The Medical Dictionary for the Health Professions and Nursing describes massage therapy as follows:
“A collection of bodywork modalities designed to improve health through manual manipulation of soft tissues including stroking, kneading, pressing, tapping, and shaking. Intends to improve local circulation, reduce pain, and promote relaxation” (Farlex, 2012).
Massage can be applied with the fingers, hands, elbows, knees, feet, forearm, or a massage device. The use of massage therapy for human wellbeing can be traced back to almost four thousand years ago. Ancient Egyptians, Indians, Chinese, and the Greeks incorporated massage therapy using essential oils to promote relaxation and wellness.
The history of massage therapy dates back thousands of years to ancient cultures that believed in its medical benefits. The first written records of massage therapy are found in China and Egypt. The Yellow Emperor Classic of Internal Medicine, written by the famous Chinese emperor Huangdi around 2600 BC, explains the use of massage therapy and the various techniques (Curran, 2008, para.1). This book was first published in English in 1949 and has become a staple in massage therapy training. It is also often used as a textbook for teaching many other forms of alternative medicine such as acupuncture, acupressure and herbology.
The Egyptian tomb paintings from about 2500 BC show that the Egyptians also used massage therapy for medical purposes. The Egyptians pioneered reflexology and the Greeks and Romans were greatly influenced by the Egyptian studies and traditions. The first known massage therapy traditions come from India around 1500 BC but the practice might have originated as early as 3000 BC. Ayurveda, a holistic approach to health, originated in India almost three thousand years ago, uses plant-based materials to treat the mind, body, and consciousness. One of the principle aspects of Ayurvedic medicine is massage with aromatic oils. For example, jasmine was used as a general tonic for the entire body. The Classical Greek world learned from the Egyptians about the benefits of massage therapy. Hippocrates, known as the father of modern medicine, maintained 2,500 years ago that, “the key to good health rests on having a daily aromatic bath and scented massage” (Worwood, 1991, p. 8).
Per Henrik Ling (1776-1839) from Sweden pioneered the modern scientific massage therapy and developed an integrated system consisting of active and passive exercises and massage. Massage. To teach his methods, Ling established the Royal Central Gymnastic Institute in Sweden in 1813. In the 1850s, two New York physicians who had studied in Sweden, brothers George and Charles Taylor introduced modern, scientific massage therapy. After the Civil War period, two Swedish physicians opened the first clinics for massage in the United States. Doctor Baron Nils Posse provided massage services through the Posse Institute in Boston, and Doctor Hartwig Nissen provided massage therapy though his clinic, the Swedish Health Institute in Washington, D.C. (Medical Dictionary, para. 5).
Massage therapy gained prominence in the United States since the 1960s as an alternative form of medicine and method of relaxation. The effects of stress in daily life, often results in disorders such as depression, anxiety, and irritability. This is an area of care in which massage therapy is mainly used, especially in combination with Aromatherapy. Even though it fell out of favor for a period of time, massage therapy has gained popularity as a relaxation and pain relieving mechanism since the 1980s. While the use of western relaxation techniques, such as massage therapy is anticipated to reduce stress it is imperative that this notion is supported by scientific data. The studies with varying themes described below support the correlation between massage therapy and preterm infant weight gain, pain relief, and stress reduction.
Studies done on massage therapy for preterm infants showed that it provides several benefits. In the United States, approximately 11.39% of the infants are born prematurely as of 2013 statistics (National Center for Health Statistics, 2013). Prematurity is also one of the leading causes of infant mortality. Approximately 15.5 billion dollars are spent by the hospitals in the U.S. every year to care for the premature infants. One of the important factors in discharging premature infants from the hospital is weight gain. Several studies have showed that preterm infants that received 5-10 days of massage therapy showed a 21-48% increase in weight gain, and hospital stays of 3-6 days less than control infants (Field, Diego, and Hernandez-Reif, 2010). A research study done in India showed that preterm infants massaged for 5-10 days gained 4.24 grams per day than the control infants (Mathai, Fernandez, Modkar & Kanbur, 2001). At least three other independent groups (Cifra & Sancho, 2004; De Roiste & Bushnell, 1996; Goldstein-Ferber et al., 2002) replicated the weight gain findings further validating that massage therapy does help preterm infants in gaining weight.
The massage protocol used for preterm infants was moderate pressure therapy. It involves moderate stroking (tactile stimulation) and extension and flexion of upper and lower extremities. Studies indicated moderate pressure is critical for weigh gain in preterm infants. Studies were also conducted on the ways of delivering the massage. In one study, preterm infants were assigned to three groups: a group in which professionals performed the massage, a group in which mothers of the infants performed the massage, and a control group. At the end of the 10-day treatment period, the infants in the two treatment groups gained significant weight compared to the control group. This study suggests that mothers were able to achieve the same results as professionals. In addition, it also showed that massage therapy done by mothers resulted in lowering the anxiety and depression symptoms of the mothers (Feijo, Hernandez-Feif, Field, Burns, Valley-Gray & Simco, 2006). Studies also showed that massage therapy using oils such as coconut oil, safflower oil and even synthetic oil also resulted in preterm infants gaining significant weight gain.
Pain management is another area in which massage therapy is used extensively. Pain management is a critical issue for hospitals, especially in acute care setting. Many hospitals now use massage therapy as a part of team based approach to patient care.
