Swedish Massage
Swedish massage is a European style of massage intended to relax the muscles, improve circulation and flexibility as well as detoxifying the body by increasing the speed by which the cells eliminate their waste materials. This is achieved by using a variety of techniques that apply pressure to the muscles with strokes that usually follow the direction of blood flow to the heart. The amount of pressure used is determined by the client. Swedish massage involves the use of the hands, the forearms and the elbows to manipulate the body’s soft tissues to promote health, relaxation and a state of well-being.
You would think that Swedish massage originated in Sweden, but actually it was neither developed there nor was it created by a Swede. In Sweden, this approach is known as classical massage. Per Henrick Ling was a Swedish practitioner who came up with a system of medical gymnastics, which later became known as the Swedish Movement System. The techniques used in this system are very similar to the ones used in Swedish massage, but were actually described and named by a Dutch practitioner by the name of Johan Georg Mezger.
Mezger adopted the French names to denote the basic strokes used in Swedish massage. He is sometimes credited with developing the techniques of Swedish massage but actually researchers of the time, noticed some similarities between descriptions of the Swedish Movement System and the ones being used and named by Metzger. These terms were applied to Ling’s methods and since he had developed his system decades earlier, he received credit for developing and naming these techniques.
The techniques used are efflaurage, which are long, gliding stokes; petrissauge, which is a stoke the lifts and kneads the muscles; friction, which are firm deep, circular rubbing movements; vibration, which is rapidly shaking or vibrating specific muscles; and tapotement, which are brisk tapping or percussive movements. Depending on the client’s preferences and the style used by the therapist, there are variations on how these five strokes are applied to the massage session.
Usually aromatic or unscented massage oils are used to facilitate the massage movements but some people prefer creams or lotions. The massage is performed with the person covered by a sheet or towel, a technique called draping. The therapist will uncover the area that he will work on and when done will cover it back up and then move on to the next area the he will focus on. The client may request a full body massge or just work done on a specific area such as the neck and shoulders.
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