GOOD MASSAGE is a potent tonic for mind and body. It can help relieve tension, stress and strain; temporarily aid blood circulation; make joints more supple, and act as a natural tranquilizer to induce pleasurable sedation. Medically, when performed by a physician or physical therapist, it can ease the pain of backaches, arthritis, bursitis, whiplash, sciatica and migraines. Massage, as a passive form of exercise, is also a valuable substitute for those who are incapable of activity.
Yet massage does not build muscle strength, burn up calories or break up fat cells. Unlike physical exercise, the effects are shortlived. And some people should not be massaged: those with infections, malignancies, blood clots, redness or contusions, impaired sensation, phlebitis or skin disease. In addition, skin that is thin due to injury or burn should not be massaged.
But if one can afford a massage -an hour usually ranges in price from $25 to $50 and up – it can play a useful role in a health program. Aside from the heightened sense of well-being it arouses, it relaxes muscles in preparation for physical activity – the reason massage is often used by athletes. After a vigorous workout, it may also help relieve muscle tightness and, with the temporary increase in blood circulation, aid the body in removing wastes – such as lactic acid – generated by physical exercise.
In general, the success of any type of massage therapy is linked to the skill of the therapist. ”Massage has lost a lot of its potential value because it’s being done by everyone and everybody,” says Jack Hofkosh, director of the department of physical therapy at New York University’s Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine. ”There is no reason why somebody who needs a relaxation massage can’t go and have a masseur work with him as long as it’s understood that it’s only going to have a relaxation effect. But if it’s massage that has to be medically prescribed for a particular condition, you need a physician who is trained to prescribe it properly.”
In New York State, massage therapists must be licensed. To be eligible for the examination, an applicant must have graduated from an approved school and have completed 500 hours of rigorous study. Fewer than half the states now have licensing requirements, however.
Massage methodology is usually categorized as Eastern (from Japan and China) or Western (from Sweden). Offshoots of these range from medical massages to intensive body-working techniques.
The principles of Swedish massage were organized in the early 1800′s by Pehr Henrik Ling, a Swedish fencing master and gymnastics instructor who used massage and exercise to treat his own rheumatism.
The French brought massage to the West, and French terminology is often still used. The basic movements of Swedish massage are effleurage or gliding strokes; petrissage or kneading;tapotement or stimulating strokes; friction or movements that compress the skin, and vibrating or shaking movements. All are done on bare skin that has been lubricated with cream, oil or powder to reduce friction.
Shiatsu massage from Japan (shi meaning finger; atsu, pressure) is sometimes called acupressure, which it resembles and which originated in China nearly 5,000 years ago.
”The ancient Chinese became aware of an increased sensitivity of certain skin areas (called points) when a body organ or function was impaired,” writes Frances M. Tappan in ”Healing Massage Techniques” (Reston Publishing Company, Reston, Va., 1978). ”Consequently some of the relationships between various internal organs and their functions were established.”
In the shiatsu system, pressure can be from hand, elbow or knee and is used upon strategic points – known as tsubos – located along pathways called meridians. Improving ”energy flow” along these paths is said to benefit the health of the internal organs. One caution: Having someone walk on your back and apply pressure with the toes is not part of traditional shiatsu; the heavy and inexacting pressure may cause back injury.
Shiatsu usually lasts from 30 minutes to an hour. Clothing is worn and no lubricants are used. The treatment may be uncomfortable, but should not be painful – it has been referred to as ”hurting good.”
In the area of medical massage, connective tissue and friction massage are both used on specific areas of the body. Connective-tissue massage helps to loosen fibrous tissue around muscles and to ease various disorders. Friction massage involves intermittent pressure on the body’s soft tissues and is often used in treating tendon injuries.
Reflexology is based on the ancient Chinese method of using thumb pressure on specific areas of the feet that correspond to different body organs in an effort to improve their functioning.
In some cases, notably Rolfing and the polarity method, the therapy may be as uncomfortable as the disorder. Both systems use heavy and painful pressure purportedly to bring the body into vertical alignment; practitioners claim that normal posture may have become distorted due to stress, injury, illness or even the force of gravity. Polarity therapy works on reflex points, like those along the meridians, attempting to free ”energy flow.” Rolfing manipulates the fasciae, or membranes supporting and sheathing the muscles. The premises and outcomes of both types of treatment are in dispute by experts.
Massage is generally thought of as an art form, and massage therapists all have their own styles of operating. For instance, at the Helena Rubinstein Beaute salon in Manhattan, Evelina Cardenas, a registered therapist with 35 years of experience, borrows from various disciplines. She also uses magnets to ”energize the body,” tiger balm for sore muscles, a suction machine to ”help cellulite” and a Chinese technique that gently hammers the soles of the feet ”for alignment.”
The massage therapist William Weslow, with a client list that reads like a Who’s Who in dance and theater, is a former soloist with the New York City Ballet and a practitioner of massage for 25 years. He has developed a technique that combines strong relaxing strokes, deep muscular pressure and some needed probing – occasionally painful – of tight troubled areas. A high point of his treatment is an invigorating scalp massage, which one famed client has described as ”a mild earthquake.”
Between treatments, he advises clients who have upper back and neck problems to take hot baths, use heating pads, rub light balms on the affected areas and sleep with a warm covering to keep the body temperature up at night, which also keeps muscles relaxed.
The aim of his therapy is to increase circulation and bring about relaxation. ”The biggest compliment someone can give me is falling asleep,” says Weslow. ”I know they’re totally relaxed.”
Text from New York Times Published: May 15, 1983
