DOI 10.1515/vjes-2017-0010 A Reserch regarding Targoviste s Inhabitant s Opinion on what are the Massage s Benefits on Health and Wellness Georgiana-Daniela BADICU Valahia University of Targoviste, Romania monicad_d@yahoo.com Abstract Some people consider the massage a luxury and resort to it only in case of need. But given the pressures of fashionable society, and particularly by the increases in diseases caused by stress, such therapies should become an integral part of everyday life and should be recognized as a valuable component of preventive medicine. Since ancient times, people have searched for aids to cure or alienate their suffering in pain, using primary therapeutic properties of water, sunlight and movement. Most likely is that the initial application of massage was instinctively result in immediate experience of its healing properties. Starting from the idea that massage can be both necessity and whim, we decided to identify how massage was and find an answer to the question: "Massage - fad or necessity? Keywords: massage, necessity, fad, health, wellness JEL Classification: H7 1. Research Methodology The purpose of research is to identify how massage is regarded as a fad or a necessity. Research objectives: 1. the perception people have regarding massage in terms of its influence on health; 2. identifying the effects of massage on wellness; 3. identification of the type of massage items The working hypothesis from which we started is that massage is regarded as a necessity rather than a fad. The research method used is a survey-based questionnaire applied on a group of selected people forming the sample. In this case, the investigated community is composed of massage parlors customers in Targoviste, the sample is not representative. The 89
questionnaire was applied to a sample of 125 people aged over 18 years, customers of Targoviste massage parlors, in the questionnaire 125, 120 are valid. In the town of Targoviste there are a considerable number of beauty salons as Salon Nefertiti, Trey Sys Mona Lisa, Selena Gym Beauty and Spa, Salon Andrea, Salon Mylady Secret Beauty and Spa, etc., whose main activity is hairdressing, cosmetics and massage as a secondary activity. These salons are located both in the center and the periphery so they are available to anyone wishing to use these services. The number of employees are different in each case, being between 3 and 30 employees. 2. The interpretation of the results 2.1. Influence Of Massage On Health Percentage views of the preferred type of massage Figure 1. First question "What kind of massage do you like?" Of the 120 persons interviewed, 66 prefer relaxation massage on the reflexotherapist 27, 16 people in the therapeutic and 11 to the one against cellulite. Figure 2. Percentage grounds for appeals to be massage services 90
Thus, 48 people use the services of massage for relieve stress, 42 of respondents were just for pleasure, 20 to treat pain and 10 people for body beautification. Very little 1 A little 2 Medium 3 A lot 4 Very much 5 Average 0 0 24 36 60 4,03 Question 3 aims to identify how important health benefits of massage on respondents are. Thus, 60 people surveyed believe that massage has beneficial effects on health, 36 of respondents believe that the benefits of massage are many, and another 24 think are average. The average score obtained is 4.03 which indicates that respondents believe that massage is very beneficial to health. Question 4 - "To what extent has contributed massage to improve your health?" Very little 1 A little 2 Medium 3 A lot 4 Very much 5 Average 0 3 21 42 54 4.02 The question "To what extent has massage contributed to improving your health?" aims to identify the extent to which massage helps to improve the health of the respondents. You can see that three respondents felt that health has improved slightly after performing massage while 54 respondents believe that massage has contributed greatly to improve health. Also, there are 63 people who think that health has an average level of improvement or addition, by having a massage. Thus, the average score obtained after analyzing this issue is of 4.02 which shows that massage has a beneficial effect on health contribution. 2.2 Influence of massage on the well Question 5 - "How often do you use the services of a massage?" Rarely/once Rarely/once in 4- Moderately/o Often/onc Very often3- Average in a few months 1 5 weeks 2 nce in 2-3 weeks 3 e a week 4 4 times a week 5 30 24 27 36 3 2.6 For the question "How often do you use the services of massage?" The frequency of using this method. Thus, 30 respondents out of 120 rarely appeal to massage service, once every few months, 24 every 5-6 weeks, 27 people use moderate massage services and 36 often use massage services. Only 3 respondents often resort to 2-3 times a week. The 91
average score obtained is 2.6 and hence the frequency of seeking massage is rare (every 5-6 weeks). Figure 3. The percentage of the massage: whim or need 92 It is noted that a majority, that 102 people believe that massage is a necessity, and the remaining 18 persons consider it a whim or a fad. Question 6 - "Do you think that after the massage you experienced discomfort?" Not at all Very little A little A lot Very much Average 5 4 3 2 1 96 6 18 0 0 4.6 The question "Do you think that after massage you felt discomfort?" showed that 80% of the total surveyed people did not show any discomfort, 15% expressed that they felt very little discomfort after performing massage and 5% little. We note that the average score obtained is 4.6 which indicates that after the massage discomfort does not appear on respondents, on the contrary, this score indicates the beneficial effects of massage. Question 7 "In your opinion did the massage bring wellbeing?" Not at all Very little A little A lot Very much Average 1 2 3 4 5 0 0 6 33 81 4.63 This question indicates that the majority of respondents manifested a very good feeling after the massage, 81 of 120. Only 3 of them were somehow not happy about the wellbeing after massage and 33 people manifested more feelings of wellbeing. It has achieved an average score of 4.63 indicating that the wellbeing after the massage is strong among the respondents. 2.3 Respondent profile We notice that we have a larger number of male respondents, 52% performing massage, compared with 48% who are females.
