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Massage Therapy: The Power of Structured Touch

Last Reviewed on: April 16, 2002

Therapeutic massage professionals apply a variety of scientifically and empirically developed massage techniques for manipulation of the soft tissue of the body. These manual techniques are applied by the practitioner with the intention of positively affecting health and well being. The techniques include holding, causing movement, and/or applying pressure through stroking the body in a series of actions that are systematic and rhythmic in nature.

Massage has been a part of the major medical delivery systems all over the world since its inception. During the 19th century, there was a loss of interest in manual techniques in Western medicine when pharmaceuticals became a more prominent part of treatment. Since the early part of the 20th century, however, we have been experiencing a resurgence of the practice of manual therapies. More than one in five Americans report having had a massage from a massage therapist in the past five years. A landmark 1997 report on public perceptions of alternative care indicated that 13 percent of the population reported receiving one or more massages in the past year, and that those who did seek massage therapy from a trained professional averaged seven visits per year.

The three most common reasons why people get therapeutic massages are to relax, reduce stress, and relieve muscle soreness, stiffness, or spasms.

Relief of Muscle Soreness, Stiffness, Spasms, and Pain
Our musculoskeletal systems (bones, muscles, and connective tissue), allow us to move, and without movement, life is markedly restricted. Our soft-tissue muscle mass is the greatest user of energy and also one of the primary sources of pain and discomfort. This discomfort and pain is usually caused by dysfunction of the musculoskeletal system, which can be the result of a traumatic, functional, or postural problem. The cause may also be of a pathological or psychological nature—both of which are acted out in our soma. Thomas Hanna (1928-1990), philosopher and practitioner was the first person to make a distinction between the human soma and the human body—soma is the body as perceived from within by first-person perception, and body is the human being as it is seen by a third-party. By loosening and relaxing tight muscles and joints through massage, the body's natural movement is freed, and balance is regained between soma and body.

Stress Reduction, Relaxation, and Self-Awareness
In Western cultures body contact is seldom a part of people's everyday behavior, and the United States is perhaps the most non body-oriented culture of all. Our ever-developing technology allows us to be hooked up to our computers 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And we have created a world of automated conveniences, where little movement is required. These features of our modern lifestyle impair our ability to connect with our bodies, and a growing number of people are responding to this disconnection by going to massage therapists for relaxation and stress reduction.

Stephan Rechtschaffen, MD, cofounder of the Omega Institute and author of Timeshifting, offers the most elegant definition of stress as not being in the present moment, for in the present moment, there is no stress. The therapeutic techniques used by massage professionals can help us achieve a greater level of bodily and functional awareness, which requires that we be in the present moment.

Many body tensions are indications of repressed or unexpressed holding patterns. They may be the result of lifelong patterns of tension, or they may be caused by current or past physical trauma. Simply put, the nature of our reactions to our own unique environmental stressors is actually captured in our bodies. Massage therapists act as facilitators or catalysts of change to the body structure. The therapist works with you to address habitual holding patterns. Some examples of common holding patterns are:

• a stiff neck, uplifted chin, and rounded shoulders like you are carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders.
• a fixed, military chest that takes command, but has little flexibility.
• a sunken, withdrawn chest that attempts to shield its owner from life's stresses.

Physician-Patient Relationships and Massage Therapy
In a 1998 study of family physicians, 83 percent believed that massage therapy was a useful adjunct to their own practice and 71 percent had referred patients to massage therapists. One benefit of physician-referral to a professional massage therapist is the improved healing and relief in patients with musculoskeletal injuries and chronic pain. Better soma-body awareness increases your ability to communicate symptoms more accurately and fully to your physician. As its effects become more widely recognized, massage will be recommended not only for musculoskeletal problems and stress relief, but also to improve the patient's soma-body awareness throughout the course of an illness. This will especially be true for patients with chronic disease.

By increasing your proprioceptive awareness (awareness of the body's sensations from within) you will improve your ability to express the effects of conventional therapy and treatment. Greater ability to advocate for yourself during an illness will mean better compliance with whatever treatment plan you and your physician agree upon.

Conclusion
Ken Wilbur, the noted transpersonal theorist, wrote that few of us have lost our minds, but most of us have long ago lost our bodies. Massage re-establishes this internal communication by overcoming our disconnection from our body and feelings. All the different types of massage attempt to re-educate the body tissue through manipulation or positioning of the tissue. The increased movement and structural changes in your body that occur through manipulation enhance energy flow and release emotional tensions that may be the cause of physical pain.

First and foremost, massage is a method of sensory-motor training, rather than a procedure or treatment, as practiced in modern Western medicine. Massage generates a flow of both old and new sensory information. The beauty of massage is that nothing is added or removed. The massage therapist is not an interventionist in the classical sense, he or she acts more as a facilitator.

All human beings are born with the need for touch. Research has identified what we always knew instinctively: We thrive on touch from infancy through childhood to adolescence. Therapeutic touching and massage create the bricks and mortar to sustain healthy growth, social and psychological balance throughout development, and maturity into old age. We can all benefit from the therapeutic effects found in the structured touch of massage.