Massage Therapy

Massage Therapy is the art of soft tissue manipulation with physical, functional and psychological goals. The word “massage therapy” comes from the word friction or kneading in French, to touch, feel or handle, in Arabic it means mass, and gouge in Latin.

Massage Therapy involves massaging the body with pressure, tension, motion or vibration that is either done manually or with mechanical aids. The target areas on the body during massage therapy are muscles, tendons, ligaments, skin, joints, arms, fingers, forearms and feet.

In a massage therapy setting, the client is being massaged while relaxing on a massage table usually. Sometimes the client will sit in a massage chair or even on a floor mat. Normally, the subject is unclothed and is covered by sheets and/or towels.

There are specialized tables that are used specifically for massage therapy. The surface is heavily padded, and there is an opening at the head of the table so that clients can lie down and still breathe.There are many methods of massage therapy that can be done. A few of the most popular ones are listed below.

Acupressure, as you know, is traditional Chinese medicine where physical pressure is applied to specialized points by the hand or elbow.

Deep tissue massage is designed to relive tension in the muscles. This type of massage focuses on the muscles located deep under the skin. It is more for people who have severe or chronic pain.

Reflexology is related to your feet. It is the belief that your hands and feet somehow relate to every organ and gland in your body. So when your feet and hands are rubbed, it reaches all your other organs such as your heart and kidneys.

Russian Massage therapy is divided into three phases. The first phase, the massage is gentle and slow. During second phase, the massage is done harder and faster. And the last phase, reverts back to the first phase of slow and gentle.

Shiatsu can be broken down into two words. “Shi” means finger and “atsu” means pressure. Shiatsu is an eastern born therapy that uses pressure that is applied with thumbs, fingers and palms as well as rolling, brushing, vibrating and grasping to apply pressure to the back, legs and feet.

A hot stone massage uses water heated stones to apply pressure and heat to the body. Stones can be coated in oil and used by a massage therapist to knead into the skin using a stroking motion.