SOCH111 – History of Healing
www.endeavour.edu.au
Session 21
Manual/Soft Tissue
Therapies
Department of Social
Sciences
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 2
Session Aims
o To explore the historical roots and practices of
manual soft tissue therapies, such as massage
o To examine the evolution of soft tissue
therapies as part of Western conventional
healthcare
o To overview the major types of soft tissue
therapies commonly seen in modern practice
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Soft Tissue Therapies
o Assessment, treatment
and management of injury,
pain, or dysfunction or the
neuromusculoskeletal
system using manipulation
of the skin, connective
tissue, muscle and joints
o Used to relax muscle
spasm and tension,
improve circulation, range
of motion, lymphatic
drainage, and nerve
function
By Andreas Bohnenstengel, CC BY-SA 3.0 de,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38558861
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Shamanistic Roots
o Use of massage in
combination with many other
healing approaches,
including magico-religious
rituals, incantations, plasters
and baths
o Used magically with the idea
of cleansing something such
as a demon or spirit from the
body to remove illness, or
adding some healing energy
to the bodyBy Sergei Ivanovich Borisov -
http://www.sibheritage.nsc.ru/index.php?id=269
1&showcoll=73&f=1&media=4, Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?cu
rid=2541614
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Shamanic Cultures
o Aboriginal Australians
o Africans
o Native North, Central
and South Americans
o Pacific Islanders
o Filipinos
o Russians and
UkrainiansPublic Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=624537
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Ancient Civilisations
o Mesopotamia
o Egypt
o China
o India
By Original uploader was 80jimmylouie at en.wikipedia - Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3061993
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Greco-Roman Practices
o Aesclepian healing
temples contained
aleipterions, which
were essentially
massage centres
o Massage was
provided by aliptae
(masseurs) who were
often slaves trained
in manual therapy
CC BY-SA 3.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=81874
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Greco-Roman Practices
o Hippocrates’ method of massage
was called anatripsis or frictions
o The Hippocratic Corpus describes
the effects and benefits
o Observation and experience led the
method to focus on moving waste
materials toward the digestive tract
to aid their elimination
o This was a shift from the ancient
method of applying strokes from the
core to extremities http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe
dia/commons/d/d2/Hippocrates_Li
ght.JPG
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Persian/Arabic Practices
o Ibn Sina (Avicenna)’s
Canon of Medicine
cites massage as
effective for pain relief
o Ibn Sina was also
known for use of spinal
manipulation for the
reduction of deformities
or injuriesBy Adam Jones from Kelowna, BC, Canada -
Avicenna Portrait on Silver Vase - Museum at
BuAli Sina (Avicenna) Mausoleum - Hamadan -
Western Iran Uploaded by mrjohncummings, CC
BY-SA 2.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid
=30320426
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A Long Lull in Europe
o From the early Middle Ages until the 16th century,
healing practices regressed generally, being taken up
primarily by monasteries and convents
o Roman practices such as exercise and baths, along
with massage, were banned as being un-Christian
o Healing centres established by women of the church
took care of severely and terminally ill people, and baths
and massage were tacitly allowed in this setting
o Rituals that included laying on of hands and anointing
with oil were used in healing and other contexts
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Renaissance Europe
o By the 16th century, due to a more
liberal approach to life in general, and
also to an increased understanding of
human anatomy and physiology
o Massage in written medical works
around this time was most often
paired with exercise or other
movement as a “mechanical
treatment”
o Rubbing and kneading were often
mentioned, but friction was a
favoured term By Jan Stephan van Calcar
(illustrator) - Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/
w/index.php?curid=35797054
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Midwives’ Traditions
o Massage used in midwifery to ease
pain prior to birth, for application of
oils to the abdomen, and to ease
swollen ankles
o Turning of breech presentation was
accomplished via massage
o As with other Wise Women,
midwives up through the mid-
1600’s in Europe were labelled as
witches, with more than half of
~60,000 executions in Europe
being midwiveshttp://wellcomeimages.org/indexplus/obf_images/c0/b4/ed2f11
8679f9dcf10817cf5589f3.jpg, CC BY 4.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36647040
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 13
Revision Questionso What was a major point of difference between
shamanistic massage technique and ancient
Western medical massage technique?
o Reviewing your learning from earlier this semester,
what would have been the major social and cultural
forces that caused a lapse in use of massage as a
medical technique in the Middle Ages?
Other food for thought:o In its early resurgence, why do you think massage
was grouped with exercise and movement rather
than being a more general therapy as in the past?
