Massage (Part 1): The History of Massage

Massage therapy has been touted as one of the oldest forms of medical treatment. First recorded in China during the second century B.C. in The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine, massage was mentioned as a recommendation for the treatment of certain ailments. Traditional Chinese Medicine, a holistic system of healing modalities including dietary therapy, acupuncture, herbal medicine, and exercise, has always included massage, which since 800 C.E. has been known as "TuiNa" (literally, "push and grasp").

Today TuiNa is increasingly popular in the West, as people turn to massage for serious therapeutic work, as well as for pleasure. Through much of the 20th century, massage in the West was mainly seen as a luxury -- for feeling pampered and relaxed (Of course, relaxation is itself deeply therapeutic, but this was the mainstream view.), a diversion for the wealthy. As natural healing and holistic approaches caught on over the latter half of the twentieth century, more and more people realized how much could be accomplished with the healing touch.

In India, the traditional healing system of Ayurvedic medicine also prescribed massage for a variety of medical conditions. Physicians of ancient Greece and Rome utilized massage as one of the primary methods to treat pain. In the West, during the fifth century B.C., Hippocrates also instructed his fellow physicians on the many benefits of rubbing.

Although rooted in Eastern tradition, massage eventually traveled westward to the ancient Greeks and Romans. When the Roman Empire fell, however, massage, like many medical and scientific practices, became suspect. Eventually resurfacing in Europe during the Renaissance, it continued to evolve as a form of healing.

Today we usually think of Western medicine as not being holistic in its philosophy and approach, but it was not always that way.

In the 5th century B.C.E. in Greece, Hippocrates, the father of Western medicine, said, "A physician must be experienced in many things but assuredly also in rubbing." He said that massage -- along with fresh air, good food, baths, music, rest, and visits to friends – is the key to treating disease.

Aesculapius also promoted massage, in conjunction with herbs, diet, relaxation, and hydrotherapy. Aesculapius was another 5th century B.C.E. healer in Greece who was pivotal in the development of Western medicine.

You might not recognize his name, but you're bound to be familiar with the symbol of Aesculapius: two serpents coiled around a staff, the symbol of modern Western medicine. This image is related to the ancient yogic conception of kundalini, the energy coiled at the base of the spine that rises upward through the body with meditation and yogic practice, visualized as a serpent. If you've seen a picture of the body's seven chakras connected by a spiral or a double spiral, you've seen the diagram that prefigured the staff of modern Western medicine.

In its simplest form, massage is the external manipulation of the structures of the body (such as skin, muscles, tendons, ligaments, bones) with positive intentions of relaxation, psychological or physical benefit to the recipient. Massage is therefore thought to be as old as humanity, or older - if one includes its use by other animals before upright Homo sapiens evolved!

It would seem that the impulse to rub a hurt was quite instinctual, but up until the early 1800s, there were few advances in the actual massage techniques until Swedish massage was developed. A Swedish doctor named Per Henrik Ling is often mistakenly associated with Swedish massage. He actually incorporated massage with medical gymnastics and physiology and developed the Swedish Gymnastic Movement System.

Early on, physiotherapy was actually originally based on Ling's manual methods.

Massage Therapy had been used for many medical and psychiatric conditions until scientific breakthroughs in medical technology and pharmacology substantially changed the foundation of medicine in the West. Quite simply, drugs became the solution for many ailments and electrical instruments gradually replaced manual methods.

Massage did not become a respectable or reputable practice until the 19th century.

In 1894 a group of women formed "The Society of Trained Masseuses”, which eventually became "The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy", which still exists today.

Over the years, though massage faded in and out of our Western medical system, it seems there has always been an awareness of its inherent healing and therapeutic value. During the 1960s, a wave of interest in natural healing once again revitalized the practice of massage and has continued to be a popular method of dealing with stress. Perhaps this is why massage has become mainstream as the increased pace of life has created all sorts of stress related problems.

In 1997, a U.S. survey showed that consumers spent between four to six billion dollars on massage, approximately 30 percent of the total amount of money spent on complementary and alternative medicine. At the Touch Research Institute at the University Of Miami School Of Medicine, medical doctors are researching the beneficial effect of massage therapy on a variety of conditions such as stress-related disorders, depression and anxiety, pain, and auto-immune disorders. I think it is fair to say that our ancestors were on to something when they rubbed themselves well!

Since World War II, massage has enjoyed ever-growing popularity. Nowadays, thanks to strict industry standards and licensing of practitioners, massage is a commonly accepted form of alternative -- as well as traditional -- medicine. Many people rely on massage to maintain good health and energy, to prevent and cure illness, and for simple relief from stress and other consequences of life in the 21st century.

Much of what has been written on the history of massage typically emphasized the male shaman, priest and healer. In ancient times, massage was one of those healing arts that typically was passed down from generation to generation. What role did women play in this? Most cultures had midwives who utilized massage, particularly through the stages of pregnancy.

In every continent, from Africa, Australia, Central and South America, Europe, North America, to Asia, the midwife has been using massage to help woman during the stages of pregnancy and labor. Woman have always been healers. They bathed and looked after the sick, the young and the old; looked after pregnant women; delivered babies.

Historically, women healers were persecuted excluded from the medical profession and even barred from practicing medicine until around the 20th century.

Interestingly, the massage therapy profession is probably one of the most popular emerging job titles of 2005 according to Salary.com. The American Massage Therapy Association estimates that only 16 to 18 percent of therapists in the United States are male. Essentially, massage therapy is predominantly a female profession.

Massage is one of the oldest recorded healing practices. Ironically, though, what was passed on from generation to generation between women was rarely documented. It is well known that indigenous cultures have an oral tradition and rarely have written documentation on their cultural practices. Perhaps this is one reason why women are not well-documented and not given much credit in the history of massage.

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