SINAI HOSPITAL Sinai Hospital's Department of Surgery Section of Urology is sponsoring a free lecture. James Relle, MD, will present Massage Gets Parents In Touch With Babies LAURA ACCINELLI SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS "America's Hidden Health Problem: Women and Incontinence" November 13, 1995 8 to 9:30 pm West Bloomfield Public Library Approximately 10 million Americans are affected by incontinence, more than 85% are women. In many cases the condition is curable and there are options available for treatment and control. For additional information, call 810-353-3060. Ears Don't Come With Volume Controls. Why Should a Hearing Aid? Until now, if you wore a hearing aid, your index finger was almost always poking at your ear! Adjusting the volume up - the next moment turn- ing it down. All just to listen comfortably to changing loudness in everyday sound situations. Now there's MultiFocus't The "hcmds free" hearing aid. No volume controls. No remote controls. MultiFocus uses microchip technology to automatically adjust comfortable volume to your sound environment. Making listening with MultiFocus easier...without manual controls. MultiFocus' in-the-ear and behind-the-ear styles M ultiFocus by Oticon Call today for a Free Hearing Consultation. CRUZ HEARING AID SERVICE (810) 424-8450 18899 W Twelve Mile Rd. • Lathrup Village Note: Not all people with hearing difficulty are candidates for hearing aids. The benefits of amplification may vary among users. Consult your hearing care professional for advice. Marci Javril demonstrates the fine points of infant massage. I t's more than fun to hug and snuggle and squeeze a new baby. It's beneficial, too, some- thing Mother Nature has known all along. Touch is the first and foremost way parents relate to their bun- dle of joy. Recently interest has resurged in more formal tactile interaction: infant massage. "Baby massage," says Los An- geles massage therapist Marci Javril, "is as old as mothering." Like the emphasis on nursing, which is as much about holding and touching and making eye contact as getting mother's milk into baby's belly, the physical closeness and stimulation of mas- sage are important for develop- ment, she says. Animals cuddle and lick their young. Some cultures use pres- sure points to subdue hiccups, headaches and indigestion. And many parents massage instinc- tively when they rub sunscreen or moisturizer on their babies. "When you touch the skin," says Ms. Javril, "you are actual- ly touching a part of the brain." The physical, mental and emo- tional benefits of massage on pre- mature infants has been well- documented. For example, a 1986 study by the Touch Research In- stitute at the University of Miami Medical School found that preterm babies massaged three times a day in 15-minute sessions gained 47 percent more weight than prema- ture babies who were not. The massaged preemies also maintained their weight advan- tage throughout the critical first year. All infants in the study con- sumed the same number of calo- ries a day, says director Tiffany Field. The developing systems of the massaged babies became more efficient at converting calo- ries into body weight as a direct result of physical stimulation. Nor did massage make the treated infants more lethargic, she says. Instead, they were ob- servably more active then their nonmassaged counterparts. Gains also were made in mo- tor skills, reflexes, general ori- entation and overall comfort with themselves and their surround- ings, as measured by noted pedi- atrician T. Berry Brazelton's Neonatal Behavior Assessment Scale. MASSAGE page 64