Posted on September 25, 2007 in Massage Techniques
Chinese massage is a form of deep tissue therapy, which is mostly used to ease body pains than body relaxation. This massage therapy encompasses herbal medicine, nutrition and exercise to treat the whole body, mind and spirit. It is also used to protect health and build up body immunity.
In Chinese massage muscles are squeezed, stretched and kneaded by an expert massage therapist with skillful hand movements.
History of Chinese Massage
Chinese massage has its roots in China, and its existence dates back to 4000 years. More than two thousand years ago, Chinese massage was named as An-Mo, “An” means ‘press’ and “Mo” means ‘rub’. Since then it has been used for medical and pleasurable purposes. In 1949, Chinese government officially recognized the medical benefits of the massage and renamed it Tui-Na, where “Tui” means ‘push’ and “Na” means ‘grasp’. Tui-Na was officially incorporated into Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) as a medical therapy to be used for problems where acupuncture and herbs were less effective. The term An-Mo is still used today as a term for non medical massage, normally for relaxation purposes. Today it is not only used in China, but it is successful and spread all over the globe.
Safe, holistic and effective – “Tui Na” is a unique blend of hands-on massage technique with the principles of Chinese medicine. It is the base of many modern complementary therapies like Shiatsu, Acupressure, Baby Massage, Deep Tissue Massage, Sports Massage etc. Chiropractic and Physiotherapy manipulations are also founded on Tuina techniques.
Frequency of Chinese Massage
The frequency at which the massage has to be done depends on the symptoms, and it can range from daily to weekly or monthly.
For injuries, e.g. in the muscles, it may require Tui-Na on 2 20-minutes sessions daily basis for a period (in the morning and before going to bed,), ranging from 2 weeks to 3 months depending on the seriousness of the injury.
For people working in an office, sitting before a computer for a long time without proper resting in between, back pain or stiff neck is often developed. This requires normally twice a week treatment with An-Mo, either full body or concentrating on the back.
Benefits of Chinese Massage include:
