MASSSAGE THERAPY
Massage Therapy is just one persuasion from a wide array of other very effective and closely related persuasions such as Acupressure, Body Work, Manipulative Therapy, Manual Lymphatic Drainage, Structural Integration, Alternative Medical Systems, Mind-Body Intervention, Biologically Based Therapy, Energy Therapy, Shiatsu and Tui Na. And all these as a group come under the wide umbrella of alternative medicine and body-based methods. Massage Therapy is a procedure in which various methods are utilized to manipulate soft tissues of the subject's body such as the muscles, tendons, ligaments, skin, joints, connective tissues as well as the lymphatic vessels and organs of the gastrointestinal system.
The primary goal of Massage Therapy is to affect physical, psychological and functional curative changes by performing manipulative functions which involve moving or stationery pressure, structured or unstructured force to strategic points, vibration, stroking, kneading, and so on. On occasion, mechanical devices are used as tools of the trade, but for the most part, Massage Therapy is applied manually with the therapist's hands, fingers, elbows, forearms and feet as the subject is fully clothed in a massage chair or partially to totally naked but covered with a towel on a massage table or on a mat on the floor.
Ancient scriptures have attested to the fact that massage therapy dates back into antiquity and it has been a fundamental practice in many different cultures such as the Roman, Greek, Japanese, Chinese, Egyptian, Mesopotamian and Indian. Even Biblical writings from c. 493 BC speak of daily massage with olive oil and myrrh being applied to the wives of Xerxes (Esther, 2:9-12) as part of their daily beauty routine. Hippocrates of Cos, a Greek physician of the fourth century BC who is also considered the "father of medicine" and after whose teachings the famous Hippocratic Oath was named, wrote that "The physician must be experienced in many things, but assuredly in rubbing."
Advancing to more modern times, Massage Therapy gained its popularity in the United States when it was presented by two physicians from New York in the 1800s. Their techniques were an adaptation from the Per Henrik Ling Massage Therapy which was developed in Sweden. With the introduction of new and exciting innovations in medicine during the 1930s and 1940s, the popularity of Massage Therapy waned but was revived again by the athletic community in the 1960s and 1970s. Massage Therapy was provided as a central medical service for the first time in the United States during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.
Etymologically speaking, the word "massage" in English comes from a long line of derivatives as follows: the French word "massage" which means "the friction of kneading," which comes from the Arabic word "massa" which means "to touch, feel or handle," which comes from the Latin word "massa" which means "mass or dough." The Greek word for "massage" is "anatripsis" and the Latin word is "firctio." However, the oldest known origin of the English word "massage" comes from the Biblical Hebrew word "me-sakj" which means "to anoint with oil."
What we refer to as Massage Therapy today has in the past been merely referred to as Massage. However, the "therapy" portion of the Massage Therapy came into being only when the illegal prostitution and sexual services in the United States began advertising themselves and their wares as "massage." Wanting to distinguish itself, the legitimate massage became Massage Therapy while the illicit continued to be called massage.
PPPPP
(Word Count 572)
|
DYSFUNCTIONS RESPONDING TO CLINICAL MASSAGE Occasionally referred to as an orthopedic massage, Clinical massage is an entire array of manipulation ...
read more
FACIAL MASSAGE The oldest known Facial massage in human history dates back to the third century B.C. where it was ...
read more
MASSASGE THERAPY VS. CHIROPRACTICTIC THERAPY If you are anything like me, you probably prefer staying away from providers of conventional ...
read more
MASSAGE THERAPY AS COMPLIMENTARY ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE Massage therapy is a broad term that encompasses a wide variety of procedures and ...
read more
MASSAGE THERAPY FOR SENIOR CITIZENS With the baby boomers aging and with the help of higher technology and greater innovations ...
read more
MASSAGE FOR YOUNG CHILREN Countless studies and pediatric research have shown that massage therapy is supremely beneficial for a wide ...
read more
MASSSAGE THERAPY Massage Therapy is just one persuasion from a wide array of other very effective and closely related persuasions ...
read more
PREGNANCY MASSAGE Who better deserves and needs a good massage therapy than a mother to be? I cannot think of ...
read more
REFLEXOLOGY MASSAGE Reflexology Massage, which is also known as the zone therapy, is an alternative medicine technique in which massaging, ...
read more
RISKS OF MASSAGE THERAPY By and large, massage therapy that is performed by a properly schooled and well experienced massage ...
read more
SELF MASSAGE DEVICES This is for all of you out there who are like most of us too busy and ...
read more
SELF MASSAGE Are you aware of having a personal massage therapist, actually two of them, available to you and ready ...
read more
THE BALINESE MASSAGE THERAPY Having originated on the exotic island of Bali, the Balinese massage therapy is one of a ...
read more
THE CHAIR MASSAGE Massages in chairs or simply in sitting positions have always had their place among most ancient and ...
read more
THE DEEP TISSUE MASSAGE The deep tissue massage is a kind of massage therapy which centers its attention primarily on ...
read more
THE FOOT MASSAGE Some 2,500 ago and during Lord Buddha's time in ancient India, a physician named Jivaka Komarabhacca developed ...
read more
THE HAND AND ARM MASSAGE From the moment we wake up until the moment we fall asleep, we all work ...
read more
THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF MASSAGE THERAPY In an attempt to understand how and why massage therapy is as effective as ...
read more
THE HOT STONE MASSAGE The Hot Stone massage is a therapeutic massage technique in which a heated stone is held ...
read more
THE INDIAN HEAD MASSAGE Its origins stem from an Indian remedial and grooming practice which had been and continues to ...
read more
THE KOREAN MARTIAL THERAPY The Korean Martial Therapy, also well known by its acronym KMT, had been recognized for its ...
read more
THE SHIATSU MASSAGE Literally translated from Japanese, "Shiatsu" means "finger pressure" and it was incorporated into the Japanese culture approximately ...
read more
THE SPORTS MASSAGE Describing it in a nutshell, the Sports Massage is a specialty massage technique that was created and ...
read more
THE SWEDISH MASSAGE The Swedish Massage, which was conceived by Henri Peter Ling, a Swedish physiologist at the University of ...
read more
THE ZEN MASSAGE There are very many massage techniques in existence today some of them stemming from the far Eastern ...
read more
|
|
|
Disclaimer:
The Publisher has strived to be as accurate and complete as possible in
the creation of this website, notwithstanding the fact that he does not
warrant or represent at any time that the contents within are accurate
due to the rapidly changing nature of the Internet.
This site
is a common sense guide to MASSSAGE THERAPY. In practical advice websites,
like anything else in life, there are no guarantees of income made.
Readers are cautioned to reply on their own judgment about their
individual circumstances to act accordingly.
This site
is not intended for use as a source of legal, business, accounting or
financial advice. All readers are advised to seek services of competent
professionals in legal, business, accounting, and finance field.
Any
perceived slights of specific people or organizations are unintentional.
|