Massage Therapy Week: Massage and the Kidneys

[Guest guest]

Good Morning!

 

This week I am delving into massage and its related healing methods.

I encourage all members, massage therapist or not, to contribute this

week. Let us gather a body of work for the archives with tips, ideas

and ways to heal through touch!

 

Massage Therapy Week: Massage and the Kidneys

 

The effects of massage on the kidneys are numerous. Massage allows

better circulation. This in turn stimulates all organs allowing for

blood to flow more freely, oxygenating the glands allowing the

kidneys to excrete salt and other waste products.

 

Massage boosts the immune system.

 

Massage assists in helping the kidneys to stimulate urine absorption

and flow. Your kidneys are bean-shaped organs, each about the size of

your fist. They are located near the middle of your back, just below

the rib cage. The kidneys are sophisticated trash collectors. Every

day, your kidneys process about 200 quarts of blood to sift out about

2 quarts of waste products and extra water. The waste and extra water

become urine, which flows to your bladder through tubes called

ureters. Your bladder stores urine until you go to the bathroom.

 

The wastes in your blood come from the normal breakdown of active

muscle and from the food you eat. Your body uses the food for energy

and self-repair. After your body has taken what it needs from the

food, waste is sent to the blood. If your kidneys did not remove

these wastes, the wastes would build up in the blood and damage your

body. The actual filtering occurs in tiny units inside your kidneys

called nephrons. Every kidney has about a million nephrons. In the

nephron, tiny blood vessels called capillaries intertwine with tiny

urine-carrying tubes called tubules. A complicated chemical exchange

takes place, as waste materials and water leave your blood and enter

your urinary system.

 

At first, the tubules receive a combination of waste materials and

chemicals that your body can still use. Your kidneys measure out

chemicals like sodium, phosphorus, and potassium and release them

back to the blood to return to the body.

 

In this way, massage assists your kidneys to regulate the body's

level of these substances. The right balance is necessary for life,

but excess levels can be harmful. Of course, clean, healthy kidneys

do this work on their own. Massage will enhance and complement their

already amazing functions.

 

 

Andrew Pacholyk, MS, L.Ac.

http://www.peacefulmind.com/winter.htm

Therapies for healing

mind, body, spirit

[Guest guest]

HOORAY for the benefits of healing touch! I am excited to see you start this

series. One additional comment about health of kidneys: whenever I give anyone

a deep tissue treatment I make sure to advise they drink at least a quart of

water. Kidneys do reabsorb fluid, which concentrates any toxins released into

the bloodstream. There have been cases of nausea and extreme soreness from

treatment following improper rehydration. I am not a doctor, but it can't be

good to stress the kidneys with filtration in this way.

 

 

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