Introduction to massage

I’m really excited to start this short series on massage, and maybe some other complementary therapies. I’ll start with what I know the best - massage!

Massage, at its most basic, is the process of applying touch techniques to soothe and relax the muscles  and to relieve pain. The word ‘massage’ has cognates in various languages, such as in Arabic mass or mass’h means ‘to press gently’, in Greek massage means ‘to knead’, and in French masser means… ‘to massage’. Massage has been practiced for thousands - if not tens of thousands - of years as a healing art. When an infant cries, we naturally carry it and stroke or pat its back; when we hurt our ankle, we naturally rub it. This natural instinct of calculated and careful touch using various methods and techniques to heal has been developed over human history into the well defined and understood therapy we know today. 

History of massage therapy

Ancient times

If there is one true origin of massage therapy, we do not know of it, and it is likely to have been independently developed by various populations at various times throughout ancient human history.

In China it was established as long ago as 4000 years ago. An ancient Chinese medical text called “Con-Fu of the Toa-Tse” (1800 BCE) detailed about massage techniques and its therapeutic purposes, and “The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon” an ancient text written 2500 years ago claims to refer to practices known more than two millennia before that.

In about 1000BCE, Japanese monks studying Buddhism in China learnt the Chinese method of healing and developed their own. A hundred years ago Tokujiro Namikoshi built upon this system and created the tradition we now know as ‘Shiatsu’ which means ‘pressure finger' and which works with the body’s energy flow.

India, too, has its own long history of using touch to cure, heal, and relieve pain. Massage therapy was practiced and passed down through generations to heal injuries, relieve pain, and prevent and cure illnesses by Hindus in a tradition known as Ayurveda. Ayur-Veda - ‘life health’ - is a sacred book written around 1800BCE. It is a traditional holistic medical system, and within that system massage is believed to restore the body’s natural and physical balance, to help it to heal naturally.

By 2500 BCE, massage therapy had evolved in Egypt, where it was portrayed in tomb paintings. The Egyptians added their own bodywork techniques, adding reflexology which is the healing technique of applying pressure at specific points on the feet and hands.

Ancient Egyptian massage

This is a papyrus image of the bas-relief carving in the Tomb of the Physician in Saqqara, Egypt, from 2400 B.C.E. The tomb belongs to Shepseskaf-Ankh, who served the fifth dynasty pharaohs in the Old Kingdom. He practiced pretty advanced medicine for his time!

Egyptians inspired the Greeks and Romans who used massage therapy in different ways. In Greece, athletes used massage to treat their bodies before competitions between 800 and 700 BCE, and in Homer’s epics, massage with oils and aromatic substances is mentioned as a means to relax the tired limbs of warriors and a way to help the treatment of wounds. In the 5th century BCE, Hippocrates, the Greek physician, the ‘father of modern medicine’, treated physical injuries with friction, a massage technique still in use today. He was also the first one to advise a combination of massage, proper diet, exercise, fresh air and music to correct a health imbalance. And in the 1st century BCE, Roman physician Galen, used massage therapy on emperors following Hippocrates method of treating injuries and illnesses.

Modern times

In the early 1800s, the Swedish doctor Per Henrik Ling devised a method known as the Swedish Movement Cure to help relieve chronic pain. Although he was successful and appointed head of the Swedish Royal Gymnastic Central Institute, little of his method was ever published, and what we now know as Swedish massage was actually developed by a Dutch doctor, Johan George Mezger. He named the five basic massage movements that we still use today in classical massage:

• Effleurage, which uses long, gliding strokes from the extremities inward at various levels of pressure

• Petrissage, a technique that is rhythmic and may include kneading, skin rolling, lifting or a push-pull movement

• Tapotement, a beating/tapping administered with the side of the hand, a cupped hand or fingertips

• Friction, deep, circular or crosswise movements with the thumbs, fingertips, palms or elbows, designed to penetrate deep tissue

• Vibration, where specific muscles are rapidly shaken or vibrated.

Although all classical massage therapists have their own unique movements and methods for treating your stresses and pains, you will still find these five basic movements at the centre of your massage.

How is massage therapy viewed in society today?

Today, thankfully, massage is widely accepted both by the public and scientific community as an effective therapy, thanks to worldwide cultural and media exposure, and extensive medical research. Since 1996 we have seen Olympic athletes getting massages by the track side before and after sporting events, and it’s common to see exhausted football players getting massages pitch side. Massage therapy is available around the world and many different methods are available, such as Thai, Swedish, Shiatsu, Sports, etc.

There has been much medical research into the benefits of massage therapy, and while there is little evidence that massage cures any chronic illnesses, there are many studies that show positive effects on anxiety and discomfort in many health contexts, which I’ll talk more about in the next post, so stay tuned!

Guns don't heal people - people heal people!

Finally, massage therapy is not standing still. Despite being thousands of years old, there are still advances being made. We can see especially the development of mechanical massage tools recently, for instance massage chairs in airports, and the application of personal tools like massage gun, electric massage table, etc. And the techniques themselves are being developed continually too, for example trigger point release therapy has gained a lot of ground since the original 1942 paper. I’ll do a post on that in future too.

In the next post I’ll talk a bit more about when you would and would not want to get a massage, as well as maybe something of the regulatory environment. Until then, if you feel like some TLC from a trained therapist, book a massage!