oils have stress-relieving properties.

Detoxes Your Skin

Essential oils get down deep into your pores and work on the inner layers. Aromatherapy facial and massage literally purifies the skin from within and not just externally. This washes away all the impurities and hence, skin is detoxed.

Relieves Dryness

There is no better solution if you are suffering from dry skin, especially in the winter, when skin becomes extra dry, essential oils can be used as exfoliators in the form of a scrub or peel. You will soon feel your skin texture turn smooth.

Treats Poor Skin Conditions

Are you looking for that magic skin treatment to deal with blemishes, acne, dark spots, and similar problem? Aromatherapy helps to improve the texture of the skin as it has excellent anti-inflammatory properties. Removing dirt and all other impurities from the skin.

Improves Blood Circulation

A natural and healthy glow is what we all want to see in our skin, right? This is mostly triggered by the betterment of blood flow to the skin cells. The movement of blood to the skin gives it a healthy glow and releases skin cells with necessary nutrients and water, which reduces the presence of wrinkled dry skin.

Want to add aromatherapy to your massage or facial? Book online or call Precision Wellness today!

What is Neuromuscular Therapy Massage?

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Neuromuscular massage is a specific deep tissue massage that utilizes friction and pressure to work out muscle strains. These areas are referred to as “trigger points,” and cause pain for a lot of people. Neuromuscular massages should be given by trained professionals that have had experience in this work.

This type of massage has a lot of benefits – typically, neuromuscular therapy massage helps with compressed nerves, muscle spasms, and poor blood flow. For many people, this massage will be painful at first as the muscles are worked on, but no one should feel an overwhelming amount of pain. Clients should always feel comfortable with communicating to their massage therapist how the pressure feels on them in order to get the most out of their massage.

Using slow, pressured strokes, massage therapists can penetrate the deeper layers of tissue to find the actual issues – the soft tissues, the muscles and ligaments, and the nervous system. When telling your massage therapist about how a certain area of your body that you experience pain, don’t be surprised if they don’t work that area very much. Often, there are specific points on other parts of the body that are the root of the pain that they must work on in order to smooth out the muscles. For example, for people complaining about back pain, a massage therapist might work on the upper glutes to release tension tying into the back.

Many people will feel sore after this massage the next day because of the amount of lactic acid that is released during the massage. Your massage therapist will probably recommend that you try a different movement during the day to lessen the amount of muscle pain you experience (like sitting straighter in chairs to lessen the strain on back muscles, etc).

Here at Precision Wellness, we have multiple massage therapists trained on how to perform neuromuscular massages. We would love to see how we can lessen your muscle pain with this type of massage – book online today!

Massage & Working at a Desk

Desk workers are notorious for sharing some of the worst aches and pains because they are confined to a chair for 8 hours a day. Not only does the affect your body physically but can also take a toll on your mental health as well. Many office workers experience back pain, headaches, stiff joints, and more ailments. Massage can help realign your spine to fix your posture from bending over a computer all day and help to relieve the pains associated with desk work.

Massages can counteract the bad postures your body is put through during the day. That means our deep tissue massage will work past the first layer of muscle tissue to relieve chronic pain and increase joint mobility. Not to mention, our relaxation massage is great to engage the sympathetic nervous system and relax the mind and body. This is especially great for people that have very high-stress jobs or tend to get anxious during job projects. What better way to unwind than with a massage?

The strain of looking at a computer all day tends to give us headaches and migraines that just don’t seem to go away. Massages increase blood flow circulation and smooth out those tense muscles in order for them to heal. This gives your body a chance to relax and enjoy the break away from the desk.

It’s not just your back and shoulders that feel the pressure – You can develop knots in your forearms and stiffness in your wrists from typing. With a full-body massage, we’ll be able to work out the kinks so you can keep pounding that keyboard.

Massage is a great natural way to improve productivity, alleviate stress, and heal your body’s aches without the use of chemicals or drugs. While each situation is different, your body can greatly benefit from a professional massage tailored to your unique needs.

With many different massage techniques available, Precision Wellness is your go-to for any and all treatments. Let us know your specific ailments when you come to see us, and we’ll help you decide the perfect massage for you! We offer deep tissue, neuromuscular, relaxation, Thai, and herbal oil-infused massage at our location right here in Springfield, Missouri!

Herbal Oil on a Molecular Level

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Herbal oil isn’t a magical cure-all potion, and it’s not something made to get you high; Cannabidiol (aka Herbal Oil) is a part of the cannabis plant that can leave a therapeutic, relaxing effect on people and truly impact your body in a positive way. With the recent interest in herbal oil, a lot of rumors have started to circulate. We hope that by explaining exactly how herbal oil affects your brain, many of the stereotypes and myths you have heard about will be dispelled.

