DIFFERENT STROKES MASSAGE, ONCE SEEN AS AN EXTRAVAGANCE, WORKS ITS WAY INTO THE MEDICAL MAINSTREAM.

Byline: Mariko Thompson Staff Writer

If Jennifer Harper could have one luxury regardless of cost, she'd want a weekly massage. The Camarillo mother has turned to massage therapy to relax sore muscles after a hard workout, to ease back pain during pregnancy and to melt away the tension from her job as a senior marketing director.

``I work and I have three children,'' Harper says. ``I'm a stressed, tense person. A massage is good for well-being. I wish it was more recognized by the health-care community.''

Bolstered by research on the effects of chronic stress, massage therapy increasingly is seen as a prescription for good health rather than a frivolous pastime for the rich and spoiled. These days, massage therapists can be spotted just about anywhere, giving chair massages to employees at work, working out the kinks in seniors at retirement communities and assuaging infants in neonatal intensive care.

``It definitely falls into the new consciousness about stress and the impact on our bodies,'' says Shay Beider of the Santa Monica-based organization Heart Touch Project, which provides volunteer therapists to people who are homebound or hospitalized.

Whether it's a 15-minute acupressure session at work or a 90-minute rubdown at a day spa, more Americans are willing to spend their hard- earned dollars on massages. According to a 2003 survey for the American Massage Therapy Association, 21 percent of adults reported having a massage within the previous year, a 13 percent increase since 1997. Nineteen percent received their massage at a spa. But chiropractic offices and beauty salons also were common sites.

Linda Tommela, owner of First Class Massage in Thousand Oaks, gets calls from companies looking for a therapist to do chair massages in the office. Sometimes, the company picks up the tab as a reward to boost morale. When the massages are part of an ongoing stress reduction program, the company often makes the arrangements and the employees pay for their massages, Tommela says.

``The employees are relaxed afterward, but it's like a new start to the day,'' Tommela says. ``There's a resurgence of energy.''

Dr. Lisa Masterson, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Santa Monica, was so convinced that women needed an outlet for stress reduction that she converted the second story of her practice into a spa. Patients see Masterson for their Pap smears and prenatal visits on the ground floor. Then they can walk upstairs to the Ocean Oasis for a massage or facial - though Masterson is careful to note that the spa services are out-of-pocket expenditures.

``Stress reduction via massage really helps if people have high blood pressure or want to alleviate certain aches and pains,'' Masterson says. ``It's wonderful to send them upstairs to get some extra TLC. We've noted that their blood pressure goes down. It does have a real benefit on physical health.''

Even though many doctors today encourage patients to pursue activities that reduce stress, there's still resistance to massage therapy in the medical setting. The Heart Touch Project provides volunteer massage services - with a doctor's consent - to infants in critical care, children in hospice, AIDS patients and seniors in nursing homes. Pain management specialists tend to be the most receptive to allowing massage therapy in hospitals, Beider says.

``They're more drawn to doing everything they can to relieve pain,'' Beider says. ``They're open-minded about other approaches.''

Some of the hospitals that use Heart Touch's services decided to study the effects on their patients. Heart Touch recently worked with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles to document how massage therapy may alleviate depression among male patients with AIDS. Researchers are reviewing the data, Beider says. The organization is now collaborating with Childrens Hospital Los Angeles on two studies, one on babies in critical care and the other on children in the rehabilitation unit.

``We're seeing the shift of massage therapy into the medical environment,'' Beider says. ``A lot of headway is being made.''

Mariko Thompson, [phone]

mariko.thompson(at)dailynews.com

What you knead to know

Common massage terms

Acupressure: An ancient Chinese technique that uses fingertip pressure on special points or meridians to release stress and increase energy flow. The Japanese version is called shiatsu.

Deep tissue: Works deeper layers of muscle and connective tissue by using slow strokes and finger pressure.

Reflexology: Applies pressure to points in the feet and hands that correspond to organs and tissues throughout the body.

Sports massage: A deep massage that focuses on the muscle systems most relevant to a particular sport.

Swedish: Uses gliding strokes, kneading and circular pressure to improve circulation.

For more information

American Massage Therapy Association, www.amtamassage.org

First Class Massage in Thousand Oaks, [phone], www.firstclassmassage.com

Heart Touch Project in Santa Monica, [phone], www.hearttouch.org

Ocean Oasis Medical Day Spa in Santa Monica, [phone]

Touch Therapy Massage in Encino, [phone], www.touchtherapyinstitute.com

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3 photos, box

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(1 -- cover -- color) HERE'S THE RUB

Massage moves to the masses - and it's just what we need

Phil McCarten/Staff Photographer

(2) Linda Tommela, owner of First Class Massage in Thousand Oaks, demonstrates her technique on volunteer Ila Overholt at Oaks Christian School in Westlake Village. Tommela says she fields calls from companies looking for massage therapists to visit their offices.

(3) The number of Americans who turn to massage has jumped dramatically in recent years, according to one trade survey.

Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Staff Photographer

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What you knead to know (see text)