Types of Massage Therapy and Bodywork: Swedish Massage
SWEDISH MASSAGE
Background: Swedish Massage is the most commonly taught and practiced style of massage at Massage and Bodywork schools and in spas across the United States and Canada. Although the origins of Swedish massage date back to the Ancient Chinese, Greeks, and Romans, Swedish massage is usually associated with the Swedish athlete Per Henrik Ling (1776-1839). The massage strokes emblematic of Swedish Massage, however, were never part of Ling’s Swedish Gymnastic Movements nor the curriculum of the Royal Central Gymnastic Institute which he founded in 1813. The names of the original strokes of effleurage (stroking), petrissage (kneading), tapotement (striking), and frictions (rubbing), with vibration added later, were actually coined by a Dutch practitioner, Johan Georg Mezger (1838 -1909). Mezger adopted the French names for these strokes and developed a systematized massage which over the past 150 years or so of its development has become known as the Swedish Massage Style in North America, or Classic Massage in Europe.
Methods: Swedish Massage is performed on properly draped, unclothed clients who are lying on a massage table either supine or prone. The practitioner uses various natural, scented or unscented oils or body lotions, depending on the client’s preference.
The massage usually begins and ends with Effleurage which are slow, rhythmic movements toward the heart. Effleurage is relaxing and helps prepare the client for deeper strokes. Petrissage or kneading can help increase blood flow to particular areas and soothe contracted muscles. The technique is done with the whole palm or finger tips, using wringing, skin rolling, compression, and/or lifting. Petrissage is usually applied vertically to the muscle tissue. Tapotement is French for tapping or light strike, and is a specific technique used in this massage. It is a rhythmic percussion, most frequently administered with the edge of the palm or the heel of the hand and is used as a stimulating stroke, or for cramped muscles. Frictions or rubbing involves fast rubbing to warm the skin and move the blood. The technique of vibration, commonly used in Swedish Massage, is fast shaking, trembling, and slower rhythmic rocking using your fingertips and hands.
Results: A basic Swedish Massage takes about 1 hour. Swedish Massage’ focus is on optimizing the circulation of blood and lymph in the body. This massage therapy increases the flow of oxygen in the blood and also helps release toxins from the muscles. It is a relaxing massage that relieves stress, improves sleep, enhances circulation, stretches ligaments and tendons, stimulates the skin, and soothes the nervous system, and provides assessment techniques for further massage therapies.
Education/Career: Swedish Massage is the most prevalent type of massage taught at massage therapy schools through out North America. It is the most commonly utilized massage style at resorts and spas; it is also the modality that most people associate with the term massage. A graduate from a good Massage and Bodywork School who has been trained in Swedish Massage, depending on local and state regulations, is well-equipped to begin a career and open his/her own practice or apply for a job at a spa.