Sex respondents Figure 4. It is noted that most of the respondents, meaning 51 persons have higher education, 42 of them have postgraduate and 27 are undergraduate. Figure 5. Level of studies Occupation No. Answers Respondents % No. Answers Respondents % 1 IT specialist 3 2,5 12 Police officer 6 5 2 Journalist 3 2,5 13 Firm manager 21 17,5 3 Advisor 6 5 14 Hair stylist 6 5 4 Dentist 3 2,5 15 Waiter 3 2,5 5 Housewife 6 5 16 Actress 3 2,5 6 Auto mechanic 9 7,5 17 Retired 6 5 7 Pharmacist 3 2,5 18 Teacher 3 2,5 8 Chief accountant 9 7,5 19 Military 3 2,5 9 Typist 3 2,5 20 Salesman 3 2,5 10 Engineer 12 10 21 Professors 6 5 11 Architect 3 2,5 Total 120 100`% 93
We can see from this table that respondents have different professions, 21 respondents are firm managers, next in line are 12 engineers. The number of people who have used the services of massage is 9 as chief accountants and 9 mechanics and 6 professors, retirees, hair stylist, police officers, and advisors on household items. The remaining respondents are sales agents, military, teachers, actresses, waiters, architects, clerks, dentists, journalists, computer operators.` Figure 6. Age of respondents After analyzing the questionnaire of the respondents regarding the age, it showed that 42 of them are aged between 31 and 40 years, 33 are aged between 41 and 50 years and 27 are between 18 and 31 years. There is also a number of 18 people over 51 years. Figure 7. Media respondents 94 Most respondents are from urban areas, 78 and rural a number of 42 respondents. Thus, we can say that the respondents profile is as follows: male, aged between 31 and 40 years, with university education, urban. 3. Conclusions Our world is made of stress and agitation, people have forgotten how to listen, nor what and how to talk. Often, our priority is represented by the things that surround us, what we eat, what we wear or how we look. The rush for money made us forget something
essential in life, namely health. That we can maintain or improve by different methods or alternative therapies, including massage. Of the 120 surveyed people there is an appreciation of massage, which shows that people know and have already experienced the benefits of massage. We note that of the 102 people questioned consider massage a benefit. Many of them are over 31 years and the predominant people are in a leadership position, such as managers of companies, chief accountants, engineers. Most respondents by their occupation are in contact with people. These people, in turn, work with subordinates, and we know that people are the most difficult, and hence that their psyche is overloaded. The respondents ask more frequently for massage relaxation and stress relief ones. Most of them are male, with different ages, with almost equal proportion regarding life environment (urban or rural). Most men who use massage believe it has many health benefits closely followed by those who believe that it has many benefits and only a minority of respondents considered to have a medium level of benefits. 24 respondents are postgraduate, 18 graduate and only six of them undergraduate studies. All these consider that after the relaxation massage did not feel any discomfort, on the contrary, amplifying very much their wellbeing. People who use moderate (2-3 times a week) relaxation massage have professions as: corporate administrators, engineer, advisors, police officers, mechanics, and those who use these services often have the same occupations. Female respondents are like dentists, pharmacists, teachers, chief accountants use relaxation massage with variable frequency, having as purpose destressing and stress relief, considering that massage has a tremendous beneficial effect on their health and well in terms of the service it brings. Most respondents believe that more and massage contribute greatly to improving health, most of them with postgraduate studies, followed by those with university and only a few studies education. After applying relaxation massage, respondents did not feel discomfort, aged between 18 and 50 years, predominantly the age group 31-40, and most of the respondents from urban areas, and only a very small proportion of rural. Many respondents find a small oasis of peace appealing to massage, just like children think that chocolate is simply a pleasure. We note that 18 of the respondents consider massage a fad. These people with professions such as dentists, police officers, advisors, actress and others see it as a pampering massage. They appreciate the massage, with the wellbeing and relaxation after the massage, however, for them, a massage is a fad. Respondents considered this