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 14
Late 18th Century Europe
o An ancient Chinese text, The
Cong-Fou of the Tao-Tse, had
become a standard for study
and practice of massage in the
West
o Per Henrik Ling, a Swedish
fencing and gymnastics lecturer
at Lunds University, was a key
figure who used the teachings
of this text to develop a new
system, which we now know as
Swedish Massage By Gardon, Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/
w/index.php?curid=624112
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Relationship to Nature Cure
o Dr John Harvey Kellogg:
published in 1885 the Art of
Massage, Its Physiological
Effects and Therapeutic
Actions, and in 1895 the Art
of Massage: A Practical
Manual for the Nurse, the
Student and the Practitioner
o Considered a pioneer in the
use of massage and
exercise to heal in the US
in the late 1800’s
By Klemming’s Atelier, Stockholm - Gymnastik- Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=48128085
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Massage As An Early Profession
o 1895, Britain: group of five
female nurses/masseuses
establish first massage
association, the Society of
Trained Masseuses
o Developed in respond to the
British Medical Association’s
claims that the massage
profession lacked credibility
o Promoted use of massage in
medicine and accredited and
monitored training schools to
high standards
By Unknown or not provided - U.S. National Archives and
Records Administration, Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16520959
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Massage As An Early Profession
o Move by physicians to distinguish formally trained
medical massage therapists from those who were
not
o Move by physicians to separate massage therapy
from movement therapy to create two distinct
modalities
o Qualification in massage became more prevalent
and important for nurses, as massage was
considered a critical aspect of nursing
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WWI & WWII: Focus Changes
o In both wars, massage was
used for multiple purposes
for injured servicemen in
field and repatriation
hospitals
o Assisted with recovery from
and rehabilitation of physical
injuries
o Used as a therapy for shell
shock (what we would call
PTSD today)Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w
/index.php?curid=10707761
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Massage in Australia
o History in Australia paralleled that of Europe and the
US
o From the late 19th century to the 1930s, massage was
provided as treatment in hospitals
o Medical doctors also referred patients to massage
therapists in independent practice
o In 1906 the first national association, the Australasian
Massage Association (AMA), was established
o In 1912, Joseph Fay, a remedial massage therapist,
wrote Scientific Massage for Athletes
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 20
Post-WWII: Focus Changes
o Shift of conventional
medicine strongly
toward use of modern
drugs and surgery
o Shift of massage to
focus more on sports
and exercise settings
o Massage provided by
athletics and sporting
clubs and the YMCA for
care and preparation of
sportsmen
By Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum - Public
Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4263754
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 21
Second Half of the 20th Century
o Massage grew and
diversified as a stand-alone
therapy with many
specialties and styles
o Regulation and education
were strengthened and
became more specialised
o General population began to
actively seek massage for
health and stress relief apart
from medical referrals
By Nick Webb - Flickr: Massage, CC BY 2.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?c
urid=16699759
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Some Types of Manual (Soft Tissue)
Therapies Today
o Swedish massage
o Remedial massage
o Deep tissue massage
o Sports massage
o Trigger point therapy
o Myofascial release
o Myotherapy
o Tui Na
o Thai massage
o Lomi Lomi/Kahuna
o Ayurvedic massage
o Acupressure
o Lymphatic drainage
o Shiatsu
o Rolfing
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 23
Revision Questions
o What were some of the major cultural and historical
influences in the use of massage as a healing
modality?
o Trace the history of massage in its connections
with other healing systems.
Other food for thought:o What are the pros and cons of massage being an
independent, stand-alone therapy vs. being a
therapy under direction of a medical doctor?
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 24
Swedish Massage
o Name stems from
historical Swedish
Gymnastics, but the two
are not equivalent
o Uses gentle to
moderate stroking,
kneading, tapping/
striking and friction
o First stand-alone
massage therapy
o Called “classical
massage” in Europe
By Thomas Wanhoff from Phnom Penh, Cambodia - CC BY-SA
2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2735045
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 25
Deep Tissue Massageo Sometimes known as
neuromuscular technique
o Aimed at the deeper
tissue structures of the
muscle and connective
tissue
o Uses many of the same
movements and
techniques as Swedish
Massage, but generally
with more intense
pressure
By Henry Vandyke Carter - Gray's Anatomy, Plate 409, Public
Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=527331
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 26
Trigger Point Therapy
o Originally a medical treatment from the 1940’s
using saline and procaine injected into trigger
points to release muscle spasm
o In the 1970’s, manual therapist Bonnie
Prudden began using sustained and focused
manual pressure on these points and obtaining
good results
o Treatment effects are from interruption of
neural signals as well as inducement of blood
flow to the area of spasm
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 27
Sports Massageo From some of the oldest
roots, in the care of athletes
and gladiators in ancient
Greece and Rome
o Specific techniques for
reducing muscle recovery
time and soreness, improving
circulation and performance
o Modern roots began after
WWII, but with major
expansion from the 1970’s
onwardBy Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-J0506-0013-
001 / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 de,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.
