At some point in our lives every one suffers from minor injuries, pain or discomfort. Our instinctive reaction is to rub or hold the affected area to ease the pain. If you stub your toe or have a stomach ache, you rub it to stop it from hurting so much. Early man probably soon learnt that, whilst rubbing painful areas of his body, certain plants could be applied which would help to ease the pain and promote healing. This basic technique has been developed through the millennia into the system of massage we know today. Massage is the systematic manipulation of the soft body tissues for therapeutic purposes. The English word massage is derived from the Arabic word ‘mass’h’, which means to press gently. This itself gives a hint to the long history of massage. Massage in its most basic form has been around as long as man, however today there are many highly specialized forms of massage all derived from these basic techniques.
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The first documented descriptions of massage dating back to about 3,000 BC were discovered in China. Chinese Taoist priests practiced ‘Qi Gong’ - meditative movement revealing and cultivating the vital life force. Traditional Chinese medicine is based on the principle that every illness, ailment or discomfort in the body is due to an imbalance of ‘Qi’. In about 1,000 BC Japanese monks began to study Buddhism in China. They witnessed the healing methods of traditional Chinese medicine and took them back to Japan. In Japan the practice of medicine mostly consisted of diagnosis and treatment with massage-type methods. The Japanese not only adopted the Chinese style, but also began to enhance it by introducing new combinations, eventually reaching a unique Japanese form called Shiatsu. Shiatsu is a Japanese word derived from ‘shi’ meaning finger and ‘atsu’ meaning pressure. It is a technique similar to that used in acupuncture but without needles and with extra movements involved.
Civilization in India also dates back to about 3,000 BC. Around 1,800 to 500 BC the Vedic Indian culture spread westwards towards the river Ganges. They developed a unique form of medicine know as Ayurvedic medicine. They wrote several great books that recorded their techniques. One called ‘Ayur Veda’ which means ‘the arts of life’, dates back to 1,700 BC and describes some simple massage and herbal treatments for various conditions.
Native Americans also used heat and massage with herbs to treat many problems. The Cherokee and Navaho were among many tribes who rubbed their warriors before they went to war and when they returned. Massage was used to ease the labor pains of women and colic in infants.
The ancient Greeks valued the benefits of massage very highly, using it in most avenues of daily life. Techniques were developed to help athletes to keep their bodies in the best condition for competitions. They also used massage for relaxation. Herodotus, a historian who lived from 484 to 425 BC, recorded the fact that certain herbs had a sedative action whilst others were more refreshing. Physicians of the time such as Hippocrates (460 to 377 BC) ‘the father of medicine’, used these herbs with oils and massage techniques to treat many medical conditions. He stated that "anyone wishing to study medicine must master the art of massage." Greek women also recognized the value of massage with aromatic oils, using them as a beauty treatment for the skin and face. Homer in his work Odyssey describes massage as "welcome relief to exhausted war heroes." By 326 BC elements of Ayurvedic medicine had become an integral part of Greek medicine.
The Romans learnt many of their medical techniques from the Greeks. Galen, a notable physician to several Emperors in the first century AD, used massage to treat many types of disease and physical injuries. He cited Hippocrates saying "rubbing, if strenuous, hardens the body, if gentle relaxes... rubbing should be employed, when either a feeble body has to be toned up, or one indurate has to be softened, or harmful super fluidity is to be dispersed, or a thin and infirm body has to be nourished." Julius Caesar, who suffered from neuralgia, had his body ‘pinched’ every day to help greater blood flow and reduce fatty tissue below the skin. The wealthy would be massaged in their own home, by their personal physician, but many others received treatment at public baths, where both trainers and doctors plied their trade. Public baths were often funded by benefactors, so the entrance fee was nominal, hence baths were bustling places. Seneca vividly described the resulting din in his book Epistulae Morales LVI "I have lodgings right over a bathing establishment. So picture to yourself the assortment of sounds... I notice some lazy fellow, content with a cheap rub-down, and hear the crack of the pummelling hand on his shoulder, varying in sound according as the hand is laid on flat or hollow."
With the end of the fourteenth century came the end of the Dark Ages and the beginning of the Renaissance. The Renaissance brought along with it many great discoveries in the arts and sciences. In medicine there was a shift away from the centuries old teaching of Galen, and the spiritual basis for disease. Massage also became unpopular as Europe was overcome by a conservative and repressive religious dogma. Touching was not considered as part of the healing method as it involved corporal pleasures and these were considered sinful.
