Massage Therapy Plr Ebook V3

Table of Contents

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 4
1 THE HISTORY OF MASSAGE 7
ANCIENT MASSAGE 7
ANCIENT GREEK MASSAGE 8
ROMAN MASSAGE 8
MASSAGE IN DAYS OF YORE 9
THE 1800S TO 1900S 9
20TH CENTURY MASSAGE 10
MASSAGE TODAY 11
2 PURPOSE AND BENEFITS OF MASSAGE THERAPY 12
PURPOSES OF MASSAGE THERAPY 12
BENEFITS 13
HOW MASSAGE THERAPY WORKS 14
POSITIVE APPLICATIONS 15
3 EDUCATION AND TRAINING 17
HOW TO CHOOSE A COURSE 17
SPECIALIZING 18
WORKSHOPS 18
PRACTICAL VS THEORY 18
BUSINESS SKILLS 19
ACCREDITATION AND LICENSING 19
4 BASIC TYPES: EASTERN VERSUS WESTERN; TRADITIONAL VERSUS MODERN ECLECTIC 20
WESTERN MASSAGE THERAPY 20
EASTERN MASSAGE THERAPY 21
MIXED 22
5 COMMON TYPES OF MASSAGE THERAPY 24
SWEDISH MASSAGE 24
TRIGGER POINT MASSAGE 25
DEEP TISSUE MASSAGE THERAPY 26
SPORTS MASSAGE 26
SHIATSU 28
6 OTHER TYPES OF MASSAGE THERAPY: EASTERN 29
ACUPRESSURE 30
7 OTHER TYPES OF MASSAGE THERAPY: WESTERN 32
ROLFING 32
MEDICAL MASSAGE 33
REFLEXOLOGY 34
8 TERMINOLOGY 35
CONCLUSION 41

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INTRODUCTION

Massage is rapidly growing in popularity. In the past 10 years, the need for qualified massage therapists has increased substantially. It is no longer the sole prevue of massage parlors or wealthy spas. You now can find massage as part of an integrated medical system of treatment. You can see it in ICUs for babies, children and elderly people. Massage is part of out care and in-house therapy as well as medical management for people with HIV-AIDS and cancer.

Massage now forms a small but significant part of many different types of health care facilities. Hospices, health care centers, and various types of medical and therapeutic clinics include some form of massage as part of a recognized form of treatment. In the sporting arena, massage is also a prominent fixture, making its appearance at the Olympics. Massage is also an accepted part of athletic training at all levels of sport.

Yet, what exactly is massage? There is actually no simple single definition. In fact the term has varied somewhat over time. In 1886, for example, Thomas’s Medical Dictionary of 1886 simply stated:

“Massage, from the Greek, meaning to knead.
Signifying the act of shampooing.”

A few years later, the definition became a little more involved. In A Text-book of Mechano-Therapy (1904), Doctor Axel V. Grafstrom declared,
“By massage, we understand a series of passive movements on the patient’s body, performed by the operator for the purpose of aiding nature to restore health. These passive movements are friction, kneading, percussion, stretching, pressure, vibration, and stroking.”