php?curid=5364306
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Myofascial Release & Rolfing
o Both based on the work of Ida
Rolf (1896 – 1979)
o Myofascial Release is a
technique aimed at eliminating
restrictions in connective tissue
to correct posture and other
misalignments
o Rolfing, or Structural
Integration, utilizes myofascial
release in a systematic series
of treatments aimed at
realigning the body as a wholeFair use,
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/in
dex.php?curid=12728384
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Thai Massageo Some date the lineage of
this practice to the time of
the Buddha in relation to
Tibetan medicine
o It has evolved greatly as
part of a holistic approach
within general Thai
medicine
o Thai people view their
massage practitioners as
doctors
o Performed on a mat on
the floor with the client
fully clothed, no oils
By Bhattharasinthorn Kosawan & Chot-Anan Kittiraweechot - CC
BY 3.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5283666
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 30
Acupressureo Closely related to Tui Na,
Shiatsu, and Thai
Massage
o Use of pressure or stroking
on acupoints and/or
meridians to stimulate
movement of qi and blood
so that the body’s innate
healing capacities can
bring it back to balance
and health
o No needles are usedBy Damiano from Sevilla, CC
BY-SA 2.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.or
g/w/index.php?curid=2734411
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Manual Lymphatic Drainage
o Technique defined in the
1930’s in Europe by Drs Emil
and Estrid Vodder
o Use of pumping, circling
movements of the limbs and
very light pressure to
encourage return of lymph
from extremities to the core
o Most useful in diseases that
compromise lymphatic return,
such as chronic infections or
when lymph nodes have
been surgically removed
By NIH - Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.or
g/w/index.php?curid=212994
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 32
Myotherapyo From IRMA: “assessment, treatment and
management of musculoskeletal conditions, which
may cause muscular dysfunction and pain thus
affecting movement and mobility”
o Many of the techniques discussed on prior slides are
consolidated into this system, to apply the most
appropriate assessment and treatment technique to
the individual client’s condition
o Utilises neuromuscular and orthopaedic testing to
specifically assess myofascial pain and dysfunction
and determine appropriate treatment plan
o Originated in the US in the 1950’s; major growth in
training and practice in Australia in the past 15 years
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 33
Revision Questions
o What are some of the similarities and differences
between the treatment techniques studied?
o List three or more body systems that are supported
by the treatment techniques studied in this session.
Other food for thought:o From the mid-1950’s to present, medical
specialisation has grown immensely, and parallel to
this, specialised techniques have been established
in manual soft tissue therapies. What do you think
has driven this?
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 34
Referenceso Jayinto, J 2015, A brief history of Thai massage, Massage Magazine, viewed 2 Nov 2016
<https://login.ezproxy.endeavour.edu.au:2443/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=awh&AN=100861645&site=eds-live&scope=site>.
o Benjamin, P n.d., The evolution of massage: the importance of knowing the profession's history, Massage & Bodywork, EBSCOhost, viewed 28 October 2016.
o Callaway, K & Burgess, S 2010, A history of massage, in Casanelia, L & Stelfox, D (eds) Foundations of Massage (3rd edn), Elsevier, NSW.
o Calvert, RN 2002, The history of massage: an illustrated survey from around the world, Healing Arts Press, Rochester, Vermont.
o Calvert, RN 2014, Pages from history: Swedish Massage, Massage magazine, viewed 1 Nov 2016 <https://www.massagemag.com/magazine-2002-issue100-history100-24026/>.
o Dr. Vodder School International, Manual Lymphatic Drainage History, viewed 2 Nov 2016 <https://vodderschool.com/manual_lymph_drainage_history>.
o Stelfox, D 2010, The emergence of manual therapies: physiotherapy and massage, Endeavour College of Natural Health.
o Trigger point therapy, Gale encyclopedia of alternative medicine, viewed 1 Nov 2016 <http://www.encyclopedia.com/medicine/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/trigger-point-therapy>.
o Institute of Registered Myotherapists of Australia, What is myotherapy?, viewed 2 Nov 2016 <http://www.myotherapy.org.au/about/whatismyotherapy>.