Reduce Stress With a Career in Massage Therapy

Many working adults with families need flexible careers to fit their lives.  For those going back to school to earn their certificate or associates degree, there are several popular options for careers where you can be your own boss.  Earning your degree in massage therapy can put you on a career track that allows a flexible schedule.

New research is proving what massage devotees have known for centuries – a regular rubdown can reduce stress, alleviate pain and ease sore muscles, even after you’ve left the massage table.

Although scientists aren’t quite sure how it works, massage therapy has been shown to have real effects on physical health. Regular bodywork can reduce chronic lower back pain, ease discomfort in dying patients and relieve pain, anxiety, depression and fatigue in those with cancer, according to recent studies.

And a 2004 meta-analysis from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign found that even a single massage reduced anxiety, blood pressure and heart rate. Multiple sessions, meanwhile, eased pain and reduced anxiety and depression in levels comparable to psychotherapy.

Researchers think massage may stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system, which triggers the body to release stress, said Nancy Gouge, an instructor at the National Holistic Institute massage therapy school in Encino. Once relieved of stress, the heart rate slows, blood vessels dilate and normal activity resumes throughout the body.

These effects last far beyond the massage itself.

“We tell our students that we don’t heal people – we trigger bodies to heal themselves,” Gouge said.

Students earning their massage therapy degree will learn different massage types and techniques, as well as holistic therapies.  Massage therapists will need to be licensed by the state in which they practice, and accredited massage therapy schools will have these licensure programs available.

Interested in massage therapy schools? Check out the best accredited masage therapy programs available at Get Degrees!

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