Within your brain, the endocannabinoid system’s most important function is to maintain balance and homeostasis of almost everything going on in your body. CB1 and CB2 receptors make up the system, and these receptors are activated by anandamide and 2-Arachidonoylglycerol. Anandamide stimulates the CB1 receptors; while 2-AG stimulates both the CB1 and CB2 receptors. CB1 controls several physiological functions like sleeping, appetite, emotion, sensory perception, memory, and cognition; CB2 activation controls inflammation since these receptors are predominantly found in the immune system.

Now, THC binds to the CB1 receptors, altering your state of mind. Herbal oil, unlike THC, has a low binding affinity with the CB1 receptors which means it will not give you that ‘high’ feeling. Instead, CBD binds to different receptors and activates them to produce its therapeutic effects by getting transported by fatty acid-binding proteins (FABPs) to go through cell membranes.

One of the most common uses for herbal oil is for anxiety, as it directly activates a receptor called serotonin. As we know, serotonin creates a relaxing, calming effect on a person which can help with things like addiction, insomnia, and pain management (and so much more). Herbal oil also binds with TRPV1 receptors, which is known to mediate pain perception, inflammation, and body temperature making even more of an impact on your physical being. These are just a couple of the receptors that herbal oil influences, it’s been found that there are more than 65 molecular targets of Cannabidiol!

Remember how we mentioned Anandamide earlier? It is known as your ‘bliss molecule’ and is naturally found in the body. As mentioned, it stimulates your CB1 receptors which have a big impact on your emotions and sensory preception. Unfortunately anadamide gets transported by FABP to the enzymes that break it down, taking away its therapeutic effects. While herbal oil is in your system it is competing for FABP, leaving fewer for anadamide to bind with, thus leaving more of it in your body! Just another positive effect on your body by herbal oil!

Because of all these benefits, Precision Wellness offers massages and facials with a custom blend of herbal oil and your choice of aromatherapy. Whether you’re looking for deep tissue relaxation or are seeking relief from pain, this add-on is for you!

Book Your Massage ASAP!

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There’s no denying a massage is calming — until you start feeling guilty for indulging in a little special treatment.

A small new study excuses us all from the guilt: Massage therapy isn’t just a way to relax, it’s also a way to alleviate muscle soreness and improve blood flow, according to recent research.

Other benefits of massage have long been touted, but research is usually limited. Still, we think there are some pretty good reasons to book an appointment ASAP.

Massage can reduce pain.

A 2011 study found that massage helped people with lower back pain to feel and function better, compared to people who didn’t get a rubdown. That’s good news for the eight in ten Americans who experience debilitating back pain at least once in their lives, Time.com reported.

“We found the benefits of massage are about as strong as those reported for other effective treatments: medications, acupuncture, exercise, and yoga,” Dan Cherkin, Ph.D., lead author of the study, said in a press release.

Massage also seems to lessen pain among people with osteoarthritis.

It can help you sleep.

The calming treatment can also help you spend more time asleep, according to research from Miami University’s Touch Research Institute. In one study of people with fibromyalgia, 30-minute massages three times a week for five weeks resulted in nearly an hour more of sleep, plus deeper sleep, she said.

Massage may ward off colds.

There’s a small body of research that suggests massage boosts immune function. A 2010 study, believed to be the largest study on massage’s effects on the immune system, found that 45 minutes of Swedish massage resulted in significant changes in white blood cells and lymphocytes, which help protect the body from bugs and germs.

It could make you more alert.

At least one study has linked massage to better brainpower. In a 1996 study, a group of adults completed a series of math problems faster and with more accuracy after a 15-minute chair massage than a group of adults who were told to just sit in a chair and relax during those 15 minutes.

Massage may ease cancer treatment.

Among patients receiving care for cancer, studies have noted multiple benefits of massage, including improved relaxation, sleep, and immune system function as well as decreased fatigue, pain, anxiety, and nausea.

It may alleviate depression symptoms.

A 2010 review of the existing studies examining massage in people with depression found that all 17 pieces of research noted positive effects. However, the authors recommend additional research into standardizing massage as a treatment and the populations who would most benefit from it.

Massage could help with headaches.

The power of touch seems to help limit headache pain. A 2002 study found that massage therapy reduced the frequency of chronic tension headaches. And in a very small 2012 study, 10 male patients with migraine headaches noted significant pain reduction after neck and upper back massage and manipulation. You may even be able to reap the benefits without seeing a professional: Start by applying gentle pressure with your fingertips to your temples, then move them in a circular motion along the hairline until they meet in the middle of your forehead, WebMD reported.

Stress reduction is scientific.

Between the dim lights, soothing music, and healing touch, it certainly feels like stress melts away during a massage, but research suggests a very literal reduction of cortisol, a major stress hormone. Chronically high levels of cortisol can contribute to serious health issues, like high blood pressure and blood sugar, suppressed immune system function, and obesity.