The Early History of Massage

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Undoubtedly, the first massage was an early man rubbing a cramped leg after climbing a tree to escape a saber tooth tiger. We have an instinctive reaction to rub or hold the affected area to ease the pain. Early man probably soon learned that, while rubbing painful areas of his body, certain plants could be applied which would help to ease the pain and promote healing. This basic technique has been developed through the ages into massage we know it today. Massage is the systematic manipulation of the soft body tissues for therapeutic purposes. Massage in its most basic form has been around as long as man, however today there are many highly specialized forms of massage all derived from these basic techniques.

Touch is one of the oldest known medical treatments known in the world. Touch therapy is described in the Ayer-Veda, the earliest known medical text from India (around 1800 B.C.), along with diet and exercise as primary healing practices of the time (Older, 1982). Hippocrates, in 400 B.C., described medicine as â€œthe art of rubbing.â€[an error occurred while processing this directive]