The Massage Center Elizabethtown

Massage Therapy

This article is part of the branches of CAM series.

Complementary and alternative medicine Classifications

NCCAM:Manipulative and body-based methods

Modality:Professionalized

Category: Image - :Massage Frankfurt.jpg|thumb|right|245px|Massage in Frankfurt, Germany.

Massage is the practice of soft tissue manipulation with physical (anatomical), functional (physiological), and psychological purposes and goals.Definition of massage, Prescottlmt.com The word comes from the French massage "friction of kneading", or from Arabic massa meaning "to touch, feel or handle" or from Latin massa meaning "mass, dough".Online Etymology Dictionary, massageMerriam Webster Dictionary Online, massage An older etymology may even have been the Hebrew me-sakj "to anoint with oil". In distinction the ancient Greek word for massage was anatripsis, and the Latin was frictio.

Massage involves acting on and manipulating the body with pressure - structured, unstructured, stationary, or moving - tension, motion, or vibration, done manually or with mechanical aids. Target tissues may include muscles, tendons, ligaments, skin, joints, or other connective tissue, as well as lymphatic vessels, or organs of the gastrointestinal system. Massage can be applied with the hands, fingers, elbows, knees, forearm, and feet. There are over eighty different recognized massage modalities. The most cited reasons for introducing massage as therapy have been client demand and perceived clinical effectiveness. 13 (4) pp.471-475

In professional settings massage involves the client being treated while lying on a massage table, sitting in a massage chair, or lying on a mat on the floor. The massage subject may be fully or partly unclothed. Parts of the body may be covered with towels or sheets.