Benefits of Massage

Mas­sa­ge invol­ves working and acting on the body with pres­su­re – struc­tu­red, unst­ruc­tu­red, sta­tio­na­ry, or moving – ten­si­on, moti­on, or vibra­ti­on, done manu­al­ly or with mecha­ni­cal aids. Mas­sa­ge can be app­lied with the hands, fin­gers, elbows, kne­es, fore­arm, feet, or a mas­sa­ge device. Depen­ding on the app­li­ca­ti­on and tech­ni­que used, mas­sa­ge is used to pro­mo­te rela­xa­ti­on and well-being, and is bene­fi­cial in trea­ting sports inju­ries and other pro­blems affec­ting the mus­cu­la­tu­re of the body such as pos­tu­ral misa­lign­ment and many pain­ful con­di­ti­ons. Mas­sa­ge can also be sexu­al in natu­re (see Ero­tic massage).

In pro­fes­sio­nal set­tings mas­sa­ge cli­ents are trea­ted while lying on a mas­sa­ge table, sit­ting in a mas­sa­ge chair, or lying on a mat on the floor, while in ama­teur set­tings a gene­ral pur­po­se sur­face like a bed or floor is more com­mon. Aqua­tic mas­sa­ge and body­work is per­for­med with reci­pi­ents sub­mer­sed or floa­ting in a warm-water the­ra­py pool. The mas­sa­ge sub­ject may be ful­ly or par­ti­al­ly clothed or unclothed.

Active release technique

 

Acti­ve release tech­ni­que (ART) is a form of deep tis­sue mani­pu­la­ti­on paten­ted by P. Micha­el Lea­hy in which spe­ci­fied tech­ni­ques are used to release what are pre­su­med to be soft tis­sue adhesions.

Acupressure

Acupres­su­re [from Latin acus “need­le” (see acui­ty) + pres­su­re (n.)] is an alter­na­ti­ve medi­ci­ne tech­ni­que simi­lar in princip­le to acu­p­unc­tu­re. It is based on the con­cept of life ener­gy which flows through “meri­di­ans” in the body. In tre­at­ment, phy­si­cal pres­su­re is app­lied to acu­p­unc­tu­re points with the aim of clea­ring blo­cka­ges in the­se meri­di­ans. Pres­su­re may be app­lied by hand, by elbow, or with various devices.

Some medi­cal stu­dies have sug­gested that acupres­su­re may be effec­ti­ve at hel­ping mana­ge nau­sea and vomi­t­ing, for hel­ping lower back pain, ten­si­on hea­da­ches, sto­mach ache, among other things, alt­hough such stu­dies have been found to have a high likeli­hood of bias.

Aquatic bodywork

Aqua­tic body­work com­pri­ses a diver­se set of mas­sa­ge and body­work forms per­for­med in water. This inclu­des land-based forms per­for­med in water (e.g., Aqua­tic Cra­nio­sa­cral The­ra­py, Aqua­tic Myo­fa­scial Release The­ra­py, etc.), as well as forms spe­ci­fic to warm water pools (e.g., Aqua­tic Inte­gra­ti­on, Dol­phin Dance, Healing Dance, Jaha­ra tech­ni­que, Water­Dance, Watsu)

Ashiatsu

In ashi­atsu, the prac­ti­tio­ner uses their feet to deli­ver tre­at­ment. The name comes from the Japa­ne­se, ashi for foot and atsu for pressure.[30] This tech­ni­que typi­cal­ly uses the heel, sesa­mo­id, arch and/or who­le plan­t­ar sur­face of foot, and offers lar­ge com­pres­si­on, ten­si­on and she­ar for­ces with less pres­su­re than an elbow, and is ide­al for lar­ge mus­cles, such as in thigh, or for long-dura­ti­on upper tra­pe­zi­us compressions.[31] Other manu­al the­ra­py tech­ni­ques using the feet to pro­vi­de tre­at­ment inclu­de Kera­li­te, Bare­foot Lomi Lomi, Cha­vut­ti Thirumal.