regarding the massage, without a difference in the urban and rural areas. The most predominant users are females and their age ranges between 18 and 50 years, with pre-study and academic studies working as an actress, a dentist, an advisor, or a sales agent. Male respondents who consider massage a fad are over 51 years postgraduate and work as police officers, mechanics, engineers, company managers consider moderate massage, using it for reasons such as destressing, relief release or simply for pleasure, and after application of massage they did not feel discomfort, on the contrary, the well was much stronger. At therapeutic massage, from 22 people, most of them took it to treat or ameliorate pain or disease. Because this massage works on certain areas (painful or affected), some people felt a very small degree of discomfort. However, respondents who used massage therapy, consider it a necessity, because they felt that massage has beneficial effects on health. It is noted that the therapeutic massage often turned a rare and very rare option among men aged between 18 and 40 years, and persons aged over 51 years. Many have professions as: waiter, hair stylist, agent sales, and through these jobs their feet, as the 95
whole body, are overstretched. Most of them have university studies and come largely from urban areas. Women who use massage therapy are most undergraduate studies, and university aged between 18 and 40 years, having a job as a journalist, agent sales engineer and aged over 51 years mostly engineering and retired. We note that those who use massage therapy have a frequency level of rare and two-thirds are urban and one third lives in rural areas. They believe that massage has contributed and greatly improved their health, resulting in an amplification state good. Reflex massage, which turned 27 of the respondents, working on nerve endings bodies of foot, caused a slight discomfort where organs are affected. Respondents consider this massage a must have, building on improving their health, considering that after this massage was very much an improvement on their wellbeing. Females who needed reflex massage work mostly as corporate administrators, but note that we also have retired, housewives and hair stylists. On top of these, people, in terms of their occupation having mental and / or physical occupations, which has caused them stress or pain resorted to this type of massage just to improve their health and wellbeing. Women respondents were aged from 31 years, most of them with pre-university studies and a third have university studies. Females believe that massage has many benefits and two-thirds of respondents were from urban areas and the rest from rural areas. The frequency with which they go to reflex massage is 1-2 times per week. Men who have resorted to reflex massage have occupations like engineers, teachers, and firm administrators, moderate attend this massage, and one third of them very often. They find massage has contributed even greatly improve their health, without any discomfort after its application. Most of them come from urban areas and only one third from rural areas, and consider that massage has many positive effects on their health and wellbeing. The men surveyed were aged over 41 years, two-thirds of them with graduate studies and the rest of them being undergraduate. Cellulite massage is preferred by females, with the aim of beautifying their body. Only three of the respondents felt less discomfort after application of massage, and the remaining 15 people did not feel any discomfort at this but felt great and increased their wellbeing. Women who have used this type of massage have professions as: military, computer operator, clerk, professor. They often go to massage and their level of education being predominantly graduate, closely followed by those with university education, and only 3 of respondent were undergraduate. Respondents considered that their health was greatly improved after applying the massage. Those who used anti-cellulite massage come from urban areas and only 3 of them from rural and the main age is 31-40 years, followed by 41-50 and only 3 aged 18 to 30 years. References Chiruta,I, Postolica, V. (2005) Incursiune în reflexoterapie, Iași, Ed. Polirom. Chiruță,A.I., Postolică, V. (1999) Incursiune în reflexoterapie. Sănătate prin masaje si remedii naturiste, Iași, Ed. Polirom. Ivan.S. (2010) Masoterapie practică, Bucureși, Ed. Meteor Press. Ivan, S. (1990) Să ne tratam și fără medicamente, București, Ed. Stiințifică și Enciclopedică. Ph. Kotler, J. Saunders, G. Amstrong, V. Wong (1998) Principiile marketingului, București, Ed. Teora. 96