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Swedish Massage

The word massage derives from Latin or Greek massein massein or masso, which means touch.

An precise definition of massage is not simple due to the fact that massage include many different therapies of touching. A more general definition of massage is pressure, stretching of muscles and connective tissue.

Massage is found in Chinese literature about 2000 B.C. and the is spread to India 1000 B.C. Although there are some contradiction if the massage came from China or if was spread from India.

Hippocrates, the father of medicine, lived approximately 460-370 B.C. was the first individual that described the medical effect of massage. Even if Hippocrates theories in anatomy, physiology and medicine seldom was correct according to the knowledge we have today, Hippocrates managed to use expression that is still in use.

Claudius Galenus a Greek doctor who lived 199 -129 B.C. contributed with a lot of written material on manual therapy and also massage.

Per-Henrik Ling, 1776-1839 who is called the father of gymnastics is the person who introduced massage in Sweden. A Dutch physician, Johann Mezger who lived between l 1839 and 1909, was the person whom introduces the massage to scientific community. It is also Johann who together with other physicians began to use French names of the massage strokes: effleurage, petrissage and tapotement.

The brothers , Charles Fayette Taylor and George Henry Taylor who introduced the Swedish massage to USA in 1856. These two brothers were physicians and they opened a orthopaedic clinic where massage was used. The American doctor John Harvey Kellogg who lived between 1852 and 1943 wrote articles and books in the subject of massage and this increased the popularity of massage.

There exits a wide variation of massage and in Sweden the most commons massage is classical massage. This massage is also now days called Swedish massage and it is uses for both relaxation and therapeutically. The Swedish massage is a deep muscle tissue treatment.

Treatment table from the 18th century

Massage can reduce tensions in the muscles and relief pain. Pain relief occurs according the physiological principle called Gate-control. The psychologist Ronald Melzack and physician Patrick David Wall laid the basis for this theory in the 1960. The theory is based upon that impulses from touch inhibits pain impulses to reach the spinal cord. A more overall relaxation that massage can give is supposed to come from the release of the hormone, oxytocin.

What is sports massage?
Sports massage is nothing else than a Swedish massage applied on a athlete. From scientific perspective there is contradiction in the supposed physiological benefit that massage could have on recovery and performance.

What is deep tissue massage?
Deep tissue massage is a rather new term were the therapist debate that the massage is done more deeply and not for pure relaxation.

Unfortunately there exist two opposites where patients receive extremely pain full treatment and where patients receives too gentle treatment.

Massage and this is also valid for other forms of manual therapy should not be painful. Some tenderness is could be ok. But to get bruises and be sustained to much pain does not have any physiological benefit.

How do I use the massage?

All treatments, including massage, which I make is individually tailored to take account of your medical conditions and how you react to the investigation. I'm trained in, and also teach Swedish massage.

I can perform the massage alone, but usually occurs in combination with other therapies to reduce tensions in various areas. I carry not a full body massage (takes over an hour to implement, but is also less then treating the whole body examined). I am not using a standardized protocol without massage grip varied and integrated based on the response you receive during your treatment. The massage that I give makes it a relaxation effect compares with that obtained in a full body massage, but also a more specific effect on pain, stiffness and tension.

Can I get a full body massage?

No, it is not possible to get a whole body massage at my clinic. The massage that I perform is individual and the massage is combined with other therapies usually to get a more specific effect. A whole body massage, which could take up to 1 ½ hours the sole purpose for a general relaxation. The massage that I perform is focused on the regions you have trouble, so that a more specific relaxation can occur.

What other forms of massage are there?

There are many different types of massage and the variants. In some cases, the various concepts underlying the various forms such as massage for fibromyalgia, tactile stimulation, nerve alley massage, segment massage, sports massage etcetera. Basically, it is not always so large differences in the grips but the tempo, the approach used and the depth can vary. Other forms of massage, originating in other countries and can often be based on other philosophical grounds, such as Chinese medicine or Ayurvedic medicine. The Swedish massage is systematically focused on working muscles.

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