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A Massage History
Massage is such an instinctive human
response that when we bump ourselves, we rub it and the 'ouch' soon goes
away. This basic instinct has been slowly developed over countless
generations into a sophisticated healing art and science.
The word “massage” may derive from
the Arabic word “masah” which means to stroke with the hand.
Professional therapeutic massage is
an age-old healing art, which can alleviate physical, mental and
emotional ailments. The practice dates to the Chinese, who provide the
earliest mention of massage in a book dating from about 2700 BC: “Early
morning stroking with the palm of the hand, after the night’s sleep,
when the blood is rested and the tempers relaxed, protects against
colds, keeps the organs supple and prevents minor ailments”
Egyptian tomb paintings show people
being massaged. In Eastern cultures, massage has been practiced
continually since ancient times.
Hippocrates (considered the father of
modern medicine) advocated massage in the 4th century BC. “A
physician must be experienced in many things,” he wrote, “but assuredly
in rubbing … for rubbing can bind a joint that is too loose, and loosen
a joint that is too rigid.” References in the Bible refer to anointing
the body with oil. And of course there are many references to “the
laying on of hands”.
The Roman emperor’s physician Galen
(AD 199) wrote at least sixteen books relating to massage and exercise
“… the strokes and circuits of the hand should be made of many sorts, in
order that as far as possible all the muscle fibers should be rubbed in
every direction.” He classified massage into firm, gentle and
moderate. It is said that Julius Caesar was given a daily massage to
treat neuralgia
Ayurveda, the traditional Indian
system of medicine, places great emphasis on the therapeutic benefits of
massage with aromatic oils, herbs and spices rubbed into the skin. It
is still practiced very widely in India where mothers massage their
babies, and later these children are taught to do the same for their
parents.
A 16th-century physician
to the French court, Ambroise Pare, praised massage as a treatment for
various ailments.
In 1813, the Royal Central Institute
was established in Stockholm, Sweden, and here the known massage
movements were studied scientifically and systematized by Per Heinrik
Ling (1776 –1839). This was the most important single development in the
field in modern times and it is because of this that the most recognized
form of massage is often called "Swedish".
He based his system on physiology,
which was just then emerging as a science. It consisted of massage and
medical gymnastics and combined techniques used in the Chinese,
Egyptian, Greek and Roman cultures.
Physiotherapy, originally based on
Lings methods, was established with the foundation in 1894 of the
Society of Trained Masseurs. During WWI patients suffering from nerve
injury or shell shock were treated with massage. St. Thomas hospital
in London had a department of massage until 1934.
Many doctors recommended massage
until it was virtually abandoned in the 1930s and 40s when medicine
became high-tech. Because of breakthroughs in medical technology and
pharmacology, physiotherapists began to increasingly favor electrical
instruments over manual methods of stimulating the tissues.
And, of course, massage lost some of
its value and prestige with the unsavory image of “massage parlors” in
many “red light” districts. This image is gradually fading as awareness
of the value and therapeutic properties of massage is resurging.
Massage is now being used in ICUs for
children, elderly people, babies in incubators and patients with cancer,
AIDS, heart attacks or strokes. Most American hospices have some kind
of bodywork therapy available, and it is frequently offered in health
centers, drug treatment clinics and pain clinics.
In Chinese medicine, massage is
called acupressure and in essence both massage and acupressure work with
the body’s own healing systems – the nervous system, blood vessels, and
the lymphatic system.
The concept of most current massage
techniques is to remove stagnation. When muscles spasm, it is a form of
stagnation, a build up of “toxins” if you will. The blood is not moving
as smoothly as it should, either because of internal stress or as a
reaction to pain.
Massage helps relieve tension and so
much more. Studies have shown that massage helps with all sorts of
conditions – arthritis, gastrointestinal problems, PMS symptoms.
Alzheimer’s patients and kids with autism and ADHD may also benefit from
massage. An interesting note: Kids with diabetes have more normal
blood sugar levels after massage and premature babies gain weight faster
when they’re massage. Massage ease depression, keeps depressed mothers
from giving birth too early and prevents postpartum depression.
“Doctors have been slow to refer
patients to massage therapy simply because most aren’t acquainted with
it in their training” – Ka-Kit Hui, MD, director of the Center for
East-West Medicine at UCLA School of Medicine. “We believe it does more
than just help people feel better and we believe in it in our clinic.”
Tiffany Field, PhD, a psychologist
and director of the Touch Therapy Institute at the University of Miami
School of Medicine, has led 83 studies looked at massages’ effects on
depressions, pain, autism, autoimmune disorders such as asthma and
diabetes and immunity.
Her research group is trying to
understand the biological mechanisms that make massage so powerful –
looking at basic physiological measures such as heart rate, blood
pressure, EEG; stress hormones such as cortisol; and chemicals in the
brain that are thought to affect stress and pain.
She speculates that massage works
because it elevates serotonin – the body’s anti-pain hormone – and
reduces cortisol, the stress hormone.
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