Facts & Techniques

Some Quick Facts About Massage Therapy

About Massage Therapy

Massage therapy is a hands-on manipulation to the soft tissues of the body acting on improving circulatory, muscular and nervous systems of the body to show an overall improvement in health and well-being.  Massage therapy can help to improve mental, emotional and physical aspects of your health and life.

Massage therapy has established itself as a clinically oriented health option, which can be preventative or restorative, helping to manage and control pain, recover from various injuries or illnesses and restore activities of daily living.

The recovery process is a therapeutic relationship between client and therapist where functional outcome goals are set and focused on as a team.

Massage Therapy Techniques

Swedish Massage Techniques give the therapist the tools to manipulate the soft tissues of the body in order to facilitate proper treatment and healing.

There are a number of different hands-on techniques used during treatment. These include, but are not limited to:

  • Effleurage (smooth, gliding strokes)
  • Petrissage (kneading, grasping, pushing or squeezing)
  • Vibrations
  • Tapotement (percussive technique)
  • Trigger Point Therapy

These above techniques are used to soften, loosen and warm-up connective tissue and muscles in order to reduce muscle tension and increase joint range of motion and overall function of the soft tissues. Massage therapy is used in conjunction with other types of therapies in order to achieve a maximum level of recovery. Supplementary modalities include: hydrotherapy (use of hot or cold), hot stone massage, acupuncture, lymphatic drainage and remedial exercises.