Basic Massage The first thing every student should master is “the basics”. The four basic massage movements are effleurage (light or deep stroking), petrisage (kneading), tapotement (soft slaps) and friction. Effleurage is designed for relaxation and stress relief. Massage therapy consists of specific movements and techniques that are part of a holistic form of healing that has existed for thousands of years.
Trained and licensed professionals use this traditional healing method to help heal injuries and manage pain. Different massage techniques are used for different ailments. Massage therapy was first used in 3000 BC. C.
in India as a kind of medicine. Massage therapy was used in ancient Egypt, China, Japan, Greece and Rome to treat common ailments. Each culture added their massage and stroking techniques to the old therapy. The rise of pharmacology and medical technology in the 1700s led to a decline in massage therapy.
Per Henrik Ling made massage therapy popular again with Swedish massage. As a member, you'll also have unlimited access to more than 84,000 lessons in math, English, science, history and more. Plus, get practice tests, quizzes, and personalized training to help you succeed. Get unlimited access to more than 84,000 classes.
Effleurage is one of the five basic massage movements used in Swedish massage therapy. This type of massage movement helps the massage therapist understand the presence of knots in the client's body tissue. It also helps with the client's circulatory health. Effleurage is often used first during a massage session, as it allows the technician to become familiar with the client's body.
It is considered a basic warming massage technique and is also used to apply massage oils. Petrissage is a massage movement used in Swedish massage therapy. This basic massage stroke is based on kneading movements. Petrissage is used after efleurage and targets deeper layers of tissue.
This includes the connective tissue and the underlying fascia. The friction massage movement is a basic technique in which the technician rubs his hands hard against the client, creating a warmth that loosens the body for deeper massage movements. This is usually done with the thumb or a blunt object in a focused area. Frictional massage movements can also be useful in breaking up scar tissue.
Inter-fiber friction is when the massage therapist applies the basic technique against the direction of the muscle fibers. Can also be applied in a circular direction. The tapotement is one of five massage movements in which the masseur uses the side of the hand in a rapid tapping motion. After the body has warmed up, the licensed therapist can make the transition to the mat.
When applied for longer periods, the tapotement can fatigue the muscle. Vibration is a basic massage technique in which the palm swings back and forth against the tissue, causing that area of the body to vibrate. It can also be described as a trembling movement of the hand against body tissue. This is usually a final massage technique, which is a last method of loosening body tissues.
Vibration is a useful massage stroke because it helps penetrate deeper areas of the body, targeting organs and increasing blood flow to these areas. Effleurage uses long, gentle strokes to warm up the body, apply lotion, locate any knots and stretch the body. Petrissage is often used after the body is loosened. It uses kneading, squeezing and other tougher pressing techniques to attack deeper tissue and achieve relaxation.
Vibration is a rhythmic rocking or shaking movement to further relax the body. Inter-fiber friction is when the massage therapist applies repetitive pressure against the direction of the muscle fibers. In the efleurage, the massage therapist uses short or long movements in the direction of the heart to stimulate blood flow. Ling's techniques were introduced to the United States in 1858 as “The Swedish Movement Cure”.
Sounds very elegant, doesn't it? Remember when we said that Swedish massage techniques were the “hello and goodbye” movements? Well, when we said that, we were talking about efleurage. Efleurage is a gentle, fluid stroke that is usually directed toward the heart to stimulate blood flow. The effleurage is usually done with the therapist's hands and forearms. Usually, a massage therapist uses effleurage with the intention of calming the circulatory and parasympathetic systems as they measure the tension of the body's tissues.
A massage therapist can gather a lot of information about a person's connective tissue on the table with efleurage. Is the fabric flexible or rock hard? Does it move or stick to underlying structures? The depth the therapist can reach the muscles depends on the response of the tissue. Once a massage therapist has a general idea of the state of your efleurage tissue, they will usually transfer their techniques to include petrissage. The word petrissage comes from the French word pétrir, which means “knead”.
Compared to efleurage, petrissage generally has a deeper effect on soft tissue, and includes kneading, squeezing, lifting, shaking, wringing and rolling. Therefore, once the massage therapist is done with the efleurage and petrissage movements, they will usually move on to more stimulating techniques (depending on how long they are applied) that affect the tone and circulation of the soft tissues. One of these techniques is the tapotement, which is a rhythmic tapping, drumming or suction cups of the fabric. Hacking is a type of tapotement in which the side of the hand is used in a rhythmic cutting motion in the soft tissues of the body.
It is often applied to the limbs of athletes prior to sporting events to increase circulation in the area. Tapotement administered for a short period is quite stimulating, while a longer session can cause fatigue in a muscle or group of muscles and feel very relaxing. Other therapists use the taptement for longer periods on certain clients, where it softens the tissue enough to make it more malleable and functional. Friction massage is usually done with the thumb tip or a pointed object.
It is a deep pressure massage that is performed with small circular or crossed movements of fibers to penetrate deep tissues. Friction is especially effective in reshaping scar tissue and smoothing adhesions. In summary, the 5 types of Swedish techniques are effleurage, petrissage, tapotement, friction and vibration, which promote circulation and softening of connective tissue. There are different types of massages used by professionals, health workers and amateurs.
Massage is appointed according to the procedure in which it is performed. The Swedish massage begins with a set of stroking movements known as efleurage. Effleurage is a French word that means to touch lightly or touch. This technique consists of a series of long, sliding or circular massage movements that are applied with different degrees of pressure.
Effleurage is applied to the patient's body to loosen muscle knots and release tension. It is done at the start of a massage therapy session to warm up the muscles and, at the end, to calm them down. Because petrissage can be applied in many different ways and with varying degrees of pressure, it offers many therapeutic benefits to patients with tight or injured muscles. As such, petrissage usually takes up most of the time in a Swedish massage therapy session.
In Swedish massage, friction refers to a firm, focused rubbing technique that is applied to a specific area, usually using only the fingers or thumbs. Compression is often applied in a circular rhythm (circular friction) or in a perpendicular rhythm (transverse friction). The combination of precision and pressure makes friction ideal for smoothing and realigning tense muscle fibers and for treating particular joints, such as the elbow. As the name suggests, the vibration technique is applied by rhythmically shaking an area of the body to loosen and relax the body.
The intensity and pressure of the technique depends on the area of the body being treated, but it can be done in many ways, such as using both palms on a large area, such as the back or fingers on a small, sensitive area, such as the face. It is especially useful for calming nerves and treating areas with a lot of scar tissue. Tapotement is a French word that means to play or play the drum. This technique involves applying rhythmic tapping throughout the patient's body.
Tapping sensations are used to stimulate the flow of blood and endorphins in the body. As such, the tapotement is particularly useful for relaxing tense muscles and for draining lymphatic accumulation. . .
