Massage therapy can relieve many symptoms of menopause experienced by women going through this age-related hormonal change. Karrie Osborn, contributing editor of Massage and Bodywork magazine, says nearly 4,000 women begin to show signs of menopause each day and experience numerous mental, physical and emotional symptoms. Massage provides an effective, non-pharmaceutical way of dealing with many of these symptoms.
Psychological Benefits
Osborn says massage helps specifically to make menopausal women feel nurtured and pampered at a time when they often feel a great deal of emotional distress regarding becoming less attractive and unappreciated. Massage therapists often also include aromatic oils in the massage. According to Dr. Myung-Haeng Hur, his findings from a study funded by a Korean Research Foundation Grant suggest that aromatherapy massage may be an effective treatment of menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, depression and pain.
Circulatory Benefits
Massage increases blood circulation and the flow of lymph fluid through the application of pressure and friction. This can help reduce fluid retention in menopausal women and regulate some of the thermoregulatory difficulties they often experience. Increased circulation can help invigorate the patient, which works to offset the fatigue that's also frequently experienced during menopause.
Relaxation Benefits
Stress is often elevated in menopausal women, caused by the physical changes experienced and their perception of the significance of those changes. Stress chemicals produced by the body then exacerbate many of the symptomatic physical changes, creating a negative spiral. Massage can interrupt this cycle, causing the body to produce fewer stress-related chemicals such as cortisol, and produce more relaxation-enhancing ones such as endorphins and serotonin.
Abdominal Intervention
It's primarily the organs of a woman's abdomen that experience the most profound changes during menopause, particularly the reproductive organs. Several styles of massage have developed specific techniques for working in the abdominal area to improve circulation and reduce adhesions that can create pain and organ dysfunction. Mayan abdominal massage, for example, is an ancient healing tradition that has a strong focus on working to alleviate or lessen menopausal symptoms.
Energy Intervention
Integrated Chinese Medicine Holdings, an educational group in Kowloon, Hong Kong, says another significant type of massage that helps during menopause is that of energy work. Although Western massage rarely acknowledges the energy systems of the body, Eastern medicine is based on this philosophy and works to restore balance in the energy of the patient's body. Energy massage focuses on pressure points and meridian lines, many of which are located within the abdominal area. This form of massage addresses physical, mental and spiritual heath, which are all strongly affected by menopause.
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