“The Mayo Clinic of Rochester, Minnesota, conducted a systematic evaluation of patient hospital experience and found that “tension, stress, pain, and anxiety were key challenges for patients””(Adams, White, & Beckett, 2010; Cutshall et al. 2007).
Adams et al. conducted a study at a non-profit community hospital in a rural area to determine the impacts of massage therapy on acute care patients. The study chose 65 inpatients in acute care, and three licensed massage therapists performed a 15-minute to 45-minute massage therapy at patients’ bedside. The number of sessions depended upon the patient’s availability and length of hospital stay. The pain level was recorded before the start of therapy sessions and after the sessions ended. The results provided evidence that there was significant reduction in pain level after the massage sessions. The study showed that integration of massage therapy into acute patient care not only greatly reduced the pain level of patients but also improved their healing process.
Fibromyalgia is a disorder, which is characterized by extensive widespread musculoskeletal pain, anxiety, and depression. For people with fibromyalgia, pain management is of critical importance. Li, Feng, Yang & Sun (2014) conducted a systematic study to determine the effectiveness of massage therapy for fibromyalgia patients. They searched the electronic databases for all the fibromyalgia massage therapy studies and found nine trails conducted on 404 patients that met their inclusion criteria. The meta-analyses conducted by them showed that patients achieved improved relief in pain, depression, and anxiety after receiving massage therapy for more than 5 weeks. They concluded that massage therapy is a viable alternative for pain management in people suffering from fibromyalgia.
The effects of massage therapy on anxiety are well studied by massage therapy researchers. Most of the studies found that massage therapy provides great benefits to anxiety sufferers (Moyer, 2008). Depression is another disorder that seems to benefit from massage therapy. A Meta analysis of studies conducted on effectiveness of massage therapy on people with depression showed that massage therapy with essential oils significantly alleviates symptoms of depression (Hou, Chiang, Hsu, Chiu & Yen, 2010). Cancer is a disease that causes pain, anxiety and depression in patients suffering from it. Even though many prescribed drugs provide some relief, they all have several toxic side effects. Massage therapy has proven to reduce depression, anxiety, and pain symptoms considerably in cancer patients (Falensteiner, Mantovan, Muller, & Them, (2011). Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is another disorder that is characterized by many physical and mental symptoms. Studies conducted on effectiveness of massage therapy in MS patients found that massage therapy did provide improvement in overall health (Schroeder, Doing & Premkumar, 2014).
Stress is another factor that is very prevalent in our fast paced culture. Children and adults both seem to experience stress in one form or the other. Massage therapy provides relief from daily stresses, and contributes to a sense of wellbeing. The numerous massage clinics that provide wide variety of services, and their loyal clientele are a testimony to the benefits associated with massage therapy. Massage therapy is a proven method employed in stress reduction, whether it is physical, mental or chemical induced stress.
The main medium of massage therapy is touch. Massage therapy can be provided using various techniques and a few commonly used techniques are Swedish, Deep Tissue, Neuromuscular, and Acupressure. Swedish massage is the most popular and common technique used by many therapists. It is a system of kneading and gliding strokes on the more superficial layers of muscles. It is generally performed in the direction of the blood flow towards the heart and provides improved blood flow. It relieves muscle tension and provides greater range of motion since joints are worked with passive strokes. Deep tissue massage is a technique used to relieve chronic muscular tension. It involves use of direct pressure, slow strokes, and friction. It is applied to a deeper layer of muscles than the Swedish massage to release muscular tension. Neuromuscular massage is another type of deep tissue massage, which is applied to individual muscles. It is used to reduce pain and used primarily to release intense tension in trigger points that radiate pain to other parts of the body. Acupressure therapists apply finger and thumb pressure to specific points located on the acupuncture channels of energy flow. These release blocked energy that causes physical discomforts and aid in rebalancing the positive energy flow (Medical Dictionary, 2014). Many therapists practice Japanese form of acupressure, Shiatsu, as an alternative form of medicine to relieve pain.
In summary, massage therapy is proven to provide many benefits. It improves range of motion and alleviates lower-back pain. It makes labor easier for expectant mothers and assists with shorter easier births. It relieves chronic pain and muscle tension. It eases dependence on medication in some cases, especially pain medication. It enhances immunity by stimulating lymphatic flow, and improved blood circulation. It reduces high blood pressure and increases flexibility of joints. It stretches and exercises tight, weak and atrophied muscles, and reduces cramping and spams. It lessens anxiety and depression symptoms. It improves the condition of skin, which is the body’s largest organ. It pumps nutrients and oxygen into vital organs and tissues, improving overall health. Massage therapy has very few or no side effects making it a viable alternative medical technique.
Overall, when handled safely and appropriately, massage therapy can produce a positive effect on the mind and body, and promote an overall wellbeing. The use of massage therapy for health and wellness purposes can be traced back to several thousand years ago, and many of the properties ascribed therapy are still valid today. The variability in the current research done provides the necessary scientific support for the correlation between the use of massage therapy and a sense of wellbeing. Massage therapy enables preterm infants to gain weight rapidly so they can leave the hospital quickly. It provides many benefits such as increased survival rates amongst preterm births and thus reducing the tremendous hospital costs. Massage therapy also provides significant relief in pain management as evidenced by many studies done on the subject. No matter what the disorder is, massage therapy alleviates the associated symptoms such as anxiety, depression and pain. Massage therapy is an all-natural method that provides significant wellness!