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Massage Therapy -
Facts and FAQs
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What Is It? Massage therapy is the direct manipulation of the soft-tissues of the body (the muscles, skin, tendons, and connective tissue) and the indirect manipulation of the body fluids in the circulatory or lymphatic system. It helps to ease stress and muscular tension, relieve pain from injuries, and speed healing from certain acute and chronic conditions. Today millions of people worldwide visit massage therapists as a form of regular health-care maintenance.
The roots of modern, science-based massage therapy begin with Per Henrik Ling (1776-1839), a Swedish fencing master and gymnastics instructor who developed a therapeutic system that included both massage and exercise. In 1813, Ling established the Royal Central Gymnastic Institute to make his methods available to the public. At the time, Ling's program included what he called "medical gymnastics" and "Swedish movement cure." Later the combination of the two came to be known as Swedish massage. After studying in Sweden in the 1850s, two physician brothers, George and Charles Taylor of New York City, introduced massage therapy to the U.S. The technique gradually gained credence and was widely used by doctors until the early 1900s. But as biomedicine and new "high tech" equipment came into play, physicians lost interest in this labor-intensive therapy. A small number of massage therapists carried on the tradition until the 1970s, when a revitalized interest in alternative medicine sparked a demand for this healing technique.
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