5000 years old and still going strong!

I am constantly being asked about the benefits of massage therapy and in particular, I'm asked about its effectiveness and relevance when compared to today's cutting edge medical advances, given the fact that massage therapy is well over five thousand years old.

In response, my answer as always is to consider the fact that any therapy, cure, activity or hobby that can survive for that length of time, must deliver at least some benefits, otherwise it would go the way of every other flash in the pan fad or phase.

As a massage practitioner and recipient, I need no convincing whatsoever of the benefits of massage therapy, so if I'm asked, I'm happy to defer my own opinion in favour of that of a much higher authority on the subject, which is that of the medical community itself.

Thanks to the advances in medicine and in medical research, the five thousand year old massage therapy has now been subjected to every modern test and scrutiny, and as many of us expected, massage therapy has proven its value in spectacular style.

Massage therapy stands shoulder to shoulder with some of the most modern medical practices of our time, and as well as being a stand alone therapy in its own right, massage therapy complements beautifully, the modern advances in medicine.

To anybody who practices massage therapy, this will come as no surprise, and to be fair it's only right and proper that any therapy linked to medicine, should be subjected to the highest scrutiny. That aside, what amazes me most is the fact that massage therapy is still considered either as purely an aid to accepted medical practice or that it is still the preserve of the affluent. It also amazes me that massage therapy is only considered as a result of a life changing event. Quite why something that is so beneficial to health and wellbeing isn't an integral part of everyone's life remains a mystery to me. Massage therapy need not cost the earth and the most basic massage is free and can be mastered by using the most incredible tools known to man… your own hands!

Do me a favour and don't wait for an accident, an ailment or a mid life crisis before you discover one of life's most accessible, time proven and life enriching activities.

To your continued, outstanding health.