08.23.10
Massage Therapy for Seniors
Massage therapy can give elderly citizens numerous benefits to minimize loneliness and boost their sense of wellness. This is often an overlooked option, which is unfortunate, because there simply aren’t many ways to help a person do that. Seniors in nursing homes are especially susceptible to decreased mobility and extreme loneliness, let alone those who are battling arthritis. In any of these cases, the art of massage therapy can be a wonderful gift.
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As age increases, activity decreases. We all know that. But we don’t often consider all the ailments that can arrive as a result of a more sedentary lifestyle. Massage therapy has the potential to minimize these affects. So why don’t more seniors receive massage therapy? Maybe the problem is that most people don’t understand it. That was the conclusion of one study by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork. Everyone has heard of massage therapy, but too many people have weird misconceptions of it, so they never consider it as a viable option for themselves, let alone for a loved one.
More impressively, recent studies now claim that massage therapy can be a tremendous help with Alzheimer’s patients. These seniors have proven to be less agitated and more calm. Their heart rate stays steadier, and they don’t have as many outbreaks. Why? Probably because there is real, tangible (yet untangle) power in human touch. Not only is it a great benefit to have an actual therapist massaging your sore muscles, but it helps to have a human make some kind of physical contact. This is most obvious in cases where orphans have been denied human touch, and their development is significantly stunted. Similarly, when an Alzheimer’s patient is calmed by the touch of another human, something just… happens.
And in regular cases with people whose mind and memory are intact, massage therapy has still shown tremendous benefits, namely energy boosts and stress reduction.
But even if you don’t buy into the intangible benefits of personal contact, you simply cannot deny the help a therapist can give to an arthritis patient, or someone losing muscle coordination. When you add it all up, massage therapy is a valid medical option that more people need to consider, especially for the seniors in their lives.
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Thankfully, more and more assisted living facilities are realizing the potential power in massage therapy. In some places, it is a continual option for residents. In other facilities, residents can make an appointment with a licensed therapist. Either way, if you are considering a change to senior housing, this is something you will want to ask about. A weekly check in with a therapist turn around a miserable week in thirty minutes flat. Even gardening can’t do that!
No matter what, aging will be difficult, and aches and pains will increase. That will never change. But if we could dull that some; if we could squeeze out the stress and loneliness and infuse a little bit of happy health, wouldn’t that be worth it?