Custom Touch Massage Therapy Massage Facts

Custom Touch Massage Therapy

Professional Training and the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB)

NCBTMB currently has over 900 Approved Providers of Continuing Education.

Thirty-six states and the District of Columbia now regulate the practice of therapeutic massage and bodywork. Of those, thirty-one states, in addition to the District of Columbia, now use the NCBTMB examination as meeting (in part or in whole) the requirements of regulation.

Healthcare network providers use NCBTMB to check the National Certification status of the practitioner.

Today, there are more than 90,000 Nationally Certified practitioners that serve millions of consumers.

Fifty-four percent of primary care physicians say they would encourage their patients to pursue massage therapy as a complement to medical treatment.

Massage Facts

Touch is the first sense to develop in humans, and may be the last to fade.

diamond A touch of any kind can reduce the heart rate and lower blood pressure.

diamond Touch stimulates the release of endorphins (the body's natural pain killers) which is why a mother's hug for a child's skinned knee can literally make it better.

diamond Massage lessens lower back pain, depression and anxiety, and improves sleep.

diamond Massage improves an athlete's flexibility, enhances speed and power, and reduces risk of injury.

diamond Nationally Certified practitioners provide expertise in various areas of therapeutic massage and body work, including Swedish massage, Shiatsu, Polarity therapy, Rolfing®, Trager® techniques, Reflexology, Neuromuscular therapy and many more.

diamond Swedish massage is the most popular form of massage therapy practiced in the U.S. with Deep Tissue second.

diamond Elderly people who massage surrogate grandchildren report higher-esteem and better moods.

diamond In 1996, massage therapy and bodywork was officially offered for the first time as a core medical service in the Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta. At the Games, Nationally Certified practitioners were providing key medical services.

diamond The three most often cited reasons for getting a therapeutic massage are relaxation (27%), relief of muscle soreness, stiffness, or spasm (13%), and stress reduction (10%).

diamond Doctors and consumers are turning more and more to massage as an adjunct to regular health practices.

Massage Studies
German emperor Frederick II, took a number of newborns from their mothers and gave them to nurses who fed them but did not cuddle or talk to them. All of the babies died before they could talk. Fredrick concluded, "They could not live without petting."

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In the early 1990's, Romania, thousands of infants were put in orphanages and were left in their cribs for two years, all alone. They were found to be severely impaired.

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Duke Professor Saul Schanberg found that rat pups separated from their parents for 45 minutes underwent major internal changes including a large drop in growth hormones. Injections of growth hormones didn't help. But when someone stroked them with a wet paintbrush-- mimicking their mothers tongue--the hormone levels went back up.

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Massage is an ancient healing art based on the natural instinct to touch in response to pain.