Ambroise Pare (1510-1590) a French ‘barber-surgeon’ developed many techniques in surgery that made it a lot safer and less crippling to the patient. He went on to become the personal physician to four of France’s kings. In one of his publications he described the positive effects of massage in the healing process.
There were very few advances in massage until 1813, when Pehr Henrik Ling established the Royal Central Institute of Gymnastics in Sweden. In the nineteenth century the most common treatments for illness were blood letting and the use of purgatives. Physicians put their faith in science, and new drugs such as Calomel, mercury and arsenic based tonics, were in common usage. Ling formalized a series of gymnastic movements and massage techniques which have become known as Swedish massage. These techniques included ‘effleurage’ or stroking, ‘petrisage’ or pressing and squeezing and ‘tapotement’ or striking. Ling is sometimes credited with being the father of modern massage.
During the 1960s there was a backlash against the establishment and man made things that were seen to be destroying our environment and a resurgence of interest in natural ways of treating the body. Since then there has been an increasing interest in massage and its use to relieve stress and reduce the effects of some illnesses.
Today there is still some skepticism in the medical profession as to the scientific reasons behind the use of massage as a healing technique. Therefore in 1992 the ‘Touch Research Institute’ was established at the University of Miami School of Medicine entirely devoted to the study of touch and its application in science and medicine. They have shown that massage can induce weight gain in premature infants, alleviate depressive symptoms, reduce stress hormones, alleviate pain and positively alter the immune system in children and adults with various medical conditions. Hence massage is becoming recognized as a viable and useful alternative or aid to modern medicine. In our modern society, where stress-related psychological disorders are becoming the number one health problem, massage is likely to gain increasing popularity to improve every body’s health and well-being.
The History of Massage - Massage history from around the world.
Touch is one of the oldest known medical treatments known in the world. Touch therapy is described in the Ayer-Veda, the earliest known medical text from India (around 1800 B.C.), along with diet and exercise as primary healing practices of the time (Older, 1982). Hippocrates, in 400 B.C., described medicine as “the art of rubbing.” Older (1982) describes exotic uses of massage in contemporary cultures. He noted that in Samoa massage is used for every ailment from diarrhea to migraines using mixtures of plants, flowers from trees, roots and coconut milk. In Cuba, garlic and oil are applied to the stomach after “a meal lodged in the stomach where it causes pain and fever” (Older, 1982).
THE WORD MASSAGE is from the Greek to knead; Sanskrit, Masch, to strike to press, to condense, and according to Graham "Massage: Reference Handbook of the Medical Sciences", includes "friction, kneading, manipulating, rolling, and percussion of the external tissues of the body in a variety of ways, either with a curative, palliative, or hygienic object in view." Friction, rolling, a form of deep kneading, and percussion, are produced by the action of many of the mechanical vibratodes. "Mechanical Vibration", M. L. H. Arnold Snow, M.D. 1912
Massage in China
The first documented descriptions of massage dating back to about 3,000 BC were discovered in China. Chinese Taoist priests practised ‘Qi Gong’ - meditative movement revealing and cultivating the vital life force. Traditional Chinese medicine is based on the principle that every illness, ailment or discomfort in the body is due to an imbalance of ‘Qi’. In about 1,000 BC Japanese monks began to study Buddhism in China. They witnessed the healing methods of traditional Chinese medicine and took them back to Japan.
Massage in Japan
In Japan the practice of medicine mostly consisted of diagnosis and treatment with massage-type methods. The Japanese not only adopted the Chinese style, but also began to enhance it by introducing new combinations, eventually reaching a unique Japanese form called Shiatsu. Shiatsu is a Japanese word derived from ‘shi’ meaning finger and ‘atsu’ meaning pressure. It is a technique similar to that used in acupuncture but without needles and with extra movements involved.
Massage in India
Civilization in India also dates back to about 3,000 BC. Around 1,800 to 500 BC the Vedic Indian culture spread westwards towards the river Ganges. They developed a unique form of medicine know as Ayurvedic medicine. They wrote several great books that recorded their techniques. One called ‘Ayur Veda’ which means ‘the arts of life’, dates back to 1,700 BC and describes some simple massage and herbal treatments for various conditions.
