Massage is the rubbing or kneading of the body's soft tissues. Massage techniques are commonly applied with hands, fingers, elbows, knees, forearms, feet, or a device. The purpose of massage is generally for the treatment of body stress or pain. In English-speaking European countries, traditionally a person professionally trained to give massages is known by the gendered French loanwords masseur (male) or masseuse (female). In the United States, these individuals are often referred to as "massage therapists." In some provinces of Canada, they are called "registered massage therapists."
In professional settings, clients are treated while lying on a massage table, sitting in a massage chair, or lying on a mat on the floor. There are many different modalities in the massage industry, including (but not limited to): deep tissue, manual lymphatic drainage, medical, sports, structural integration, Swedish, Thai and trigger point.
The evidence regarding massage is generally low to moderate quality, inconsistent, and limited for long-term or definitive clinical effects.
Etymology The word comes from the French 'friction of kneading', which, in turn, comes either from the Arabic word massa meaning 'to touch, feel', the Portuguese 'knead', from the Latin meaning 'mass, dough', or the Greek verb () 'to handle, touch, to work with the hands, to knead dough'.
The ancient Greek word for massage was and the Latin was .
History
Ancient times Archaeological evidence of massage has been found in many ancient civilizations including China, India, Japan, Thailand, Egypt, Rome, Greece, and Mesopotamia. 2330 BC: The Tomb of Akmanthor (also known as "The Tomb of the Physician") in Saqqara, Egypt, depicts two men having work done on their feet and hands, possibly depicting a massage.
1363–912 BC: The word muššuʾu ("massage") is written for the first time on a Middle Assyrian tablet. Its use is described in a list of recipes concerning diseases of the foot.
722–481 BC: Huangdi Neijing is composed during the Chinese Spring and Autumn period. The Nei-jing is a compilation of medical knowledge known up to that date, and is the foundation of traditional Chinese medicine. Massage is referred to in 30 different chapters of the Nei Jing. It specifies the use of different massage techniques and how they should be used in the treatment of specific ailments, and injuries. Also known as "The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon," the text refers to previous medical knowledge from the time of the Yellow Emperor (), misleading some into believing the text itself was written during the time of the Yellow Emperor (which would predate written history).Kellogg, J. H. (1895). The Art of Massage, p. 9.Calvert, Robert Noah (2002). The History of Massage, p. 35.Steinfeld, Alan (2003). Careers in Alternative Medicine, p. 48.
762 BC: In the Iliad and the Odyssey, massage with oils and aromatic substances is mentioned as a means to relax the tired limbs of warriors and as a way to help the treatment of wounds. 700 BC: Bian Que, the earliest known Chinese physician, uses massage in medical practice.
500 BC: Jīvaka Komarabhācca was an Indian physician who according to the Pāli Buddhist Canon was Shakyamuni Buddha's physician. Jivaka is sometimes credited with founding and developing a style of massage that led to the type of massage practiced in modern Thailand. Though this claim is disputed. 493 BC: A possible biblical reference documents daily "treatments" with oil of myrrh as a part of the beauty regimen of the wives of Xerxes (Esther, 2:12). 460 BC: Hippocrates wrote "The physician must be experienced in many things, but assuredly in rubbing." 300 BC: Charaka Samhita, sometimes dated to 800 BCE, is one of the oldest of the three ancient treatises of Ayurvedic medicine, including massage. Sanskrit records indicate that massage had been practiced in India long before the beginning of recorded history.
AD 1st or 2nd: Galen mentioned Diogas (Διόγας) who was an iatralipta (ἰατραλείπτης) (rubber and anointer/physiotherapist). AD 581: China establishes a department of massage therapy within the Office of Imperial Physicians.
Middle Ages One of the greatest Persian medics was Avicenna, also known as Ibn Sina, who lived from 980 AD to 1037 AD. His works included a comprehensive collection and systematization of the fragmentary and unorganized Greco-Roman medical literature that had been translated Arabic by that time, augmented by notes from his own experiences. One of his books, Al-Qānūn fī aṭ-Ṭibb (The Canon of Medicine) has been called the most famous single book in the history of medicine in both East and West. Avicenna excelled in the logical assessment of conditions and comparison of symptoms and took special note of analgesics and their proper use as well as other methods of relieving pain, including massage.
AD 1150: Evidence of massage abortion, involving the application of pressure to the pregnant abdomen, can be found in one of the bas reliefs decorating the temple of Angkor Wat in Cambodia. It depicts a demon performing such an abortion upon a woman who has been sent to the underworld. This is the oldest known visual representation of abortion.
In Southeast Asia, massage traditions and techniques have already been entrenched in the people's diverse cultures for centuries before trade contact with Europe in the 16th century. In the Philippines, a distinct massage and healing tradition called hilot developed, while in Thailand, the tradition of massage that developed was called nuad thai. Nuad thai was declared in 2019 as a UNESCO intangible cultural heritage.
