Can Massage Really Help Me Avoid Getting Sick?

Answering the question of whether massage can help people avoid getting sick is easy. Of course, it's a yes. What we are considered about is how it makes us get away from the nasty feeling of being sick.

Putting it simply, massage is a nice stress reliever. Several studies have shown that regular sessions of massage significantly decreases levels of cortisol. Cortisol is the hormone associated with stress. Higher levels of cortisol translates to higher levels of stress. And as we all know, stress is the number one enemy of our immune system. Stress lowers the strength of our immune system which leaves us vulnerable to various viruses and infections.

Due to this findings, experts say that massage not only makes us feel good, it is also good for us. This is supported by results of a study done in California wherein the subjects have been found to have positive changes in the blood composition (meaning an increase in lymphocytes or white blood cells) after receiving just one Swedish massage.

There are various massage techniques that are sought by people for this purpose. However, two of the most popular ones are Swedish massage and deep tissue massage. These two types of massage technique are effective in providing relaxation, stress relief, and immune system boost.

Swedish massage is the most common technique used in massage spas. It is composed of light strokes that aim to ease tensions that accumulate in various muscular regions in the body. It is because of this that Swedish massage have also been known to increase the oxygen flow in the blood, as this comes with easing muscular tension. Most Swedish massage therapists use the draping system when performing this treatment. The receiver of the massage treatment is nude beneath the towel and the massage therapists only uncover the specific area that he or she is working on, hence the term draping system. Most people who receive Swedish massage for the first time leave their undies on. However, having no clothing on is important for the equal and unrestricted flow of blood in areas of the body.

Deep tissue massage, on the other hand, is called the "harder" version of Swedish massage. This is so because deep tissue massage uses high-pressure and long strokes that target the elimination of various muscle knots found in the deepest layers of muscle tissues. Deep tissue massage is commonly sought by people suffer from chronic muscle pains.

While we say that deep tissue massage helps boost the immune system and helps us avoid getting sick, deep tissue massage first timers report a feverish feeling comparable to that of having a flu sfter receiving their first treatment. Massage therapists say that this is completely normal. As the muscles are corrected and the muscular knots are removed, the body adjusts once again to how it should function. Therapists and professionals on the field of deep tissue massage therapy say that this should cause no alarm as the feeling of "sickness" is actually just muscle soreness and not due some virus or infections.

With these in mind, we can better appreciate each massage session that we go into.

Out of curiosity how does the cdc classify infectious disease?

Bradbury

I have been reading about the Black Death of the 14th century and became curious as to how a disease is classified and the guidelines used to do so. Is the classification contingent upon mortality rate, number of persons infected, length between infection and onset of symptoms? The plague wiped out 1/3 of Europe's population, but how would it be classified now? I know the common cold could once have been a death sentence, but now we treat it with over the counter meds.



Hedley

An infectious disease is any disease whose etiological agent can be spread from one source to other people, plants or animals. Infectiousness (communicability) has nothing to do with virulence, incidence or incubation. You mentioned the common cold. Yes, people survive it routinely. But it is still infectious because the virus can be spred from person to person. Other infectious diseases aren't spread person to person, but rather through pointsources or exposures, like mad cow (Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease) via food poisoning.



Valley Head

Ebola is a 4 because it is highly virulent, highly communicable and has a very high case-fatality. HIV is much lower because it is not as easy to contract (takes more effort to acquire, higher infectious dose) while new treatments have significantly reduced case fataility. Report Abuse



Van Tassell

As for bub. plague, it has a much lower case-fatality because of available tx. pneu. plague rates higher because of its means of transmission and higher case-fatality. Report Abuse



Rebersburg

So essentially, the criteria for rating the threat of a disease include:1. Pathogenicity - does it make you sick?2. Virulence - how sick does it make you? Report Abuse



Summerfield

3. Treatment/cure availability - can it be treated or cured?4. Case-fatality rate - how often will it kill?5. Mode of transmission - does it spread by air, food, sex, etc.? Report Abuse



Pittsfield

(stupid 300 char limit, and it doesn't even tell you how many you've used!) Report Abuse



Cross Roads

Time this week's issue, dated June 26th, "Surviving the New Killer Bug." www. time. com. We can't brush aside these open wounds, mysterious illnesses, and antibiotic resistant bacteria any longer. Has the CDC done a report similar toTime? Nowhere in the article do they cite the CDC. Report Abuse



Hancock

The "new killer bug" isn't new at all. We've known about antibiotic resistance for a long time. MRSA is now out in the community, no longer a nosocomial infection. Report Abuse



Shelby

CDC does reports all the time. Check out the MMWR, the Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report. They run articles on emerging infections all the time. Or look up "antibiotic resistance" or "nosocomial infections" in Google or PubMed. Report Abuse