Modern Massage techniques
The development of Modern Massage techniques in the early part of the nineteenth century was a well respected English surgeon and a practitioner of chirurgy. Chirurgy is defined as healing with the hands. Per Henrik Ling of Smaaland, Sweden, has become known as the father of Swedish Massage. He developed moves that he found to be beneficial in improving his own health and physical condition. He dubbed it medical gymnastics. The movements that he developed were later known as active, passive and duplicated.
Active Movements were done by the patient and were known as exercise. Passive movements were performed by a therapist to the patient and would later be called Range of Motion. Duplicated movements were when the client or patient was doing the same movement as the therapist in cooperation. Today Duplicated has been broken down into two additional categories they are resistive and assistive exercises.
The Ling system better known today as Swedish Movements spread very quickly throughout Europe and Russia. Most of the institutions that taught the movements where located in Germany. The program was as long as three years in length and classes where generally six to eight hours a day.
Later the Taylor Brothers would learn Swedish movements in Europe and bring them back to the United States. The Taylor Brothers would later teach the movements and brought massage into the public and medical community. Acceptance would come later as personal boundaries shifted.
The modern terminology that we use today was formalized by Dr. Johann Mezger of Holland. Dr Mezger would establish remedial treatments for the practice of massage. He was acknowledged by many as the author and founder of scientific massage. Dr. Mezger preferred the french terminology for massage which has remained an influence to this day. The words effleurage, petrissage, and tapotement all originated from french words that describe the movements.
Effluerage - effluerage is a succession of stokes applied by gliding the hand over an extended portion of the body. Effluerage is used primary for warming up, palpation, and applying lubricant to the surface of the skin.
Petrissage - Petrissage lifts, squeezes, and presses the tissues. Petrissage is used to milk the body or belly of the mucsle and to lengthen the muscle of contracted sarcomeres that have not released.
Tapotement - Tapotement movements include tapping, slapping, hacking, cupping and beating. Tapotement is used to stimulate the body or liven up the patient on the table. It is in limited fashion stimulating.