18th and 19th centuries AD 1776: Jean Joseph Marie Amiot and Pierre-Martial Cibot, French missionaries in China translate summaries of Huangdi Neijing, including a list of medical plants, exercises, and elaborate massage techniques, into the French language, thereby introducing Europe to the highly developed Chinese system of medicine, medical-gymnastics, and medical-massage.
AD 1776: Pehr Henrik Ling, a Swedish physical therapist and teacher of medical-gymnastics, is born. Ling has often been erroneously credited for having invented "Classic Massage", also known as "Swedish Massage", and has been called the "Father of Massage".
AD 1779: Frenchman Pierre-Martial Cibot publishes "Notice du Cong-fou des Bonzes Tao-see", also known as "The Cong-Fou of the Tao-Tse", a French language summary of medical techniques used by Taoist priests. According to English historian of China Joseph Needham, Cibot's work "was intended to present the physicists and physicians of Europe with a sketch of a system of medical gymnastics which they might like to adopt—or if they found it at fault they might be stimulated to invent something better. This work has long been regarded as of cardinal importance in the history of physiotherapy because it almost certainly influenced the Swedish founder of the modern phase of the art, Pehr Hendrik Ling. Cibot had studied at least one Chinese book but also got much from a Christian neophyte who had become expert in the subject before his conversion." Science and Civilization in China by Joseph Needham, Vol. 5, page 17
AD 1813: The Royal Gymnastic Central Institute for the training of gymnastic instructors was opened in Stockholm, Sweden, with Pehr Henrik Ling appointed as principal. Ling developed what he called the "Swedish Movement Cure". Ling died in 1839, having previously named his pupils as the repositories of his teaching. Ling and his assistants left a little proper written account of their methods.1886: Chamber's Journal of Popular Literature, Science and Arts, Volume 3 By William Chambers, Robert Chambers (page 594).
AD 1868: Dutch massage practitioner Johan Georg Mezger applies French terms to name five basic massage techniques, and coins the phrase "Swedish massage system". These techniques are still known by their French names (effleurage (long, gliding strokes), petrissage (lifting and kneading the muscles), friction (firm, deep, circular rubbing movements), tapotement (brisk tapping or percussive movements) and vibration (rapidly shaking or vibrating specific muscles)).
Modern times China
As of 2005, with the city of Shanghai alone there were an estimated 1,300–2,000 foot massage centers, with more than 3,000 in Shenzhen. It was also estimated that there were nearly 30,000 massage workers in Shanghai and over 40,000 in Shenzhen. The average rate of pay for a worker in the massage industry in China is over 10,000 yuan per month, making them a well-paying job in China's service sector.
United States Massage started to become popular in the United States in the middle part of the 19th century and was introduced by two New York physicians, George and Charles Taylor, based on Pehr Henrik Ling's techniques developed in Sweden.
During the 1930s and 1940s, massage's influence decreased as a result of medical advancements of the time, while in the 1970s massage's influence grew once again with a notable rise among athletes. Until the 1970s, nurses used massage to reduce pain and aid sleep. Popular books and videos, such as Massage for Relaxation, helped introduce massage to popular culture outside of a health setting. The massage therapy industry is continuously increasing. In 2009, U.S. consumers spent between $4 and $6 billion on visits to massage therapists. In 2015, research estimates that massage therapy was a $12.1 billion industry.IBIS World Industry Report OD6028 Massage Services, November 2015
All but five states require massage therapists to be licensed, and licensure requires the applicant to receive training at an accredited school, and to pass a comprehensive exam. Those states that require licensure also typically require continuing education in massage techniques and in ethics.
In many cities, counties, and states, additional regulation started appearing shortly after the release of the Epstein Files to try to crack down on sex trafficking in the field of work. This, often copied and pasted, bill is usually put forth without consideration of the licensure already in place in the state, and without contacting the state board of Massage Therapy (if one exists), as it was made to cover the states without regulation. However due to the copy-paste nature of it, and the extra registration fees, fingerprinting, and requirements for establishments, it has caused many massage therapists who have been in the field for years to go against it or at least request changes to the bill for their city/state/county. Others have gone against the bills because they put the women who are trafficked in a position where they will be arrested instead of helped.
For Illinois specifically, most of the things outlined in the new city/county bills are already included in the state licensure and others were clearly made by someone who knew nothing about the field of Massage Therapy. So in many cities, individuals have had to work with their city council members to not have their careers affected by this change in legislature.
United Kingdom The service of massage or "physiological shampooing" was advertised in The Times from as early as 1880. Adverts claimed it as a cure for obesity amongst other chronic ailments."Classified Advertising", The Times (page 14), 4 March 1880
Sports, business and organizations
Massage developed alongside athletics in both Ancient China and Ancient Greece. Taoist priests developed massage in concert with their Kung Fu gymnastic movements, while Ancient Greek Olympians used a specific type of trainer ("aleiptes") who would rub their muscles with oil. Pehr Ling's introduction to massage also came about directly as a result of his study of gymnastic movements.