The Journey of Massage

The History of Massage

Massage is undoubtedly one of humanity's oldest healing arts and can be seen as the original form of treating various ailments.

Most ancient cultures practiced their own types of massage. As early as 500 B.C., the Greeks, along with the Japanese, Egyptians, Persians, Romans, and other ancient peoples, described massage-like techniques.

The oldest roots reach back to China, where massage was described as one of the four classical forms of medical treatment in Chinese Medicine as early as 2700 B.C.

In Northwest India, massage emerged as a component of Ayurvedic healing arts around 1800 B.C.

Finally, the "father of modern medicine," the Greek physician Hippocrates (460 – 377 B.C.), described massage as the art of rubbing, which every doctor should master.

After the Romans, who successfully used massage to treat headaches and neuralgia, it disappeared during the dark ages of the Middle Ages. It wasn't until the 16th century that massage gained recognition again through the French surgeon Ambroise Paré (1517 – 1590). He applied different massage techniques after operations to achieve better wound healing. He seemed to be quite successful...

In more recent times, Swedish gymnastics teacher Per Henrik Ling (1776 – 1839) achieved the recognition of massage in orthodox medicine. By incorporating gymnastic exercises, he created what is known as Swedish Massage, whose basic techniques are still valid today. With the establishment of the "Central Institute of Gymnastics" in Stockholm (1813), Sweden became a pioneer in the training of therapeutic massage techniques.

At the same time, the first scientific studies on the principles of massage began.

At the beginning of the 20th century, massage came to be seen not just as a mere treatment technique but was declared a medical specialty.

Special massage methods emerged, and various schools with different methods and techniques were formed. For example, Elisabeth Dick, a German physiotherapist, developed connective tissue massage in collaboration with H. Teirich-Leube. Around the same time, Dane Emil Vodder and his wife worked on a new technique that involved a gentle massage along the superficial lymph pathways. Manual lymph drainage is still practiced today.