Article 1:
Benefits of Massage
Massage: It's Good Medicine

Article 2:
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Swap Surgery for Stretching"

Article 3:
Healthy Happenings

Massage does more than just relax your body and mind; there are proven physiological changes which occur inside us.

As you lie on the table under crisp, fresh sheets, hushed music draws you into the moment. The smell of sage fills the air and you hear the gentle sound of massage oil being warmed in your therapist's hands. The pains of age, the throbbing from your overstressed muscles, the sheer need to be touched - all cry out for therapeutic hands to start their work. Once the session gets underway, the problems of the world fade into an oblivious 60 minutes of relief and all you can comprehend right now is not wanting it to end.

But what if that hour of massage did more for you than just take the pressures of the day away? What if that gentle, Swedish massage helped you combat cancer? What if bodywork helped you recover from a strained hamstring in half the time? What if your sleep, digestion and mood all improved with massage and bodywork? What if these weren't just "what ifs"?

Evidence is showing that the more massage you can allow yourself, the better you'll feel. Here's why. Massage as a healing tool has been around for thousands of years in many cultures. Touching is a natural human reaction to pain and stress, and for conveying compassion and support. Think of the last time you bumped your head or had a sore calf. What did you do? Rubbed it, right? The same was true of our earliest ancestors. Healers throughout time and throughout the world have instinctually and independently developed a wide range of therapeutic techniques using touch. Many are still in use today, and with good reason. We now have scientific proof of the benefits of massage - benefits ranging from treating chronic diseases and injuries to alleviating the growing tensions of our modern lifestyles. Having a massage does more than just relax your body and mind - there are specific physiological and psychological changes which occur, even more so when massage is utilized as a preventative, frequent therapy and not simply mere luxury. Massage not only feels good, but it can cure what ails you.

Staff Reports - Karrie Osborn, Shirley Vanderbilt and Darren Buford.

In the workplace, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is known to strike those whose duties involve repetitive motion, such as computer operators, assembly line workers and carpenters.

Pain in her wrists and hands awakened Judy Curtis at least twice each night. The 60-year-old from Evergreen, Colo., would get up and wander her house for 20 minutes or so, waiting for the pain to subside and the numbness to go away. It would be nearly four years before she found a better, perma-nent solution.

Curtis developed Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) about 12 years ago from continually lifting heavy trays in her job in a grocery store bakery. CTS is a painful swelling of the median nerve, which runs from the shoulder through the wrist and carries nerve impulses between the hand and brain. Repetitive motion is a primary cause of swelling and scar tissue where the nerve passes through the carpal tunnel in the wrist (although local trauma, tumors and hormonal changes are also potential causes). Numbness, tingling, and pain in the arm and wrist, which can become debilitating, characterize CTS.

Estimates of the prevalence of CTS range from slightly less than 1% of the population to nearly one-third of those whose work or hobbies involve repetitive motion of the hands and wrists. Not surprisingly, the most frequent sufferers work on computers, but CTS also strikes assembly line workers, musicians and carpenters, among others. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that CTS is responsible for more days missed from work (27 annually) than any other disabling workplace injury.

Treatment ranges from rest to splints to surgery. More than 200,000 carpal tunnel release surgeries (the most common hand surgery) are performed in the United States each year, with an associated direct medical cost of more than $1 billion.

But increasingly, CTS sufferers like Curtis are turning to less invasive, more permanent methods to relieve their pain. "I've had virtually no pain since I started stretching and massage," said Curtis. Nearly eight years ago, she began seeing Michael Young, a massage therapist whose repetitive use injury therapy treatment and training uses a combination of stretching and massage to treat tight muscles and the scar tissue Young believes are most responsible for CTS.

"Because of repetitive use, the muscle gets shorter and shorter, tighter and tighter. The muscle gets so tight that swelling causes carpal tunnel syndrome," Young said. In his practice and in workshops he teaches around the country, Young advocates a daily stretching routine that deviates from conventional stretching wisdom. Instead of holding stretches for 20 seconds or more, Young advises a stretch that is held only for about two seconds, but repeated 20-30 times. It works on everyone from mild sufferers to chronic cases, Young said. Stretching, but not overtaxing already damaged muscles, prevents further trauma and promotes healing. Massage, which can be done by the client or a therapist, supplements the stretching by breaking up scar tissue.

"As soon as they stop holding those stretches for a long time and only hold it for a couple of seconds, 100% of them improve," he said.

Using a hard surface as a stabilizer, place the palm of your hand down, with fingers facing behind you. With your legs, move your body up and down, stretching the flexor muscles with a 2-second hold, approximately 20-30 times. Keep your elbow straight.	With the opposite hand, stroke down the arm being stretched as shown. Repeat 20-30 times.	To stretch the extensor muscles, make a soft fist and put it flat on the table as shown.	While bending your legs, roll your wrist forward. Again, hold the stretch only 2 seconds, returning back to the original position shown in the previous photo.	Using your opposite hand, apply a moderate amount of pressure, stroking down to the extensor muscles. Make sure to keep the elbow of the stretching arm locked. Repeat 20-30 times.

Aaron Mattes, a kinesiotherapist, pioneered the technique, called active isolated stretching, more than 30 years ago. He is a massage therapist and director of Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation International in Palmetto, Fla. The stretching method, particularly effective for treating CTS, aims to reduce swelling while helping create soft, pliable scar tissue. Short, isolated stretches allow consistent contraction of muscles on opposite sides of joints, ensuring reciprocity between muscle groups. It leads to healthier, more flexible muscles and increased blood flow, oxygen and nutrition moved to tissues.

For CTS, Mattes - author of Active Isolated Stretching: The Mattes Method - advises stretches from the fingers to the neck, and everything in between. Muscles are worked on alone, but the whole range of muscles and tissue related to CTS are also addressed. Too often, he said, treatment is isolated at the wrist.

"We need to consider the whole river and not just the point in the river where something is blocked," he said. "CTS is rarely approached from the hand, arm and neck."

Mattes said while stretching, complemented by massage, is a must for CTS sufferers, the proverbial ounce of prevention is most effective.

"I'd rather show you how to not have carpal tunnel than teach you how to get rid of it."

He calls surgery "totally unnecessary" and said not one of his CTS clients in more than 30 years has required an operation. By using a combination of proper posture, consistent stretching, massage therapy and breathing, CTS patients can rest assured they won't be pacing their floors at night, waiting for the pain to go away.

By Kieran McConnellogue
Kieran McConnellogue is a freelance writer based in Greeley, Colorado.