Back, Neck and Shoulder Massages

Part of the Spabreaks.com Spa Treatment Guides

Massage is the most booked spa treatment, and for good reason. In some places it accounts for around 70% of all treatments booked. The origins of massage can be traced back to the ancient Greeks and Egyptians, and while different types of massage are designed to achieve different outcomes, it’s about physical wellbeing leading to mental wellbeing as well.

While there’s a wide variety of massage types available, in broad terms it’s where muscle groups are stimulated to relieve tension, stimulate and heal.

Whilst we all know about the physical benefits of massage, such as relieving aches and pains, the benefits of massage extend beyond soothing muscles and relieving tension. For an hour or more we are totally switching off. It’s the one time when we truly disconnect from the world around us and focus on the here and now.

Massage provides a vast range of health benefits, such as:

• Lowering blood pressure
• Helping with sports and soft tissue injuries
• Easing anxiety
• Easing digestive disorders
• Helping to relieve insomnia related to stress
• Easing muscular aches and pains
• Relieving tension and stress
• Aiding relaxation
• Products will also nourish the skin
• Some massages aid detox

It is a physical treatment and thanks to the potent power of touch, it can be transformative, and, with appropriate therapist training, can offer enormous benefits at difficult times. For example, many therapists are now trained to provide oncology touch treatments to cancer patients, and both therapists and recipients report the powerful impact that massage can have on how we feel and how we connect with our bodies. It is a moment where you allow yourself to feel human, connected with someone else as well as yourself, making a spa treatment so much more than a physical way to relieve muscle tension, and a much deeper, powerful experience. One person we work closely with, Jennifer Young, has found through research that massage has both long and short term benefits.

Short term benefits of oncology massage include: - Reduced anxiety, depressed mood and anger in breast cancer patients. - Increased vigour. - Reduced mood disturbances and perceived stress levels. - Improved sleep quality. - Improved quality of life. - Reduced pain and improvement of mood, reduced stress levels. - Reduced perception of pain, nausea and increased relaxation. - Pain intensity, pulse rate, and respiratory rate significantly reduced immediately after massage. At study entry, the massage group reported higher pain intensity, which decreased by 42% (25% reduction in the control group). - Reduced anxiety scores, depression, general fatigue, reduced motivation fatigue, and emotional fatigue.

Long term benefits of oncology massage: - Reduced depression and hostility, increased urinary dopamine, serotonin values, natural killer cell number and lymphocytes in breast cancer patients. - Reduced mood disturbances and perceived stress levels.

This will depend a little bit on whether it’s a full body massage or focusing on a particular part of the body. If it’s a full body treatment then you might be offered paper underwear or choose to wear swimwear or regular underwear. Women might be asked to take their bra or top part of swimwear off if the massage covers the back. However, therapists will always cover you with a towel and leave areas that are not being worked on covered so you don’t feel exposed.