Massage therapy is usually recommended for persons who have aches, joint pain and muscular pain. These symptoms are very common in old age. Texts of ayurveda attribute vitiation of vata as causative factor for health problems in elderly.
Vitiated vata causes body ache, pain in joints, dry skin, weakness of muscles etc in old age. Ayurveda acharyas recommend body massage with vata balancing oil like ksheerabala oil to normalize imbalanced vata.
The following are benefits of body massage in elderly.
Symptoms like body ache, joint pain and stiffness of muscles are reduced
Massaging the body with oil reduces dryness of skin and prevents cracking and fissuring of skin. It also prevents discoloration of skin
This process reduces stress, relaxes mind and makes the elderly people to feel good.
Good oil massage induces sound sleep.
Body massage improves blood circulation and strengthens the muscles.
Inflammation of joints reduces with a good massage.
Texts of ayurveda eulogize the oil massage as anti aging therapy. Massaging body with oil is known as “Abhyanga”.
Apart from the above mentioned health conditions body massage also treats so many of the typical conditions that arise with age – such as muscular stiffness, arthritis, skin discoloration, muscle and bone deterioration, tendonitis, bursitis, and respiratory problems such as asthma and emphysema.
Body massage for elderly is known as senior’s massage or geriatric massage. Careful massage can help to provide the elderly with symptomatic relief and enable seniors to extend the vitality in their lives.
Note: A trained expert massage therapist must massage elderly. The body of aged persons will be fragile and delicate. Hence the body massage for elderly should be conducted under an expert massage therapist’s supervision. The person who massages them should care the elderly.
