The Ariana Institute’s Medical Massage Therapy Manual is part of a series of massage manuals that are designed to help deepen the knowledge of current massage therapists and introduce new massage therapists to the world of massage and bodywork. The Medical Massage Therapy Manual features topics that are also available as NCBTMB approved online CE courses through the Ariana Institute at www.arianainstitute.com/ce-online/, including:
- Geriatric Massage
- Headache and Allergy Relief
- Lymphatic Massage
- HIV/AIDS Information for Massage Therapists
- Pain Management
- Prenatal Massage
This manual incorporates detailed protocols, photos, links to online videos, marketing strategies, personal stories, and resources to encourage a comprehensive understanding of medical massage therapy modalities beneficial for your massage practice.
Here’s a personal story about geriatric massage featured in the Medical Massage Therapy Manual.
MASSAGE FOR THE GOLDEN YEARS – LIVING LONGER AND LOVING IT!
How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and the strong ~ because someday you will have been all of these.
– George Washington–Carver
The silver tsunami is upon us. An age wave like we have never seen in the history of society has become a reality. According to the Alliance for Aging Research, “When the baby boomers started turning 65 in 2011, 10,000 people turned 65 every day—and this will continue for the next for 20 years. By 2030, almost one out of every five Americans—some 72 million people—will be 65 years or older. Not only will there be many more senior Americans, but they’ll be living longer.”
Now is the time to focus on offering massage for individuals in their golden years. At the very heart of geriatric massage is the fact that it offers individuals the opportunity to experience touch. When Deepak Chopra, M.D., talks about how rich in hormones and biologically active the skin is, he explains that, “when we stimulate the skin, we can cause, literally, a shower of healing chemicals into our bloodstream.”
Geriatric massage supports the desire of people in their golden years to be as pain free as possible and to be successful in their professional and leisure pursuits while promoting a healthful mind–body–spirit harmony.
Geriatric massage can be defined as a form of massage designed to meet the specific needs of the elderly population. It involves the use of hands to manipulate the soft tissues of the body to relieve pain, increase mobility, enhance range of motion and lift spirits. It is a specialty that focuses on specific massage techniques used to treat the most common ailments in the elderly population and provides palliative and preventative care.
Members of the geriatric community may suffer from a variety of age–related diseases including arthritis, diabetes, or heart disease. Many elderly clients may be anxious, depressed, and lonely. Geriatric massage can help maintain and improve overall health and help geriatric clients regain certain physical functions that have been diminished due to aging. In addition, geriatric massage can help relieve anxiety and depression and provide comfort to touch–deprived elderly patients.
Geriatric massage offers a way for members of the elderly population to be nurtured physically, psychologically and emotionally.
Depending on a variety of factors, including genetics, attitudes, and lifestyle, the physical effects of aging may include decreased mobility and strength, slower nerve conduction, fragile skin, loss of bone and muscle mass, a reduction in hearing and vision and a decline in immune system function.
Geriatric massage has many benefits for individuals in their golden years including the fact that it relaxes the receiver mentally and physically; relieves pain; improves sleep; relieves stress, anxiety, depression, and loneliness; increases mobility by improving joint range of motion; restores a sense of connection and encourages a sense of well–being. Geriatric massage is a credible complementary therapy that can assist seniors in coping with the physical, emotional and psychological ups and downs of the aging process.
As Pericles so aptly stated, “What you leave behind is not what is engraved stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.” Weave your compassion, your love and your technical skills into a tapestry of a thousand fibers that connect us on with our ever-expanding community of elders. Honor the power of the silver tsunami and allow your participation to unfurl an energy that will help those in their golden years to live longer and love it.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR – ARIANA VINCENT, LMT, MTI, BCTMB
Ariana Vincent was awarded the 2015 CE Provider of the Year Award by the Alliance for Massage Therapy Education. She is CEO of the Ariana Institute and a Nationally Certified Massage Therapy Instructor whose classes are accepted throughout the United States. Ariana is also a Massage Therapy Hall of Fame Honoree and author of the Ariana Institute’s therapy manual series available on Amazon.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
To read the foreword of the Medical Massage Therapy Manual, visit https://arianainstitute.com/blog/the-ariana-institutes-medical-massage-therapy-manual-and-ce-courses/.
The Ariana Institute’s video introduction to the Geriatric Massage, Headache and Allergy Relief, Lymphatic Massage, HIV/AIDS Information for Massage Therapists, Pain Management, and Prenatal Massage CE courses can be accessed on the Ariana Institute’s YouTube Channel at www.youtube.com/user/ArianaInstitute.
To order your copies of the Ariana Institute’s Medical Massage Therapy Manual, visit www.amazon.com/author/arianavincent.
For additional information about the Ariana Institute and to register for online continuing education and MTI courses visit www.arianainstitute.com/ce-online/.
