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Step 1
Find someone trained in Swedish massage if you wish to relieve pain in your muscles and joints by increasing your circulation. Swedish massage employs five separate motions: long and gliding strokes, kneading of individual muscles, tapping, friction and vibration. Often, the massage therapist will use oils on the body to make the strokes less taxing.
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Step 2
Go to someone who specializes in sports massage if you actively participate in sports, or you suffer from chronic pain or have restricted range of motion. Actually, sports massage is a type of Swedish massage in that it stimulates the flow of blood and other body fluids. There are fundamentally four types of sports massage: pre- and post-event if you actively participate in sports, restorative which you would receive during training that will enable you to train harder and rehabilitative which is helpful in eliminating pain and returning the body to good health. A high percentage of patients see a person trained in sports massage for rehabilitation.
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Step 3
If your time is at a premium, arrange to have a chair massage, a treatment not unlike Swedish massage, but it takes only 15 to 20 minutes to do. In fact, many employers make chair massages available to their staffs and see a marked increase in productivity as a result. Aching wrists or a stiff neck can be the result of sitting behind a desk all day, symptoms of workplace fatigue. These ailments if left untreated lead to mental fogginess, decreased energy and greater susceptibility to injuries like carpal tunnel syndrome. A 15-minute session in a specially constructed chair by a licensed massage therapist can help to alleviate or avoid these ills.
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Step 4
If you suffer from chronic pain, such as from fibromyalgia, choose a massage therapist trained in deep-tissue massage, which centers on one or more joints, muscles or clusters of muscles. The licensed therapist uses his hands to press deep into the inner layers of tissue, thus relieving pain and stiffness. Deep-tissue massage can also be used to remove scar tissue.
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Step 5
Check on the certification of a massage therapist before engaging her by going to the website for the American Massage Therapy Association. Finding a member there won't guarantee skills, but at least it will indicate that the therapist is serious about his chosen profession.
