What Is Massage Therapy?
The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health
The term "massage therapy" includes many techniques, and the type of massage given usually depends on the patient's needs and overall physical condition.
- Massage therapy dates back thousands of years. References to massage appear in ancient writings from China, Japan, India, and Egypt.
- In the Holy Bible, the "laying on of hands" arguably referred to what is now called massage therapy.
- Massage therapists work on muscle and other soft tissue to help you feel better. Just as doctors use bedside manner to help give patients a positive outlook, human touch also provides a tangible benefit (endorphins).
- In Swedish massage, the therapist uses long strokes, kneading, deep circular movements, vibration, and tapping.
- Sports massage combines techniques of Swedish massage and deep tissue massage to release chronic muscle tension. Sports massage techniques were adapted to the needs of athletes.
- Myofascial trigger point therapy focuses on trigger points—areas that are painful when pressed and are associated with pain elsewhere in the body.
- Massage therapy is sometimes done using essential oils as a form of aromatherapy.
What the Science Says About the Effectiveness of Massage
A lot of the scientific research on massage therapy is preliminary or conflicting, but much of the evidence points toward beneficial effects on pain and other symptoms associated with a number of different conditions. Much of the evidence suggests that these effects are short term and that people need to keep getting massages for the benefits to continue.
Researchers have studied the effects of massage for many conditions. Some that they have studied more extensively are the following:
- Pain
- Cancer
- Mental health
- Fibromyalgia
- Headaches
- HIV/AIDS
- Infant care
- Other Conditions
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