I would like to introduce today’s guest blogger, Megan Thom, and welcome her to the Life Your Life team.

Megan Thom began her massage career after pursuing professional dance for several years. She attended the University of Utah to obtain her BFA in Ballet and went on to get her massage training from the Utah College of Massage Therapy, in Salt Lake City. She has practiced massage on cruise lines, health clinics and spas for over 5 yrs.

As a professional athlete, she knows firsthand how injury can affect one’s lifestyle in a negative way. She wanted to use her knowledge of anatomy and sports injury to aid others in keeping the quality of life they wanted, so she merged both of her passions.

Megan continues to teach dance, along with practicing therapeutic bodywork and has found both her careers complement each other very well. When she is not in the dance studio or at the massage table she is enjoying her new life as a mama, with her little boy, Judah and husband, Leonard.

She can be reached at megan.thom@liveyourlifept.com.

 

Every Body Needs a Massage

By: Megan Thom, LMT

In the US, therapeutic massage is viewed by many as a luxury. Yet in other parts of the world, alternative forms of medicine like massage are viewed as a necessary part of preventative healthcare and will even be covered under certain insurance policies. Can you imagine having unlimited access to massages?

Therapeutic Bodywork can be very useful for a multitude of ailments. It doesn’t matter what you do, what your medical history is, or whether you have had a massage before. The human body was built with an inherent ability to heal itself.

Massage Relieves Pain

Many people are surprised at how tense their muscles become when I work on them. Our body does so much for us and we don’t realize how tired and sore it is until someone attempts to relax the muscle manually. I love that moment when a client can feel the muscle release and what it is like to be pain free. After the massage they have more mobility than they thought they could ever have!

Massage is a Natural, Non-Addictive Stress Reliever

Exercisers can relate to a euphoric feeling after a good work-out session. With a massage manipulating muscle tissue, it releases endorphins much like exercise does. Endorphins are natural pain-relievers produced by our body to combat pain and strengthen the immune response. Think about the last time you had an hour to yourself, where your only ‘job’ was to breathe and relax. It is not unusual for some clients to fall asleep during a session. In fact, massage is a wonderful way to combat insomnia.

Massage is an Effective Method of Detoxification

Ever had that feeling of sluggishness after the holidays? Health enthusiasts may recommend a trip to the gym or a juice cleanse to get back on track. While these methods are good, there is a much more enjoyable way to filter out what can accumulate in the body from toxic habits.

Call a therapist and schedule a lymphatic drainage massage. Follow up with lots of liquids and you should feel better. The lymphatic system is the body’s way of disposing of toxic waste. It relies on things such as muscle contraction, fluid intake and massage. By manually moving fluid in the direction of lymphatic flow, a massage therapist can aid in the process of detoxification. This is helpful for pain resulting from inflammation, edema and lactic acid buildup in muscle tissue.

 

Live Your Life now offers therapeutic massage as part of our all encompassing services. We want you to Live Your Life FEELING GREAT and continue to add programs to help you achieve the goal of feeling your best.

Dr. Eva Norman
President & Founder
Doctor of Physical Therapy
Live Your Life Physical Therapy, LLC

---

Photo by Body-n-Care (Pixabay)

Cited Works

Ulrich, Cathy. The Benefits of Lymphatic Massage. www.massagetherapy.com. July 2, 2015

Stoppler, Melissa Conrad MD. Endorphins: Natural Pain and Stress Fighters. www.medicinenet.com. July 2, 2015

Massage: Get in touch with its many benefits. www.mayoclinic.org. July 2, 2015