than primary care physicians. Another study showed that the most common alternative medicine user is between the ages of 35 and 49 with a college education and an annual income of $50,000. .
In 1992, the National Institute of Health was required by Congress to start an Office of Alternative Medicine with a $2 million dollar budget. The budget had grown to $68 million by 2000. More and more hospitals are beginning to have complementary care clinics.
Massage.
Main Uses: .
To relieve stress; headaches or insomnia. .
Arthritis.
Anxiety.
Digestive disorders, such as constipation. .
Pain relief.
Massage is concerned to be one of the oldest and simplest forms of alternative medicine. Egyptian hieroglyphs and Chinese and Indian manuscripts show people being massaged and how it was used in treating diseases. .
.
In general, physical strength is not a very important trait for a massage therapist. Massage schools teach you how to use your body weight to apply pressure instead of relying on muscular strength. This is an important thing for all massage therapists to do, especially since overusing muscular strength while massaging can injure even a physically strong person. The basics for massaging are stroking, kneading, friction, and hacking. Stroking is a very gentle circular motion used to relax tense muscles. Kneading is mostly used for parts of the body with lots of flesh, like the thighs. It is almost like kneading dough, you have to squeeze and release rhythmically between fingers. This is done to relax or stretch muscles. Friction is used around the spine and shoulders to release tension. To do, you have to have steady pressure from the thumbs applied to a static point in circular motions. Hacking is used to deliver short and sharp taps on the body by relaxing the hands and working quickly. .
Studies have been conducted and show that people who have anorexia or bulimic problems feel a better body image after getting massaged.
