Of all the medical techniques available today two of the most comprehensive involve massage and medical aesthetics or esthetics. Medical esthetics is an inclusive term that focuses on improving the cosmetic appearance of the body along with improving the body’s physical well-being. This is accomplished by treating a number of common physical problems including body scars, wrinkles, cellulite, fat deposits, liver spots, even skin discoloration and spider veins with medical esthetics. The other technique is massage therapy. Massage therapy is literally a technique that is thousands of years old.
In simple terms, it involves working on or manipulating parts of the body and the body’s bones with structured tension, pressure, or compression by manual or mechanical means. This is done to help promote the body’s healing, relaxation, and physical well-being. Another benefit of both of these techniques is that they can each help reduce and diminish the body’s wrinkles, eliminate body fat, tighten the skin, smooth skin texture, even skin color, and help control acne. Are there schools or universities that teach these skills? Of course, there are and there are numerous ones to choose from which we are going to investigate here.
What training is required to become a licensed aesthetician? Let’s assume that you live in the windy city of Chicago. There are several aesthetic schools to choose from there. Of the medical esthetics school Chicago has, the courses that are required to graduate with a state approved aesthetics license would include anatomy and physiology of the skin along with courses on skin care theory and basic chemistry. Students are also taught how to do facials as well as body wraps and scrubs pedicures and aromatherapy. But that’s not all. Most if not all schools offer additional master classes comprised of considerably more in depth information relating to this topic including sophisticated techniques and technologies using chemical peels and laser skin treatments.
What training is required to become a licensed massage therapist? Again, we’ll assume you live in Chicago. There are several well-known massage schools there as well. Of the massage therapy school Chicago has, the courses that are required to graduate with a state approved massage therapy license would include courses and study of the human anatomy. The study of massage and its various techniques can encompass years of training. Some of the more popular and effective methods used in massage therapy are the active release technique. This is a form involving a patented form of deep tissue manipulation that is used to release soft tissue adhesions. The techniques of acupressure is another popular one. This is a traditional Chinese method that has been used for thousands of years in traditional Chinese medicine. It is where physical pressure is applied to various acupressure points on the body. The acupressure points are based on the concept that a life energy is flowing freely in the human body. It also involves the concept that in an illness and for other reasons that this energy is blocked or otherwise interrupted and needs unblocking.