HISTORY OF MASSAGE

"The physician must be experienced in many things, but assuredly in rubbing… for rubbing can bind a joint that is too loose, and loosen a joint that is too rigid. Hard rubbing binds, much rubbing causes parts to waste, and moderate rubbing makes them grow"

Hippocrates

"The Romans incorporated massage into their daily routine in spas, alongside hot and cold baths."

In every language, whether ancient or modern, there is a word for ‘massage’. Every culture throughout history used massage in some form or another. The word ‘massage’ is thought to be derived from the Greek word massein, which means ‘to knead’, or the Arabic word mass or mas’h, which means ‘to press softly’.

Massage has been a method of healing and soothing for thousands of years. Ancient Greek and Roman physicians relied on massage as one of their principal means of healing.

Ancient Greeks were famous for their interest in physical fitness and strength, which led them to develop a well-designed system of massage. Massage was a common practice in Ancient Greece. Rubbing up the limbs was highly recommended for treating fatigue and illness, as well as for recovery from sports or war injuries. Gymnasia, medical centres in ancient Greece, almost always included massage schools.

Early in the fifth century BCE, Hippocrates advocated that the way to health was a daily scented bath followed by an oiled massage. Hippocrates was the first to make broad classifications of movements and techniques, which he called friction and rubbings. He saw great value in massage for obesity, believing that regular massage could slim down the body. Alternatively, it could also be beneficial in increasing the bulk of the body. He observed that rubbing upwards towards rather than away from the heart was more productive. Gentle strokes with a smooth rate and rhythm would release and relax muscles, while a vigorous massage would warm and firm up cold muscles. In a culture that puts high emphasis on physical fitness and strength for athletes and warriors alike, Hippocrates used massage before competitions to warm up the muscles to reduce the risk of injury. He practised a post-competition massage which relieved sore muscles and aided faster recovery. He also used massage to treat injuries, paralysis, rheumatism, and intestinal ailments.

The Romans included massage into their daily routine in spas, along with hot and cold baths. Galen, a Greek physician and philosopher in the second century CE, was considered to be the most important physician of the ancient world after Hippocrates. His early experience as a physician of gladiators in Asia Minor placed him in a primary position to attest to the benefits of massage. He was elevated to the position of court physician in Rome under Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Galen wrote several books on massage, exercise and health and classified many types of strokes for use in different ailments. He wrote that massage “eliminates the waste products of nutrition and the poisons of fatigue”. Roman gladiators were oiled and massaged until their skin glowed red to make them supple before battles. A good masseur was highly regarded in Ancient Rome. Julius Caesar, who today is believed to have suffered from mini-strokes, was subjected to a daily all-over pinching to treat his ‘neuralgia’.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, the Islamic world continued to study and promote massage, and continued the Roman practice of following a bath with an oiled massage. Massage has always been an intrinsic part of Indian culture and healing. It is deeply rooted in Indian Ayurveda, the scriptures of which date back nearly 4000 years. Ancient Ayurvedic scriptures recommend rubbing and shampooing the body to keep it healthy and promote healing. Traditionally Indian mothers are taught to massage their newborn babies, and children are taught to massage their parents.

In the East, massage has always maintained its importance as a healing technique. Subsequently, its study and use continued uninterrupted since ancient times. Written records mentioning massage, or ‘rubbing’ as it was known, date back 5000 years. Ancient Chinese medical texts advocate stroking the limbs to “protect against colds, keep the organs supple and prevent minor ailments”. A Chinese book from 2700 BCE, The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine, recommends breathing exercises, massage of skin and flesh, and exercise of hands and feet as the appropriate treatment for complete paralysis, chills and fever.

Due to the contempt for ‘pleasures of the flesh’, massage was unknown in the European Middle Ages. Natural tactile or massage therapies were precluded and any further development was prohibited.

Philosophy, classical medicine and massage were revived and once again in favour and respected during the period of the Renaissance. Ambroise Paré (1510-1590), a French physician to four French Kings, was responsible for the revival of massage during the sixteenth century. Paré was one of the first European physicians to discuss the benefits of massage and greatly relied on it in his practice. He used it to treat orthopaedic conditions and dislocated joints. He also used massage to help patients recover from surgery. By the end of the eighteenth century a great movement in massage had commenced, promoting many different ideas regarding terminology, pressure, rate, rhythm, medium, the position of the patient and the duration of various treatments.

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Per Henrik Ling (1776-1839), a Swedish fencing instructor who ran the Royal Gymnastic Central Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, developed a holistic therapy that paved the way for modern Swedish massage. He named his new therapy the ‘Swedish Movement System’ and developed it using his knowledge of anatomy, physiology and pathology. His methodology included the use of specific exercises aimed at treating pain and illnesses.

During the nineteenth century, massage became accepted by the medical profession as a form of treatment, and in 1813, the first college offering massage as part of its curriculum was established in Stockholm.

Several massage experts have delved deeply into the history of massage, and believe that the basic techniques of modern ‘Swedish massage’ were actually invented by the Dutch physician, Johann Georg Mezger (1838-1909). Mezger was a professional gymnastics instructor and a physical therapy specialist. He decided to expand his considerable knowledge of human physiology by studying medicine at Leiden University in the Netherlands.

Mezger used a few techniques from Peter Ling’s ‘Swedish Movement System’ and incorporated French ‘friction methods’ along with the terminology, which he used on patients who suffered from minor sprains. He wrote his doctoral dissertation on these methods which eventually formed the basis of what is known today as ‘Swedish Massage’ in English and Dutch-speaking countries and Hungary. Outside these countries as well as in Sweden itself, this massage method is known as Classic Massage. Mezger specified five methods or techniques of Swedish or Classic Massage: 1) Effleurage, 2) Petrissage, 3) Tapotement, 4) Friction, and 5) Vibration.

The approaches to healing between East and West are completely different and in many ways diametrically opposite. Eastern philosophers place primary importance in ‘Man–the Human Being’, and are therefore more in touch with the intricate changes in energy patterns that are associated with ‘disease’. They are also more skilled at making use of the natural healing processes inherent in man.

Western technology and science have created ‘Man–the Machine’, and an associated dependency on drugs, surgery and machines when diseased or injured. This is best observed in comparing the artistry of the traditional “Barefoot Doctor” of the East who makes use of the hands-on treatment of reflexology, Shiatsu, massage and acupuncture, as opposed to the highly trained and specialised doctors of the West who rely on chemicals and sophisticated machinery.

Although ancient healing practices have fallen out of favour in the West due to the encroachment of Western methods of healing, the benefits of therapies such as massage are increasingly recognised. It is steadily continuing to gain the support of both lay practitioners and professionals.