Massage in Egypt
Ancient Egyptian drawings show people massaging each other's feet. It has been practiced by people of Eastern cultures for over 4,000 years. REFLEXOLOGY now is enjoying widespread support in North America. It is part of a holistic approach to body healing. It offers a hopeful vision of help and relief, aside from conventional methods.
Nature designed our feet for walking on uneven and rough ground, thus massaging our feet to keep our bodies healthy. REFLEXOLOGY is based on the principle that our nerves or zones end at the bottom of our feet. These zones or reflex points go from the bottom of our feet to the top of our head, encompassing all vital organs on the way. When we press or massage a certain point on the bottom of our foot, we send energy, via that zone, to the corresponding area in our body. So we are helping our body to heal itself by balancing our energies. Tender zones or points may indicate that part of our body requires help or energy sent to it, via the reflex point.
General benefits of massage therapy:
Massage feels good and it is a pleasurable experience.
Massage increases your body self awareness and sensitivity.
Massage reduces your stress, tension and anxiety levels.
Massage calms the nervous system and has a centering/balancing effect.
Massage relaxes, focuses and clears your mind.
Massage helps to improve and maintain your posture.
Massage helps to fulfil your need for a caring and nurturing touch.
Massage encourages self-esteem and a general feeling of well-being.
Massage increased your awareness of the whole being connection and improves your emotional awareness.
Benefits to your muscular system:
Massage increases the blood supply and nutrition to your muscles.
Massage helps your muscles recover more quickly from exertion and fatigue.
Massage relaxes your muscles, effectively reducing spasms, tension and cramping.
Massage reduces and breaks down adhesions (knots) and fibrosis.
Massage stretches your connective tissue.
Massage helps to re-establish your proper muscular tone.
Massage reduces your muscle and soft tissue pain.
Massage supports increased work capacity and encourages your metabolism.
Massage helps to prevent muscular atrophy (wasting from injury and paralysis).
Benefits to your skeletal systems:
Massage improves the circulation and nutrition of the joints and helps increase your range of joint movement.
Massage reduces joint strain and compression through releasing tight muscles and tendons.
Massage increases the ease and efficiency of your movements.
Massage helps to increase the retention of nitrogen, phosphorous, and sulphur in the bones and this aids in fracture healing.
Benefits to your circulatory systems:
Massage increases the nutrition of the tissues via an increased exchange of fluids and materials.
Massage, via the mechanical actions on the soft tissues, produces a dilation of the blood vessels which helps to improve your circulation.
Massage helps to reduce the lack of blood and by direct pressure and stimulation reduces pain due to the irritation of nerves that control your circulatory system.
Massage enhances the elimination of the waste products of your metabolism.
Massage helps to reduce any swelling and contusions.
Massage increases the number of red blood cells in your circulation.
Massage has the overall effect of lowering your blood pressure and reduces your pulse rate.
Massage facilitates tissue healing through the enhancement of circulation.
Massage increases tissue fluid and assists lymphatic circulation thus reducing swelling and enhancing the immune and filtering activities of this system.
Massage increases both your venous and lymphatic flow
Benefits to your nervous system:
Massage can have a sedative, stimulating or even exhausting effect on the nervous system depending on the type and length of treatment given.
Massage stimulates the touch, pressure and proprioceptive receptors of the skin and underlying tissue.
Massage helps to balance the autonomic nervous system.
Massage relaxes the muscles and helps to re-establish proper tonus through its effect on the neuromuscular reflex pathways.
Massage is known to affect the neurotransmitters of the brain and increase endorphin secretion in particular (natural painkillers).
Massage can help reduce nerve entrapment through the release of soft tissue or muscular binding.
Massage can reduce nerve root compression caused by muscular tension.
Benefits to your digestive and excretory systems:
Massage aides the normal movement throughout your alimentary canal assisting with many dysfunction's through its stress releasing effects.
Massage increases the excretion (via the kidneys) of fluids and waste products of protein metabolism, inorganic phosphorous and salt in normal individuals.
Massage can facilitate elimination through the large intestines by mechanically stimulating peristalsis and improving tone.
Massage stimulates peristalsis and can reduce cramping or spasm in the digestive tract.
Benefits to your Skin:
Massage helps to reduce tension in the skin and adjoining tissues as well as increasing its circulation and improve its nutrition.
