Massage therapy both therapeutic and pleasurable experience By Lee Lawrenz For The News-Chronicle Certified massage therapist Brooke Nimmer has the touch. It not only is therapeutic, but can be a downright pleasurable experience. That's why gift certificates from her business, Touch of Therapy, located along with Kirchman Chiropractic at 637 Main St., Luxemburg, are such a popular item. "Quite a few people buy gift certificates. It makes a good gift, and some people say that's all they ask for," Nimmer chuckled. Nimmer offers a wide variety of massages and therapies - including relaxation massage, therapeutic massage, acupressure, seated chair massage, prenatal and infant message, craniosacral therapy, reflexology, therapeutic facial, sports massage and myofascial release. While some people may consider massage an indulgence (insurance currently doesn't cover sessions) and come in for the half-hour, hour or two-hour sessions, mainly for stress relief or relaxation, others come in primarily to deal with physical problems affecting their "soft structures - tendons, muscles and ligaments." Either way, there are "always benefits." from massage, Nimmer said. She lists possible general benefits as facilitating nerve growth, increasing attentiveness and learning, alleviating pain, improving immune function, reducing stress, assisting in overcoming addictions, diminishing premenstrual symptoms, lowering blood pressure, increasing job performance, reducing the number of headache days in migraine headaches and increasing range of motion. Specifically, the massages can have more dramatic, even life-changing, effects. Nimmer noted a client came in with a chronic headache problem and upper back stress. After a few sessions, the woman experienced no headaches. When she "feels one coming on," she comes in and the problem subsides, Nimmer related. "What I like about (my job) is when I can take people from a state of discomfort to feeling pretty good," she said. Brooke noted a lot of the physical problems are work related. For example, people with desk jobs tend to have shoulder and neck issues, construction workers often have lower back problems and those standing at a station in a factory tend to have leg issues. "Anybody who does a job with a repetitive motion will build up tension," she said. To combat that, Nimmer suggests monthly massage therapy sessions, recommending "an hour for good stress relief," and also encourages people to regularly stretch, exercise and drink a lot of water. Some businesses have brought Nimmer into the workplace, both to discuss repetitive motions and what can be done, and to give 15-minute massages to employees, who not only feel better, but more valued by their employers. While a number of people are tentative and don't think massage can benefit them, Nimmer reminds there are all different types of massage she can administer. Nimmer graduated from the Blue Sky Education Foundation in 2000 with over 800 hours of training, plus she gets continual training every year, to keep up with the latest advances. Brooke recently added hot stone therapy, in which she heats stones, then layers them in cloths beneath the person getting a massage. They get both pressure and heat, and "it feels good on cold days," Nimmer grinned. In general, massage therapy releases the "same kind of endorphins" as exercise, the same natural high. "I get it once a month myself," Nimmer said.