Your location: Essential Massage Therapy Home > History of Massage Therapy
History of Massage Therapy
Massage has existed as long as there have been human beings, it has been the oldest and simplest form of medical care.
Hindu Writings in 1800 BC, shows Ayurveda, the traditional Indian system of medicine, places great emphasis on the therapeutic benefits of massage with aromatic oils and spices. It is practiced very widely in India.
Chinese Literature in 3000 BC shows that massage, exercise, martial arts and meditation were considered complete health. Actual documentation of massage as a healing method was found to be used on Huang Ti, The Yellow Emperor who died in 2598BC. Several documents dating back to 800A.D. also mention the use of bodywork on muscles. Herbs, oils, and other substances rubbed on bodies were also mentioned to protect and heal.
Proof of massage in Europe dates back to Hippocrates of Asclepides, he is quoted as saying "The Physician Must Be Experienced In Many Things," wrote Hippocrates, the father of Western medicine, in the 5th century B. C., "but assuredly in rubbing.. . for rubbing can bind a joint that is too loose, and loosen a joint that is too rigid."
There were also another two prominent physicians at the time of Hippocrates who were also commonly associated with physical medicine. They used techniques of massage as their principle therapeutic modality. Julius Caesar was said to have been given a daily massage to treat neuralgia.
During World War I patients suffering from nerve injury or shell shock were treated with massage.
In World War II massage was used in English hospitals to treat injuries
Per Henrick Ling founded Swedish massage in the nineteenth century in Stokholm, Sweden They proved that injuries could be cured through various types of massage, Swedish being the most practiced. However, later breakthroughs in medical technology and pharmacology eclipsed massage as physiotherapists began increasingly to favor electrical instruments over manual methods of stimulating the tissues.
Massage lost some of its value and prestige with the unsavory image created by "massage parlors." This image is fading as awareness of the value and therapeutic properties of massage grows.