Massage depending on the medium used to apply it can help to re-moisturise, and soften dry skin.
Massage can help with some skin conditions like eczema, but please check with your Doctor to make sure that what you have is not contagious.
Benefits to your respiratory system:
Massage deepens and normalizes the breathing pattern through relaxation, and release of tension in the breathing structures, both the rib cage and the muscles of respiration.
Massage can help to relieve congestion in the lungs through percussive and compressive movements.
Massage increases the action of the heart, stimulating the blood flow to and from the lungs, helping with the elimination of waste and the absorption of oxygen.
Who Can Benefit From Clinical Massage Therapy?
If you suffer from any of the following disorders, you may benefit by clinical massage:
•Any chronic muscle or joint pain.
•A known condition of referred pain, such as "when my neck gets tense I get a headache. "
•Any recurring symptoms that seem to accompany or are precipitated by muscle lightness.
•Tight muscles that are limiting the mobility of a joint.
•Chronically fatigued muscles.
•Low energy level, especially when accompanied by muscle aches and pains.
•A recent muscle injury that generates pain or dysfunction in areas not seemingly involved in the injury
•Any visceral dysfunction that tests negative for conventional causes.
•Muscle pain that recurs in an area with no apparent new cause.
•A tendency for pain to spread to other muscles whenever a simple strain or injury occurs.
People find that therapeutic massage can help with a wide range of medical conditions, including:
•Allergies
•Anxiety
•Arthritis (both osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis)
•Asthma and bronchitis
•Carpal tunnel syndrome
•Chronic and acute pain
•Circulatory problems
•Depression
•Digestive disorders, including spastic colon, constipation and diarrhea
•Headache, especially when due to muscle tension
•Gastrointestinal disorders (including spastic colon, colic and constipation)
•Headache
•Immune function disorders
•Insomnia
•Myofascial pain (a condition of the tissue connecting the muscles)
•Premature infants
•Reduced range of motion
•Sinusitis
•Sports injuries (including pulled or strained muscles and sprained ligaments)
•Stress
•Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) dysfunction
Massage for Pain Control:
Massage is a very effective technique for controlling pain. How does it work? There are number of ways massage may help in controlling pain.
Massage confuses the body's pain signals.
Rubbing may interfere with pain signals' pathways to your brain, a process called the "gate control theory," according to experts. Pain impulses run toward the spinal cord and then up the cord and into the brain. It's only when they reach the brain that these impulses, are perceived as pain. When you rub, it sends other impulses along the same nerves. When all these impulses try to reach the brain through nerves, the nerves get clogged like a highway during morning rush hour. The result? Most of them won't reach the brain. And if the pain signals does not reach the brain, you won't feel pain. Thus massage works by 'closing the gate' that pain impulses have to pass through.
Massage also calls up the body's natural painkillers.
It stimulates the release of endorphins, the morphine-like substances that the body manufactures, into the brain and nervous system.
Massage provides deep relaxation.
It relieves muscle tension, spasm, and stiffness. All of these contribute to pain. Experts suggest that tense muscles are usually deprived of oxygen, because the tightness reduces blood circulation to the area. Massage improves blood circulation, bringing with it what the muscle needs-oxygen and other forms of nourishment. The muscle then relaxes, and pain decreases.
Massage relieves mental stress and anxiety.
Massage is providing the benefit by the therapeutic value of touching that helps a person in pain. Research shows that even touch lasting for less than 1 second has the ability to make people feel better. Obviously, an hour-long touch provided by massage has to make you feel good!
What Types of Pain Can Massage Help?
Massage can help any pain originating from muscle tension: example - head, back, neck, and shoulder pain are all can benefit from massage. Releasing tightness and tension in muscles is the most obvious effect of a good massage.
Massage also is beneficial for relieving pain associated with arthritis, injuries, or even recent surgery.
Therapeutic Massage Is Beneficial In Combating Aging:
Therapeutic massage is effective in combating the negative effects of aging noticed in the middle to late years of life. It helps keep body tissues and basic functions in a more youthful state.
•Enhances tissue elasticity and joint flexibility
•Improves blood and lymph circulation
•Promotes healthy vibrant skin
•Improves immune system functioning
•Relieves muscle aches and stiffness
•Deep massage helps break up the dimples. When combined with a sensible diet and weight loss program, even stubborn fat pockets can be removed.
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