The History and Future of Massage Therapy

Massage Therapy in its most rudimentary form is asathletes for the Olympic games.
old as mankind. It is likely that early cave dwellersHippocrates (460-380BCE), the Father of modern
possessed an instinctive understanding, commonmedicine, believed that joint function and muscle tone
among most of the animal kingdom, that touchwere improved with massage, and changed massage
relieves pain and promotes healing.technique significantly by promoting what he termed
No one culture can claim to be source of the idea“anatripsis” or massage upwards toward the
that healing is facilitated by touch. Today's massageheart thereby improving circulation.
therapy evolved from culturally disparate rootsBy the time of Marcus Aurelius physical manipulations
including Ancient Greece, Rome, China, Arabia andsimilar to tapotement used in Swedish massage were
India. In fact the English word “massage” isprescribed for a number of symptoms.
derived from the French massage ("friction ofWhile massage therapy schools were created in China
kneading"), which in turn is derived from masser ("toby the 100s AD, Western civilization saw few
massage"), which originates from the Arabic massaadvances until about the 14th century when Guy de
("he felt, touched") or masaha ("to stroke, anoint,Chauleac published a surgical text describing massage
rub").as an essential part of surgery.
Western civilization probably first became aware ofFinally, an 18th century Swedish fencing master, Per
the beneficial properties of massage therapy in theHenrik Ling gave Europe its first comprehensive
1700's through the French. At that time, the oldestmassage therapy handbook and the Ling System,
known book referencing massage was translated intowhich incorporated techniques borrowed from those
the vernacular and introduced to European culture.described in the ancient Chinese writings. The Ling
This was the “Cong-Fu of the Tao-Tse”System forms the basis of modern Swedish
written in 3000 BCE China.massage.
Many ancient Chinese writings describe a system ofBy the 20th century developments in pharmacology
physical therapy mimicking natural animal movements.effectively changed the face of medicine in the West
These ancient therapies can still be found today inas drugs replaced natural methods of healing. Only
Swedish massage therapy.within the last 50 years or so has massage therapy
One ancient Chinese text written in 2760 BCEgained momentum in the West.
(“Nei Ching”) survives as a standard inThe stresses of modern society along with
massage therapy training.innovative developments such as the “Seated
Soon after that time, Egyptians developed what isMassage”, offering unparalleled accessibility, have
known as reflexology. Paintings depicting a form ofthrust massage therapy into the spotlight as a
massage have been discovered in tombs in therespectable option in natural healing and calming
Valley of the Kings dating to about 2330 BCE.techniques.
Massage therapy had long been established as partHospitals and clinics routinely used this as a
of India's Ayurvedic medicine, dating back to 3000recognized and acceptable restorative treatment, yet
BCE. Today's practitioners of Ayurvedic Abhyangaits preventative benefits have yet to be explored by
massage use the same techniques of meditation,allopathic medicine. It is this one area that makes the
aromatherapy and massage kneeding and pressurefuture of massage therapy a promising one.
developed thousands of years ago.Thousands of years of tried and tested techniques
By 1000 BCE and into the second century AD, theregive unparalleled credibility to its therapeutic
is abundant evidence showing that the Greeks andadvantages but it is the innovations yet to come in
Romans used massage with oils for healing, surgery,discovering its preventative benefits that make this
to relieve neuralgia and seizures, and to preparean exciting field to be a part of.